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My Pilgrimage to Tomba Brion

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This circular portal forms the entrance to the chapel. Photo ©Darren Bradley While in Venice last week, I had to make an obligatory stop at the enigmatic Brion Cemetery, by Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa. Most people have never heard of this place, located outside a small village about an hour's drive (or train ride) north of Venice, near the city of Treviso. Most people have never heard of Carlo Scarpa, either, for that matter. But to most architects, Brion Cemetery has an almost mythical status as a pilgrimage site.  Carlo Scarpa in 1954, studying renderings by Frank Lloyd Wright. Carlo Scarpa is himself a bit of an enigma. He deeply admired Frank Lloyd Wright and some of Scarpa's work is very reflective of that admiration - especially in his rigorous use of geometric shapes and patterns in his designs. It appears that appreciation and influence may have been mutual, as the one commission that Wright had for a project in Venice is a bit of a departure from Wright's usual...