Ignazio Gardella (30 March 1905 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 ...
,
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 ...
– 16 March 1999) was an Italian
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
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans.
In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...
.
Biography
Born into a family of architects, the first of whom was his namesake (1803–1867). Gardella graduated in engineering from the
Politecnico di Milano
The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students.
The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design.
Founded in 186 ...
university in 1928, and later earned a degree in architecture from the
Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV) in 1949.
In his university years he came into contact with other young protagonists of the Milanese scene together with whom he took part in the creation of the Italian
Modern Movement
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
.
Professional activity
His long professional activity, which began before his graduation at the end of the 1920s with his father (1873–1928), produced an enormous quantity of projects and realizations.
The CIAM
In the same years he was a leader of important cultural events, like
CIAM (in 1952 he founded, with others, the summer session in Venice; in 1959 he participated in
CIAM X in
Otterlo
Otterlo is a village in the municipality of Ede of province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, in or near the Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe.
The Kröller-Müller Museum, named after Helene Kröller-Müller, is situated nearby and has the world's ...
in the Netherlands), or the first
INU
Inu or INU may refer to:
* Krisnan Inu (born 1987), New Zealand professional rugby league
* Irbid National University, Jordan
* Incheon National University, South Korea
* International Network of Universities
* Nauru International Airport, the sole ...
conferences (starting in 1949).
International maestro
![Facciata ovest della Facoltà di Architettura di Genova](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Facciata_ovest_della_Facolt%C3%A0_di_Architettura_di_Genova.jpg)
The figure of Gardella remained at the pinnacle of Italian architecture for all of the 1960s and '70s, with intense professional activity whose importance is proven by his presence in international publications. In the last phase of his life, Gardella, now among the ''eminences grises'' of Italian architecture, still produced significant projects, like the Faculty of Architecture
of the
University of Genova
The University of Genoa, known also with the acronym UniGe ( it, Università di Genova), is one of the largest universities in Italy. It is located in the city of Genoa and regional Metropolitan City of Genoa, on the Italian Riviera in the Liguri ...
(1975–1989), which brought him once more to the front lines of the architectural debate.
The designer activity
![Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6355522](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Paolo_Monti_-_Servizio_fotografico_-_BEIC_6355522.jpg)
Gardella's activity has had a determining role in the field of
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'' ...
as well, starting as early as 1947, when he founded the ''Azucena'' Agency with
Luigi Caccia Dominioni
Luigi Caccia Dominioni (7 December 1913 – 13 November 2016) was an Italian architect and furniture designer.
Life
Caccia Dominioni was born on 7 December 1913 in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy, to Ambrogio Caccia Dominioni, a lawye ...
, the first that inaugurated Italian design production of high quality. Gardella designed primarily decorative furniture objects.
Architecture according to Gardella
If one looks for Ignazio Gardella's style, one is likely to be disoriented. His projects, over the years, changed according to changing architectural tendencies, often anticipating them, but always containing elements that diverged from the current with which they might be associated. Gardella is one of the Italian Rationalists, but his use of local construction techniques, like the famous brick screen of the Dispensario in Alessandria, makes him in some ways a heretic.
In the 1950s he came closer to regionalist currents, but his buildings also maintained an abstraction that distanced them from the most famous works of
Neoliberty or
Neorealism.
In the 1960s and 1970s he seemed to adhere to a strictly professional form of practice like the
Modern Movement
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
or the
International Style International style may refer to:
* International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture
*International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art
*International Style (dancing), a term used in ...
. His ''Uffici Alfa Romeo'' (1969) opposed the use of industrial materials and the development of a complex program. But Gardella strictly controlled the form, imposing a symmetrical composition.
In the 1980s he seemed to stick to the
Post Modern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
, but he did not in reality share its principles. Thus he himself said, "It is always difficult to say who are the fathers and who the sons. But
Mario Ridolfi
is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...
and I said, jokingly, that if we were really the fathers of all the works exhibited (at the 1980 Venice Biennale) we would have to admit (...) to having gone to bed with women of every type and every race." (s. Guidarini, 2002).
In reality there are aspects of his work that remain the same throughout his long career and constitute a continuity. These aspects can be synthesized in two complementary points:
- Gardella's architecture always maintains a composure that could be called 'classic'. This can be deduced from the extreme refinement of his details, which are comparable to those of his contemporary and friend
Franco Albini
Franco Albini (17 October 1905 – 1 November 1977) was an Italian Neo-Rationalist architect, designer and university instructor in design.
