Gio Ponti: La villa Planchart, un progetto per corrispondenza (1953-1957)
Between 1953 and 1957 Giovanni Ponti (Mlan 1891-1979) designed, from his studio in Milan (Italy), a single family house on the top of a hill in the outskirts of Caracas (Venezuela) for Mr. and Mrs . Planchart. His clients , a Venezuelan upper middle class art lover couple with no children, wished to...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2012 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | italiano |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/94805 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/94805 https://dx.doi.org/10.5821/dissertation-2117-94805 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Arquitectes -- Itàlia Cases aïllades -- Veneçuela -- Caracas Habitatges unifamiliars -- Veneçuela -- Caracas Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Arquitectura |
| Sumario: | Between 1953 and 1957 Giovanni Ponti (Mlan 1891-1979) designed, from his studio in Milan (Italy), a single family house on the top of a hill in the outskirts of Caracas (Venezuela) for Mr. and Mrs . Planchart. His clients , a Venezuelan upper middle class art lover couple with no children, wished to owe a modern artwork and turn it into their dwelling. The construction ofthe house (a containerfor pieces offurniture, decoration and artworks by ltalian artists) took place during four years through an intense correspondence between the architect and his clients . Fascinated by Ponti's works and artistic versatility, the Plancharts would lead him to transform the house project into a "total artwork" in which the architectwas supposed to design not onlythe whole furniture, but also the textiles , the crockery and the silverware. During his life, Gio Ponti would repeatedly define Villa Planchart as his masterpiece, the project in which he was able to freely apply all of his "architectonic principies". In fact, Villa Planchart materializes all of Ponti's architectural cornerstones: for this reason the analysis ofthis project provides an overview on the architecfs whole work and modus operandi. The perfect conservation of both the project docum entation and the house itself - still unaltered after m ore than fifty years - allow us to go through the whole history ofthis building. The thorough collection of I ette rs among all the actors involved allows a faithful reconstruction ofthe work development, along with the comprehension of all the nuances ofthe creative process . Gio Ponti never confined himselfto m erelyspreading his theories through the architectural works he actually built He also used to expose them in a large number of a rti eles and essays, indissolubly binding both expressions. For this reason, the architect's bibliography, particularty In praise of architecture, will playa m ain role in the analysis ofthe Villa Planchart project The thesis is com posed otfour chapters which can be read and analyzed separately, as each ofthem focuses on a specific subject. The first chapter describes the phases ofthe process which led the architect to define the final project, faithfully based on his correspondence. The second one deals with the drafting ofthe final project and with the building site developm ent W1en a project is realized in normal conditions, these two phases usuallytake place at differentstages. Ye~ in this case both ofthem interpenetrated due to the difficulties and delays in sending the materials used for the building - most ofthem coming from ltaly. For this reason , the construction process is decom posed for analysis according to the "principies" forming the project and described by the architect in his essay In praise of architecture. The third chapter analyzes the subjects related to the publication ofVilla Planchart by its author and the singular relationship binding Gio Ponti to "Domus", the magazine he founded and directed which proved to be an essential tool for the success of the project. Finally, the fourth chapter takes a distance from the detailed account ofthe project, providing a vision of Ponti's thought The essential criteria to raise a "modern building"which materialize in this work are defined and promoted through Gio Ponti's written works ofthe 1950s. Nevertheless, the project ofthe house also ineludes "principies" which lay at the foundations of Ponti's architecture without being bound to a specific historical periodo The com position and the use ofthe space actually originate from years of experimentations on the residential sector as well as in his prior research. Villa Planchart may be considered a synthesis of all ofthese elements. |
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