Carlo Scarpa is an architect whose development draws on deep roots in the Veneto-region and on traditional forms and construction methods.
In choosing Venice as his spiritual home, Scarpa affirmed his identity as magister ludi of fragmentary architecture. In this type of architecture the possibilities of innovation and invention reside in the building elements and in the manipulation of the visual and kinesic relationships among the vaious fragments and artefacts. Hence this architecture is the product of the resolution, substitution and design of elements, whereas technology, with its double faced role as techne and logos and logos of techne, forms the basis for an understanding of the interplay of elements and in the dialogue set up among them by their replacement in the fabric of the building.
He transforms a primarily technical principle into a design-instrument, that is very flexible and contains many possibilities of formal development of architectural elements. During his architectural development, the significance of stratification increased gradually and became part of his morphological thinking. He developped his own rules how to create space by using stratification and decomposition of elements. Single strata made of certain materials are able to transport associations that refer to traditions and symbols, and contain information reminding us of possible historical buildings or situations. The decomposed architectural elements get their own identity, that is formulated in all details.