Verona Popular bank Headquarters

Carlo Scarpa – Verona Popular bank Headquarters, 1973

The building is a masterpiece of contemporary architecture that wisely fits into the historical fabric of the ancient city and which perfectly embodies the artist's interest in the human dimension, attention to detail and love for materials.
In 1973 the Banca Popolare di Verona entrusted Carlo Scarpa with the arrangement of the bank's headquarters in Piazza Nogara in Verona, with the aim of merging some existing buildings and renovating them.
Scarpa worked on this project from 1973 to '78. When he died, in November 1978, the project was already unfinished in all its parts and the two sides were completely completed. The works were completed in 1981 by the architects Arrigo Rudi and Valter Rossetto and by the engineer Renato Scarazzai, on the basis of detailed drawings, working notes and executive instructions by Scarpa himself.

The intervention was especially difficult from a planimetric point of view and the new project was to connect the bank headquarters to an anonymous residential building from the 1950s. More than the banking function, Scarpa thought of a building in line with the historic city center, taking into account that the square was anonymous, with buildings of no architectural quality. He designs the facade of the bank office following the traditional layout of the Renaissance palace, with a stone plinth, two orders and a string course. The compositional theme consists of the windows which are circular, but built by combining two ellipses 11 centimeters apart. They are alternated with rectangular openings that stand out against the plaster.
The top floor is lightened by a ribbon window, punctuated by paired steel columns and ended by a stepped stone cornice: it is a particular architectural decoration of Indian origin, but there is no lack of echoes of the Scaliger Arches.
Pairs of columns, arranged according to a particular rhythm, constitute the supporting structure. But Scarpa's genius is not only evident in the facade: the interiors are very functional and, at the same time, elegant and refined. In particular, the copper air connection between the buildings in Piazza Nogara and the one at the back is beautiful. In short, a functional architectural masterpiece, but of great artistic value.
Source: https://www.larena.it