Italian Rationalism double bill

Recorded online on the 19th July 2022

Chaired by Philip Boyle

Part 1:

Professor Judi Loach- Italian Rationalism: the bigger picture

Part 2:

Philip Boyle - Guiseppe Terragni

Part 3:

Question and answer session, featuring the speakers, William Curtis, and James Dunnett.

Notes from Professor Loach’s talk:

The dominance of Terragni when thinking about Italian Rationalism has often overshadowed the work of other Rationalists. This talk will redress the balance, with particular emphasis on post-World War Two Rationalism that while unequivocally Modern, has been left out of the standard histories for decades. Part of the reason for its neglect has been the view that it was overly historicist.

Yet it is this commitment to learning from the past that gives Italian Rationalism a unique significance and ongoing relevance.  While this included analysing geometries of past masters, perhaps more important and less well known is its research into vernacular architecture, which led to the use of a wider range of materials, especially traditional ones - stone, brick, timber and tile - which in turn produced a multi-coloured and textured Modernism. Consequently such architecture could, without compromising its Modernity, integrate well into existing urban contexts; and by learning from regional vernacular it could also produce designs that respond to local environmental conditions.

Notes from Philip Boyle’s talk:

Guiseppe Terragni (1904-1943) was one of the most talented Italian architects of the interwar period. By the time of premature death during World War Two, he had created a significant body of work, and it is tantalising to think of what he might have achieved had he lived longer.

Focusing on four of his key buildings, this talk will discuss how Terragni’s work displays the contradictions of Modern Movement architectural practice under Italian fascism.

We will look at the Novocum Flats, Como; the Sant’Elia School, Como; the Villa Bianca, Seveso; and the Casa del Fascio, Como.