Piazza San Marco | Venezia (Italy)
“It is generally realized from personal experience that these irregularities do not have an unpleasant effect at all, but on the contrary, they enhance naturalness, they stimulate our interest, and, above all, they augment the picturesque quality of the tableau.”
Camillo Sitte (1889)
One of the best known and most admired squares is probably the Piazza San Marco in Venice. But the appearance of this square contradicts an important call from Sitte.
He indicates that irregularities in the facade or in the footprint do not have an unpleasant effect. It general he thinks it is strange that widely irregular squares of old towns often do not look bad at all.
So, to create a pleasant square to be on, he claims it is unnecessary to use strictly symmetry and geometric exactitude to create pictorial or architectonic effects. The facades of the Piazza San Marco do have strictly, symmetrical patterns. Despite this Venetian square is one of the most famous and likes squares in the world.