Architecture & Environment of St. Mark's Square

Public space is shaped by a number of forces, but primary among them is the use to which the space will be put, the political forces able to make this work, the aesthetic forces prevalent at the time, and changes that might take place through history. The Piazza San Marco and the ULM are public spaces both shaped by prevailing political and aesthetic forces and developed for specific purposes, and Piazza San Marco has been reshaped by history, while the ULM has not been in existence long enough to be so affected by time, though there have been changes in its short life just the same.

The Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark's Square, in Venice is not a strict rectangle but instead opens wider at the basilica end, thus enhancing the perspective and creating the illusion that it is even longer than it is. The square is bordered by the basilica at one end, the Procuratie Vecchie on the left, which was built early in the sixteenth century to serve as offices and residences for the powerful Procurators of San Marco, administrators of the basilica. On the other side of the piazza is the Procuratie Nuove, built half a century later in a more grandiose classical style (Cure 181-182).

St. Mark's Square was called "the drawing room of the world" by Musset, and it has been the scene of some of the most important religious and political activities of the Serenissima as well as the center of Venetian social life for almost a thousand years. At first, the Square was limited to the parvis

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ss report was printed in 1902 of the destruction of the tower: Workmen had been repainting the Campanile, and had discovered a bad crack starting from the crown of the second arched window on the corner toward St. Mark's. This crack had shown signs of opening further, and they feared small fragments falling down on the crowded Piazza; so the music was quietly stopped in the hope that the crowd would naturally disperse. The effect was exactly the opposite of that desired. Every one rushed to the Piazza (Littlewood 141). later in the day, the observer notes that the crack is still visible but does not seem to have grown: On Monday, early, the Campanile was resplendent in the sunshine . . . The golden Angel on the tower was shining far away. Suddenly I saw it slowly sink directly downward beneath a line of roofs, and a dense grey dust rose in clouds. At once a crowd of people began running across the Rialto towards the Piazza, and I ordered my gondolier to the Piazzetta. On arrival the sight was pitiful. Of that splendid shaft all that remained was a mound of white dust, spreading to the Walls of St. Mark's (Littlewood 141). The rebuilding effort was not automatic. Some Venetians claimed that Piazza San Marcos loo

Category: Arts - A