Antonio Sant'Elia (; 30 April 1888 – 10 October 1916) 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 An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and a key member of the Futurist movement in architecture. He left behind almost no completed works of architecture and is primarily remembered for his bold sketches and influence on modern architecture.

Life

Antonio Sant'Elia was born in

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. A builder by training, he opened a

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

office in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 1912 and became involved with the

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...

movement. A

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

as well as an

irredentist Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...

, Sant'Elia joined the Italian army as Italy entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1915. He was killed during the

Eighth Battle of the Isonzo The Eighth Battle of the Isonzo was fought from October 10–12, 1916 between Italy and Austria-Hungary. Battle The Eighth Battle of the Isonzo, fought briefly from 10–12 October 1916, was essentially a continuation of attempts made during t ...

, near

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

Writing

The ''

Manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

of Futurist Architecture'' was published in August 1914, supposedly by Sant'Elia, though this is subject to debate. In it, the author stated that "''the decorative value of Futurist architecture depends solely on the use and original arrangement of raw or bare or violently colored materials''". His vision was for a highly industrialized and mechanized city of the future, which he saw not as a mass of individual buildings but a vast, multi-level, interconnected and integrated urban

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

designed around the "''life''" of the city.

Designs

Between 1912 and 1914, influenced by industrial cities of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the architects

Otto Wagner Otto Koloman Wagner (; 13 July 1841 – 11 April 1918) was an Austrian architect, furniture designer and urban planner. He was a leading member of the Vienna Secession movement of architecture, founded in 1897, and the broader Art Nouveau move ...

Adolf Loos Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of modern architecture. He was an inspiration to modernism and a widely-k ...

, and the Genoese architect Renzo Picasso, he began a series of design drawings for a futurist ''Città Nuova'' ("New City") that was conceived as a symbol of a new age. Many of these drawings were displayed at the only exhibition of the ''Nuove Tendenze'' group (of which he was a member) exhibition in May/June 1914 at the "Famiglia Artistica" gallery. Today, many of these drawings are on permanent display at Pinacoteca, Como's art gallery.

Influence

His extremely influential designs featured vast monolithic

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

buildings with terraces, bridges and aerial walkways that embodied the sheer excitement of modern architecture and technology. Even in this excitement for technology and modernity, in Sant'Elia's monumentalism, however, can be found elements of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

architect

Giuseppe Sommaruga Giuseppe Sommaruga (1867–1917) was an Italian architect of the Liberty style or Art nouveau movement. He was the pupil of Camillo Boito and Luca Beltrami to the Brera Academy in Milan. His monumental architecture exerted some influence''Futur ...

.''Futurist architecture and Angiolo Mazzoni’s manifesto of aerial architecture'', published in VV.AA. ''Angiolo Mazzoni e l'Architettura Futurista'' - p.11 Though most of his designs were never built, his futurist vision has influenced many. Among architects he is cited as a forerunner to

John Portman John Calvin Portman Jr. (December 4, 1924 – December 29, 2017) was an American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria. Portman also had a pa ...

and

Helmut Jahn Helmut Jahn (January 4, 1940 – May 8, 2021) was a German-American architect, known for projects such as the Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany; the Messeturm in Frankfurt, Germany; the Thompson Center in Chicago; One Liberty ...

. Films such as

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

's 1927 ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

'' and

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

's 1982 Hollywood movie ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

'' also show Sant'Elia's influence.

Works

*''La Città Nuova'', 1914

Image gallery

File:Centrale elettrica Sant'Elia.jpg, Power station (1914) File:Casa Sant'Elia.jpg, House with external elevators (1914) File:Casa a gradinata con ascensori dai quattro piani stradali 1914- Sant'Elia.jpg, Drawing (1914) File:Santelia02.jpg, Drawing (1914) Image:Stazione Sant'Elia.jpg, Perspective drawing from ''La Città Nuova'', 1914

References

Bibliography

* VV.AA. ''Angiolo Mazzoni e l'Architettura Futurista'', Supplement of CE.S.A.R. September/December 2008 (Available at ) (Also at ) *Riccardo Rosati, ‘Antonio Sant’Elia e il contributo del futurismo italiano in Metropolis e Akira’, ''Manga Academica'', 13, 9-34, 2020.

External links

Website in Italian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santelia, Antonio 1888 births 1916 deaths Italian Futurism Futurist architects 20th-century Italian architects Modernist architects from Italy People from Como Italian military personnel killed in World War I