Architecture and Adornment: How Carlo Scarpa's Brion Tomb Inspired Melanie

For Melanie Katsalidis, childhood holidays were rarely about lounging by a pool. Instead, they were enjoyed in nature or on architectural pilgrimages. Guided by the discerning eyes of her architect father and Italian mother, Melanie’s formative years were spent tracing the lines of Europe’s most significant structures.

Amongst these influences, one figure looms larger than most: the Venetian master architect, Carlo Scarpa.

While many travellers stick to the well-trodden paths of Venice, Melanie’s family roots in Northern Italy allowed for more intimate exploration. Tucked away in the small village of San Vito d’Altivole is Scarpa’s seminal masterpiece, the Brion Tomb. It is a sanctuary of concrete, water and light; a place where the brutalism of material meets the ethereal nature of the soul.

Image by Filippo Poli for Architectural Record

The Geometry of Connection

The Brion Tomb is famed for its "vesica piscis" motif, two intersecting circles that form a bridge between life and death; the earthly and the divine. For Melanie, this detail was a lesson in how geometry can hold profound emotional weight.

"I remember the stillness of the tomb," Melanie recalls. "The way Scarpa used the double circle window to frame the landscape was a revelation in how two simple forms, when overlapped, create a new, stronger narrative."

This specific architectural detail is the heartbeat of the Double Circle Baroque Earrings. By translating Scarpa's iconic window into precious metal, Melanie allows the wearer to carry a piece of this architectural sanctuary with them. Originally crafted in sterling silver - an exacting homage to the original design - the latest iteration sees the organic lustre of baroque pearls serving as the perfect foil to the disciplined, mathematical precision of the metal circles, much like Scarpa’s own penchant for mixing raw concrete with exquisite mosaics.

Pyramids and Precision

The influence doesn't end there. The Pyramid Earrings within Melanie's collection further echo the stepped concrete motifs and ziggurat-like details found throughout the Brion sanctuary. Not just 'inspired by' architecture; these pieces are an exercise in scale and proportion, designed for those who feel true luxury lies in the integrity of design rather than the transience of trends.

For the design and architecture lover these are more than earrings, they are a conversation between the past and present, a wearable tribute to a master architect, reimagined through a contemporary Australian lens.

Photo via ArchDaily