Adolfo Natalini (10 May 1941 – 23 January 2020) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

architect.

Biography

Natalini founded the architectural company

Superstudio Superstudio was an architectural firm, founded in 1966 in Florence, Italy by Adolfo Natalini and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia, later joined by Gian Piero Frassinelli, Alessandro and Roberto Magris, Alessandro Poli. Superstudio was a major part of ...

in 1966 along with Cristiano Toraldo di Francia, Gian Piero Frassinelli, Alessandro and Roberto Magris, and Alessandro Poli. At the end of the 1970s, Natalini became a member of the Architectural School of Pistoia with

Roberto Barni Roberto Barni (born 1939) is an Italian sculptor. Biography Roberto Barni was born in Pistoia. He began his public career in 1960 with exhibitions in Pistoia and Florence. His works, exhibited also in Rome in 1963, included paintings, photographs, ...

, Umberto Buscioni, and Gianni Ruffi. He was one of the pioneers of the ''radical architettura'' movement of the 1960s and 70s. During this period, Natalini focused on projects in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and other parts of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Natalini served as a professor of architecture at the

University of Florence The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...

. He was an honorary member of the

Association of German Architects The Association of German Architects (German: ''Bund Deutscher Architekten'', BDA) is an association of architects founded in 1903 in Germany. It publishes the bimonthly magazine ''der architekt''. The BDA has over 5,000 members. In 1995, it fo ...

, the

Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects (Hon. FAIA) may be awarded to foreign (non-U.S. citizen) architects and for non-architects who have made great contributions to the field of architecture or to the American Institute of Arc ...

, the

Accademia delle Arti del Disegno The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy of the Arts of Drawing") is an academy of artists in Florence, Italy. Founded as Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy and Company of the Arts of Drawing") on 13 January 1563 by ...

, the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara The Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara is a public tertiary academy of art in Carrara, in Tuscany, Italy. It was founded on 26 September 1769 by Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, duchess of Massa and princess of Carrara; but its origins go back to ...

, and the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

. Some of his projects include the

Römerberg Römerberg is a municipality in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approximately southwest of Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical En ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, the

Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط � ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, the Bank of

Alzate Brianza Alzate Brianza ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan and about southeast of Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; ...

, the

Zola Predosa Zola Predosa ( Bolognese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about west of Bologna. Twin towns — sister cities Zola Predosa is twinned with: * Timrå Municipalit ...

Power Center, and the

Saalgasse Saalgasse is one of the oldest streets in the Altstadt of Frankfurt am Main. It runs parallel to the bank of the Main. From the Middle Ages to the destruction of the city on 22 March 1944, the Saal, together with the more northerly alte Markt and ...

House in Frankfurt. Natalini's works in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

include the Teatro della Compagnia and the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. Adolfo Natalini died on 23 January 2020 at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natalini, Adolfo 1941 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Italian architects 21st-century Italian architects People from Pistoia