A native of Robbiate, near Milan, Albini obtained his degree in architecture at Politecnico di Milano U ...
, whether by control of the complete design of a building or because of the design of architectural spaces. In his architecture there is a preoccupation with and emphasis on the immediate, on the style of the moment, and a research for a kind of timelessness.
- Complementing this aspect is his capacity to change registers, to adapt himself to the
genius loci
In classical Roman religion, a ''genius loci'' (plural ''genii locorum'') was the protective spirit of a place. It was often depicted in religious iconography as a figure holding attributes such as a cornucopia, patera (libation bowl) or snake. ...
(the spirit of a place), as few other architects have succeeded to do. If the almost contemporary ''
Case Borsalino
Case or CASE may refer to:
Containers
* Case (goods), a package of related merchandise
* Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component
* Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books
* Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to ca ...
'' in
Alessandria
Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin.
Alessandria ...
are compared with the ''
Casa alle Zattere'' in Venice, one realizes that there is a great difference. The materials have changed, as have the decorative elements and the conception of volume. This is clearly owed to his will to take up influences from the built environment or context.
Works and important projects
![Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico (Venezia, 1982) - BEIC 6354245](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Paolo_Monti_-_Servizio_fotografico_%28Venezia%2C_1982%29_-_BEIC_6354245.jpg)
From among his first buildings one could note the
Antitubercular Dispensary of Alessandria (1934–38) which is one of the masterpieces of rationalist architecture.
Before World War II
Before the war he also participated in several important architecture competitions such as:
*1933-36 Extension of the Villa Borletti 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 ...
.
*1934 Progetto di concorso per la torre littoria di Piazza del Duomo a
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 ...
(non realizzato).
*1934-38
Dispensario Antitubercolare di Alessandria.
*1944 The Milano-Verde (Green Milan) Plan (with the
Casabella
''Casabella'' is a monthly Italian architectural and product design magazine with a focus on modern, radical design and architecture. It includes interviews with the world's most prominent architects.
History and profile
Casabella was founded in ...
group, including
Franco Albini
Franco Albini (17 October 1905 – 1 November 1977) was an Italian Neo-Rationalist architect, designer and university instructor in design.
A native of Robbiate, near Milan, Albini obtained his degree in architecture at Politecnico di Milano U ...
,
Giuseppe Pagano
Giuseppe Pagano (20 August 1896 – 22 April 1945) was an Italian architect, notable for his involvement in the movement of rationalist architecture in Italy up to the end of the Second World War. He designed exhibitions, furniture and interiors ...
e Giovanni Romano);
After the War
In the early postwar period, Gardella took up once more his activity with full vigor, producing many important works and some masterpieces such as:
*1944-47 Casa del Viticultore
*1947-54
Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea
The Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea or PAC is a museum of contemporary art in Milan, Italy. It is on via Palestro, next to the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, and across from the Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli.
History
In 1947 the Municipality o ...
in Milan (PAC) (which he rebuilt himself – with his son
Jacopo Gardella - in 1996 after the attack of 1993).
*1947-54 Casa Tognella
asa al Parcoin Milan.
*1951-54 INA-Casa a Cesate, Milan. With BBPR, Franco Albini and Gianni Albricci.
*1952
Case ''Borsalino'' in
Alessandria
Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin.
Alessandria ...
.
*1953-58 Casa alle Zattere in Venice
*1955 “Giardini d’Ercole”, residential building, Via Marchiondi in Milan, with
Anna Castelli Ferrieri
Anna Castelli Ferrieri (August 6, 1918 - June 22, 2006) was an Italian architect and industrial designer. She is most known for her influence in the use of plastics as a mainstream design material and her cofounding of Kartell, an Italian contempo ...
.
*1958 Mensa
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been part of ...
in
Ivrea
Ivrea (; pms, Ivrèja ; ; lat, Eporedia) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it stradd ...
.
* 1967
Kartell
Kartell is an Italian company that makes and sells plastic contemporary furniture. It is headquartered in Noviglio, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy, and it is a subsidiary of Felofin.
History
The company began manufacturing automobile accessor ...
headquarters in Noviglio, with
Anna Castelli Ferrieri
Anna Castelli Ferrieri (August 6, 1918 - June 22, 2006) was an Italian architect and industrial designer. She is most known for her influence in the use of plastics as a mainstream design material and her cofounding of Kartell, an Italian contempo ...
