Venetian Vernacular Architecture
Traditional Housing in the Venetian Lagoon

This study provides an authoritative account of the villages of the Venetian lagoon's architectural style and development.

Richard J. Goy (Author)

9780521154901, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 14 April 2011

384 pages
24.6 x 18.9 x 2 cm, 0.68 kg

This book is an introduction to the vernacular or 'minor' architecture of the villages of the Venetian lagoon, excluding the historic centre of the city itself. This 1989 study provides an authoritative account of their architectural style and development and a companion volume to Dr Goy's Chioggia and the Villages of the Venetian Lagoon (1985). In a broadly based and fully illustrated discussion, the author aims to show how certain, often palatial, architectural forms found in the Venetian metropolis were modified when transferred to the outlying, 'suburban' communities of the lagoon, which were constructed in far more trying conditions when materials and skilled labour were both in short supply. The book offers an encyclopaedic guide to almost all aspects of the building process, paying particular attention to materials, motifs, decoration and the organisation of labour, and also gives valuable English translations of such primary sources as Sansovino and Palladio.

List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
Glossary of terms
Part I. Building in the Venetian Lagoon: 1. General introduction
2. The lagunar environment
3. An historical introduction
4. Building materials and their sources
5. Methods of construction and vernacular details
6. The guild system and the building crafts
7. The economics of building in the lagoon
Part II. Housing Typology: 8. The city Palazzo-Fòntego: its structure and appearance
9. Derivations from the Palazzo-Fòntego in the city
10. Housing typology in the lagoon villages: an introduction
Part III. The Architecture of the Lagoon: an Illustrated Survey: 12. Murano
13. Burano: a village of fishermen's cottages
14. Pellestrina
14. The rural and semi-rural environment: Mazzorbo, Torcello and Malamocco
15. Conclusions
Postscript
Appendices
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Architecture [AM]