Negozio Olivetti, carlo Scarpa's trademark lines are in evidence throughout the store

Negozio Olivetti

Venice


Like a revolver pulled from a petticoat, ultramodern Negozio Olivetti was an outright provocation when it first appeared under the frilly arcades of the Procuratie Vecchie in 1958. High-tech pioneer Olivetti commissioned Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa to transform a narrow, dim souvenir shop into a showcase for its sleek typewriters and ‘computing machines’ (several 1948–54 models are displayed).

Instead of fighting the elements, Scarpa invited them indoors. He sliced away walls to let light flood in, included a huge planter for tall grasses and added a black slab-marble fountain as a wink at acque alte (high tide). Semicircular porthole windows resemble eyes open wide to the historic piazza and the Architecture Biennale's modernist horizons.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Venice attractions

1. Museo Correr

0.03 MILES

Napoleon pulled down an ancient church to build his royal digs over Piazza San Marco, and then filled them with the riches of the doges while taking some…

2. Piazza San Marco

0.04 MILES

This grand showpiece square beautifully encapsulates the splendour of Venice's past and its tourist-fuelled present. Flanked by the arcaded Procuratie…

3. Campanile

0.08 MILES

Basilica di San Marco's 99m-tall bell tower has been rebuilt twice since its initial construction in AD 888. Galileo Galilei tested his telescope here in…

4. Torre dell’Orologio

0.08 MILES

The two hardest-working men in Venice stand duty on a rooftop around the clock, and wear no pants. The 'Do Mori' (Two Moors) exposed to the elements atop…

5. Museo di San Marco

0.1 MILES

Accessed by a narrow staircase leading up from Basilica di San Marco's atrium, this museum transports visitors to the level of the church's rear mosaics…

6. Chiesa di San Moisè

0.1 MILES

Flourishes of carved stone like icing across the 1660s facade of this church, dedicated to Moses, make it appear positively lickable, although 19th…

7. Basilica di San Marco

0.11 MILES

With a profusion of domes and more than 8000 sq metres of luminous mosaics, Venice's cathedral is unforgettable. It was founded in the 9th century to…

8. Column of St Theodore

0.12 MILES

One of two twin granite columns in the Piazzetta di San Marco, bearing the two patron saints of Venice. This column bears the image of warrior-saint…