Architecture of Italy – 20th century
The ruthlessly modernist Art Nouveau style was a reaction to the nineteenth-century love of the past, whose shimmering and linear forms dominated architecture and design at the beginning of the new century. In Italy, secession was called Lo Stilo Liberty, and its range was smaller than in other countries; the model was based mainly on the restrained forms of the Viennese secession. The most talented representative of this direction was Giuseppe Sommaruga (1867-1917). The buildings of his design have survived, among others, Casa Castiglione and Clinica Colombo in Milan and Hotel Tre Croci near Varese.
The visionary designs of the futurist Antonio Sant'Elia had a much greater influence on the general direction of the development of Italian architecture (1888-1916). especially his Cittb Nuona, a future metropolis of high-rise buildings, which was to be dominated by high-tech trading activities and a high-speed communication system operating on several levels. Sant'Elia's death during World War I put an end to these plans, except for the Como Memorial, which was built after his death and significantly simplified. The contractor was Giuseppe Terragini (1904-43). member of Gruppo Setle. which consisted of the seven most progressive Italian architects of the interwar period, influenced by the ideas propagated by the Bauhaus in Germany and by Frank Lloyd Wright in America. Terragini built many other buildings in Como. the most original of which was Casa dei Fascisti. local headquarters of the fascist party.
Despite the ominous associations, some examples of fascist architecture are of a high standard. Rome's position as the capital of the country meant. that the most ambitious construction projects were carried out there again, including a number of disastrous planning examples, the worst of which was the idea of running the street (Via della Conciliazione) connecting St.. Peter with the Tiber.
Supervision over the implementation of new ones, prestigious projects were usually entrusted to Mussolini's favorite architect. Marcello Piacentiniemu (1881-1960). When he was left completely free - as in the case of the Stadio dei Marmi. with his vulgar references to imperial Rome - Piacentini created some of the most tasteless monuments of this era. His project EUR. south of the city, was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II and completed after the fall of fascism in a modernized neoclassical style.
Pier Luigi Nervi enjoyed the greatest international fame among 20th-century Italian architects (1891-1979). He popularized the use of reinforced concrete. which allowed for a greater variety of forms than steel structures used in other countries. Its famous airplane hangars were demolished during the war, but the early stage stadium in Florence with its spiral staircase is preserved. The exhibition halls in Turin are among Nervi's prestigious post-war commissions, whose huge vaults resemble those demolished hangars, as well as buildings erected for the Olympic Games in the year 1960 in Rome and the papal audience hall in the Vatican.
Nervi also designed the engineering structure of the most famous skyscraper in Italy. Torre Pirelli in Milan, whose architecture is the work of Gio Ponti (1891-1979). prolific and versatile designer. Giovanni Michelucci (ur. 1891), who built the Instituto di Mineralogia in the same complex, shortly thereafter, he also designed a highly stylized Florence train station. In the 1960s he built one of the most original churches of the 20th century on the outskirts of the same city. ekspresjonistyczny San Giovanni on the Autostrada del Sol, dedicated to people, who died during the construction of this highway. Two more great railway station projects, works of many authors, is a monumental neoclassical train station in Milan, dating from the fascist era, and its modernist, utopian counterpart in Rome, which was one of the most prestigious architectural projects right after the Second World War.