JoAnn Locktov has given us another reason to enthusiastically pack our bags, with her second book in the Dream of Venice series, Dream of Venice Architecture. You’ll want to pour yourself a glass of wine, curl up by the fire and page through the breathtaking photography of Riccardo De Cal and corresponding essays by architects and architectural writers, sharing their personal experiences of Venice. Dream of Venice Architecture is the perfect gift for wanderlusts and architecture enthusiasts.
How very fitting of Locktov to invite us to experience this mysterious city through the lens of architects, who would naturally embrace nuances of Venice that the rest of us may not even notice or consider. For example, the buildings of Venice are deeper than they are wide. Windows flank the corners of rooms so daylight will wash their adjoining walls and carry into the rooms. There are no exterior cornices or overhangs to impede the light reflections of the water and the sky. (via Frank Harmon) Robert McCarter teaches us about Venetian marble mosaic floors, and Constantin Boym about doors. Anne-Catrin Schultz makes the valid point that Venice has changed so little since the 15th century largely due to the absence of the automobile. Venice through the lens of an architect is a point of view worth sharing.
Michael Welton shares his surprise-filled trip to Venice, which begins with the search for an unmarked hotel and continues as adventures unfold that could only happen in Venice.
Venessia.
That is what Venetians call their home city; not Venezia but Venessia. This is not Italian; it’s the Venetian dialect, their own language. Pronounced with a soft double “s,” and delivered in those delightfully rhythmic, undulating cadences reminding me of the ebb and flow of the tides. –Richard Goy
Thirty-six architects contribute to change the way we see this richly historic wonderland. Clearly, there is much more to Venice than Harry’s Bar and The Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The architectural lexicon and structural point of view deepen the reader’s understanding of Venetian details. The contributors’ nostalgic journeys through Venice inspire us to plan our own. The photography in Dream of Venice Architecture is stunning.
“…an urban and architectural apparition” -Anne-Catrin Schultz
“What can we learn from a city that is over 1,500 years old? How does her immutable reality challenge our own sense of urban living? Venice was built where no land ever existed. Water runs through her veins. Bridges, palaces, churches, every structure is a testament to the resiliency of imagination.” -JoAnn Locktov
Buy Dream of Venice Architecture here.
