Tobia Scarpa Turns 90: Exhibition and Interview on Recent Projects

Architect and designer Tobia Scarpa celebrates his 90th birthday with the exhibition 'Spazi Restituiti. Tobia Scarpa. Progetti recenti per la collettività' at Ca' Scarpa in Treviso, organized by Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche and curated by J.K. Mauro Pierconti, Mauro Piantelli, and Ilaria Cavallari. The show presents his projects from 2005 to 2020, including the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, the Church of San Teonisto, the Gallerie delle Prigioni, and Ca' Scarpa itself. Scarpa, son of architect Carlo Scarpa and Nini Lazzari, won the Compasso d'Oro in 1970 for the Soriana chair (designed with wife Afra Bianchin) and a lifetime achievement award in 2008. He collaborated with Gavina, B&B Italia, and Flos. The exhibition also covers the restoration of Ca' Scarpa (2019-2020), where he introduced a suspended staircase of 8 cm reinforced concrete. In an exclusive interview, Scarpa discusses his approach to historical buildings, the challenge of illuminating layered histories, and his ongoing projects: the Centro Culturale di Treviglio and the Centro socio-culturale di Quero (a FAI site linked to Malga Fontana Secca). He reflects on his sixty-year friendship with Luciano Benetton, his early work at Venini (1957-1961) where he invented new glass colors, and his analytical method. Scarpa emphasizes creating something new rather than re-editing the past, and credits his father's indirect teaching through observation.