Mario di Valmarana

di VALMARANA--Mario., of Charlottesville, Virginia, and Venice, Italy, a talented architect, outstanding educator, leader in historic preservation and devoted father and husband, died on October 13 at his home in Venice. He was 81. His distinguished 52-year career was remarkable for its breadth. It encompassed 14 years of professional practice with architectural firms in New York City and Washington, D.C. on a wide range of urban projects. He taught in the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia for 28 years, where he served as Director of the Historic Preservation Program and founded the School's first international study programs, in Vicenza and Venice, which remain an essential part of the curriculum. As author of a number of influential works on the theory and ethics of historic preservation he redefined and expanded the scope of the field and the values informing its practice. Mario di Valmarana was born on August 16, 1929, in Venice, Italy. After earning his architecture degree from the Istituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice in 1955, he moved the following year to New York City, where he practiced architecture and attended graduate courses in Columbia University's School of Architecture. In 1963 he married Betty Baker Supplee in Philadelphia. During the 1960s he practiced architecture as an associate in a variety of firms, including Alfred E. Poor, Architects, New York; Giuliani Associates Architects, Washington, D.C., and Corning, Moore, Elmore & Fischer, Washington, D.C. In 1972 he was recruited to teach in the University of Virginia's School of Architecture, which remained his academic home until his retirement in 2000. He was a legendary professor who combined a profound grasp of the history of architecture, studio instruction, and historic preservation with enthusiasm, eloquence, and a sense of humor. A strong advocate for historic preservation, both nationally and internationally, he chaired the Advisory Committee for the restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and supervised the preservation of Andrea Palladio's Villa Almerico Capra "La Rotonda", which is owned by the Valmarana family. He also founded the Center for Palladian Studies in America and received numerous awards for his work in preservation, including an Honorary Citizenship from the city of New Orleans and a Knighthood from the Italian government. He is survived by his wife, Betty, and two sons, Francesco and Alessandro, two brothers, Lodovico and Alberto, and two sisters, Lodovica Grimani and Maria Catalano Gonzaga, as well as three grandchildren. He will be remembered for his love of family and friends, his generosity and boundless energy, and his grace, kindness, and eloquence. He loved life's beauty and bounty, whether in the form of good wine, delicious food, rare books, fine art, or outstanding architecture. He imparted that spirit to those who knew him, and they have never forgotten it. He was a deeply cultivated man. The family requests that, if desired, any contributions be made through the UVa School of Architecture Foundation to safeguard the funding for the Venetan Programs that Professor di Valmarana founded 35 years ago. Please direct your contribution to the Mario di Valmarana Memorial Fund payable to the UVa School of Architecture Foundation, P.O. Box 400122, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901.