The Architect’s Divertissements

A Tour of Elena Guaccero’s Home and Studio

29-30 May 2023, Association of Friends of Venetian Museums and Monuments

For members of the Association of Friends of Venetian Museums and Monuments, entering the fantasy world of Elena Guaccero was a privilege. It was a special visit made possible by the generosity of her daughters Alessandra and Anna Maria Rocca, who opened the doors of their home for us to spend two wonderful afternoons at the end of May.

Elena’s puppets – playful, colourful creatures with imaginative shapes scattered in every corner of the house – immediately caught our attention, but the visit went beyond this first astonishing impact. Alessandra, Elena’s youngest daughter, having overcome an initial reluctance to talk about her mother’s intimate and personal memories, was of fundamental help in tracing the artist’s biography and, together with Franca Lugato, delved into a more contextualised analysis, made up of evocative and exciting incursions.

Thanks to the rich graphic and photographic documentation, we were able to follow architect Guaccero in her most important projects, from social housing to the RAI headquarters in Bari, and chronologically retrace her artistic experimentation with painting, sculpture and collage, where puppets painted in brightly coloured tempera and assembled with small bolts to make them capable of movement were the undisputed protagonists.

The analysis of the original plates of Ghiribizzo, a volume-abecedary made of clever and colourful collages, was a truly exciting moment! We also explored some corners of the house including the kitchen, because Elena’s is not a museum house, but a real artist’s house, where the architect Guaccero had planned everything down to the tiniest detail. Even the convivial closing of the visit on the terrace, a toast to Elena with Apulian tarallucci from her homeland and prosecco from the Veneto region where she spent a long part of her life, made these two visits unforgettable.

Thank you, Elena, Alessandra and Anna Maria

Franca Lugato