The Library tour

The Fondazione Querini Stampalia was funded by Count Giovanni. He donated his collection and a whole lot of his money to start this library and apparently did that for two reasons:
1. He had no children or wife to leave the money to.
2. He loved his city and wanted the ‘public’ to have the use of his resources.

It made me wonder whether I could love a city like that! Do I even have a city? Do I claim it? Have I really made it my own? Do I feel so terribly taken by it that I would gift it something as I leave?

Perhaps the Count did it for completely other reasons. He was foresighted and could see the kind of adoration and recognition he would get – you see marble busts of him and his parents in the library.But what excites me is that eons later there stands a library – a public resource that people use and Venice calls it own. A rich source of heritage and knowledge that is being generated in Venice because someone left some of the same behind.

Carlo Scarpa was the architect who restored some parts of this library. What distinguished him from others of his time was his ability to seamlessly fuse several different styles of art and architecture.  He also built a garden at the back which would be the city’s own ‘public’ garden. Venice supposedly has a lot of green cover and most of these gardens but ‘private’ gardens. Carlo Scarpa created a public garden –  a place everyone could enjoy – a resource for the city of Venice.

I wonder what my city means to me and what it is that I am going to leave behind. It could be perhaps a bust or even a smile.