Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute Sculpture

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Posted on behalf of Dominic Coles Saffirio by his guardian. This model is a highly abstracted version of the pinnacle of Venetian architecture, "Basilica di Santa Maria Della Salute," also known in English as "Basilica of Saint Mary of Health." The basilica was built to commemorate the survival of the Venetian Republic after the devastating 1630 plague outbreak and was designed by Baldassare Longhena in the Archdiocese of Venice. Almost four centuries later, Italy finds itself at the mercy of a global pandemic that has completely upended its society. To emulate this, I modeled the Venetian Church to represent Italy's vibrant culture and rich history, then cut elements of the design out like a cross-section of the dome to show how Italy has been laid open by this pandemic, revealing its fragile and complex interior. The interior decoration of the dome was inspired by Brutalist architecture as well as the "Novecento" movement, both of which were chosen to commemorate 100 years since their conceptualization. These architectural styles were selected specifically because they were used for reconstruction after World War I and World War II, signifying the complex efforts needed to bring Italy's society back to normalcy. Furthermore, the abstracted areas are "reconstructed" by the red scaffolding of the original design to signify how Italy will recover from this pandemic and emerge stronger than ever. This model can be used in two ways: it can be 3D printed entirely in grey filament and then have the red scaffolding painted over, or it can be used as a maquette to create a silicone mold for a concrete model that emphasizes the interior Brutalist architecture. Please note that some of the more delicate suspended areas may require temporary supports during printing. The included images show the fully rendered model, the model being 3D printed, an orthographic view, photos of the abstracted details, and artistic photos of the architectural details. This design was created in Fusion360 and also serves as my Y11 GCSE Art final piece. All models and photographs are the intellectual property of Dominic Coles Saffirio, Berkhamsted Senior School.