Piana, Mario — Costruire a Venezia: I Mutamenti Delle Tecniche Edificatorie Lagunari Tra Medioevo E Eta Moderna

Venezia, Marsilio Arte / Palladio Museum / Save Venice, 2023. Softcover. Quarto. Softcover. Illustrated wraps. 351 pages, illustrations, 29 cm. Italian text. How is Venice built? What techniques were used to construct palaces, domes, and churches? What materials were chosen and why? Is it a city of wood or stone? These are just some of the questions that guided Mario Piana's investigation of Venetian building culture between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age. The result is a must-read volume for those interested in historical building heritage and for enthusiasts of Venetian art. The author examines the techniques, structural systems, construction practices, and executive expedients used in lagoon construction, reconstructing its evolution and the reasons for its change. He does so by recounting anecdotes, drawing on archival documents, and explaining why one material works better than another in Venice. Using historical artifacts, monumental structures, palaces, and religious sites as examples, Piana takes the reader on a journey through the complexity of the city between the 15th and 16th centuries, a city built while constantly finding compromises with its unique morphology. Piana, who has been the proto of St. Mark's Basilica since 2016, explains: "The lagoon site, a maze of marshes, salt marshes, mudflats, and newly emerged lands, an area lacking cut stone, suitable wood for construction, and even fresh water, influenced the construction methods, forcing the craftsmen to develop unique techniques." The masons, stonecutters, stonemasons, stonemasons, and terrazzo workers are respectively the bricklayers, stonecutters, carpenters, blacksmiths, and artisans who worked on the beaten floors, to name just a few. The piomber, the craftsman responsible for maintaining metal roofs, was a profession born in the lagoon, as can be seen in various documents, such as one from the early 17th century where Paola dai Piombi is mentioned. VG+. light bumping at corners.