Architecture as art and imagined architecture in Venice

ARCHITECTURE AS ART AND IMAGINED ARCHITECTURE: DRAWINGS FROM THE FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI COLLECTIONS

Architecture as art, or better as creative expression able to communicate ideas, dreams and desires exactly like painting, poetry and music.
This was my first thought when I saw the drawings from the Certani collection in Venice which, since 1963, has been part of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

It’s a huge collection containing more than 5,000 sheets, of which only a small part was on public display for the exhibition “Imagined Architecture”at Palazzo Cini in the year of the 16^thedition of the Biennale Architettura (International Architecture Exhibition).

Architecture as art in Venezia

“Imagined Architecture” is the title of the exhibition which Palazzo Cini dedicates to architectural design, as the moment in which an idea destined to become something great emerges and takes place.
You’ll find all useful information on the exhibition (date and opening times) at the end of the post.

ARCHITECTURE AS ART: THE CERTANI COLLECTION

Antonio Certani (1879-1952) was a cellist and a composer, but also one of the greatest collectors of drawings of the area near the city of Bologna.
The Certani collection consists of more than 5,000 drawings, which since the 1960s have been part of the Fondazioni Giorgio Cini.

The collection covers the period from the 16^thto the 19^thcentury, and admiring only a part of this huge collection is a unique opportunity.
In fact, several sheets have never been on display and published, and in addition the exhibition held at Palazzo Cini brings imagined architectureinto focus, which defines those projects which aren’t real yet but are still being defined, and in which the drawing on the sheet represents the idea for a construction planned to be temporary.

ARCHITECTURE AS ART AND IMAGINED ARCHITECTURE: THE EXHIBITION AT PALAZZO CINI

The drawings chosen for the exhibition “Imagined Architecture” are divided into sections, allowing you to realize the abundance of a collection which is likely to hide many more “precious pearls”.
One section in particular captured my attention.
It’s the section dedicated to temporary setups and stage design, that is to say those constructions planned to be temporary and whose memory remains only through these drawings.
Here architecture as art becomes the instrument for celebrating leading personalities such as Popes or Kings, or for entertaining people with fireworks, or for celebrations, parties, banquets and parades.

EXHIBITIONS AT PALAZZO CINI

The exhibition in Venice “Imagined Architecture” is part of the project for the reopening of Palazzo Cini, residence of Vittorio Cini, businessman and art collector, which houses amazing works by Botticelli, Filippo Lippi, Piero di Cosimo and Dosso Dossi, just to mention a few.
Since 2014 the Palace has been open to the public during the summer months, when it transforms into a place to show works and documents usually available only to scholars.