The Arcades of Carpi, Emilia Romagna
In the historic centre you find an enormous living room, a real monument from the Po Valley Renaissance, unique. Everything corresponds: the long rectangular square works like a perspective telescope fanning out into a trapezium shape towards the rear wing.
One of the sides is occupied by the long portico with the facades of the houses of the nobility, while the other is taken up by the "Castle" of the Pio family, e real revelation of the Renaissance prince, also leading you to the palatial group behind.
This alone would be sufficient to make Carpi an essential stopover for anyone in search of architectural jewels outside the tour of the great Italian cities of art.
Of course the city has undergone continuous changes over the centuries. The scars caused by the enormous growth of the city population and the economic boom in the second half of the 1900's are clearly visible in the urban layout.
Over the years pre-existing buildings have had additions made or been raised or enlarged; there have been demolitions and reconstructions in the style of Milanese blocks of flats, clearing and closing off of the minor arcades, changes in courtyard areas, the disappearance of gardens and internal vegetable plots.
What remains, however stirs the memory of a past way of life in this historical city. The remaining arcades, all in an excellent state of repair and of notable interest, bring back that idea of the social life and that slower-paced, almost suspended, time.
The arcades thus become accomplices on our long journey that, for fun, transforms an ordinary walk into a continuous adventure.
A miniature odyssey ranging from the fascination for the sublime modern "brutality" to the surprise at the unexpected relic from the past suddenly coming into our vision.
And what about the pleasure in the harmony of light and shadow, distancing our perceptions under the arcades, enlarging the spaces, lengthening them, expanding the length of time and slowing it down on the sunny afternoons in July, in fiery August sunsets, in the autumn fogs and the winter rains.
By nature a home-like, welcoming place, the arcade protects and guides, steers you, directs the way you look, invites you to stop, to chat, but also to reflect or to be lazy without doing anything or even thinking. You go in and out of shops almost as if you were at home; you stroll or pause under the vaults in no hurry to go anywhere. You have the sensation of feeling the breathing and nearness of other people, sharing with them a territory of undefined relationships without any specific aim.
The sequence and rhythm of the arcades carve into the flat surfaces of the buildings with light and shadow, give light wavering movement to the lines of facades; the columns (mostly of Doric, Tuscan or a simplified Corinthian order), the pilasters, the support pillars and their bases link up and harmonise with windows and balconies above, stringcourses and rare, simple decorative elements.
But the real surprise lies in the unexpected openings of the large entrance doorways under the arcades that perpendicularly prolong the arcaded corridor. Here from fresh corridors, open galleries and entrance halls appear a series of courtyards, gardens, oases of silence, landscapes left over from a past era that no longer exists.
Places now bereft of human presence, preserving the atmosphere of another time, unfolding a different space for your eyes and mind. You can, then, at certain times, when the soft silence of foggy days or the suspended summer calm takes over your senses, find that you feel like a child again and imagine you are playing alone in the courtyard of your home or in the peace of a town kitchen garden.
Orville Pantaleoni
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