.
*1969 Uffici Alfa Romeo in Arese, with
Anna Castelli Ferrieri
Anna Castelli Ferrieri (August 6, 1918 - June 22, 2006) was an Italian architect and industrial designer. She is most known for her influence in the use of plastics as a mainstream design material and her cofounding of Kartell, an Italian contempo ...
.
*1969 Project for the theater of
Vicenza
Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan.
Vicenza is a th ...
(not realized).
*1969-75 ''Piano particolareggiato'' for the area of San Donato and San Silvestro in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
(partially carried out with
Silvano Larini,
Jacopo Gardella,
Daniele Vitale,
Giuliano Nardi) .
*1975-89
Faculty of Architecture of Genoa.
*1981-90
Teatro Carlo Felice
The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the side of Piazza De Ferrari.
The hall is named for King Carlo Felice, and dates fr ...
in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
(with
Aldo Rossi
Aldo Rossi (3 May 1931 – 4 September 1997) was an Italian architect and designer who achieved international recognition in four distinct areas: architectural theory, drawing and design and also product design. He was one of the leading exponen ...
,
Bruno Reichlin
Bruno Reichlin (born 10 February 1941 in Lucerne) is a Swiss architect.
Biography
Reichlin studied at the Polytechnic of Zürich.
In the 1970s he got associated with Fabio Reinhart and opened a practice in Lugano. They were strongly influenced b ...
and
Angelo Sibilla).
Writings
The publications of Gardella, though they include many articles and projects published in all of the major international reviews, are not just of theoretical interest. A list of his publications is available at:
* Interview with Ignazio Gardella by Antonio Monestiroli, in ''L'architettura secondo Gardella'', Bari-Roma, Laterza, 1997.
University professor
Gardella also had an important role in education, from his invitation in 1949 by
Giuseppe Samonà
Giuseppe Samonà (1898–1983) was an Italian architect and urban planner, whose notable works include the post office in the Appio quarter of Rome (built 1933–6), the Banca d'Italia in Padua (1968) and a theatre in Sciacca, Sicily (1974–9). ...
to be part of the staff of the
IUAV. His academic career brought him to the post of Professore Ordinario in 1962, which he held until 1975.
Awards
Gardella won many prizes, among which are the: ''Premio Nazionale'' of
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been part of ...
for Architecture (1955), the 1977 ''Medaglia d'oro del Presidente della Repubblica ai benemeriti della Scuola, della Cultura e dell'Arte'' (Gold Medal), the ''Leone d'Oro alla carriera dalla
Biennale di Venezia
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
'' (1996), Honorary membership in the
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
(RIBA), and member of 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 ...
'' and ''socio onorario'' of the
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera
The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera ("academy of fine arts of Brera"), also known as the or Brera Academy, is a state-run tertiary public academy of fine arts in Milan, Italy. It shares its history, and its main building, with the Pinacoteca di ...
.
Publications
* Ceriani, AA. VV. a cura di Franco Buzzi; ''Ignazio Gardella progetti e architetture 1933-1990'', Venezia, Marsilio, 1992.
* Guidarini, Stefano; ''Ignazio Gardella nell'architettura italiana. Opere 1929-1999'', Milan, Skira, 2002.
* Loi, AA. VV. a cura di Maria Cristina; ''Ignazio Gardella. Architetture'', Electa, Milan 1998.
* Porta, AA. VV. a cura di Marco; ''L'architettura di Ignazio Gardella'', presentazione di
Giulio Carlo Argan
Giulio Carlo Argan (17 May 1909 – 12 November 1992) was an Italian art historian, critic and politician.
Biography
Argan was born in Turin and studied in the University of Turin, graduating in 1931. In 1928 he entered the National Fascist Part ...
; saggio introduttivo di
Roberto Gabetti; testimonianze di
Franco Purini
Franco Purini, born as Francesco Purini (Isola del Liri, 9 November 1941), is an Italian architect, essayist, and university professor. He has designed many buildings, including the Torre Eurosky in Rome.
He studied architecture in Rome with , ea ...
, ... (e altri), Milan, Etas libri, 1985.
* Samonà, Alberto; ''Ignazio Gardella e il professionismo italiano'', Romae Officina, 1981c.
* Zermani, Paolo; ''Ignazio Gardella'', Rome-Bari, Laterza, 1991,
* Palandri, Alessio; ''BBPR, Franco Albini e Franca Helg, Ignazio Gardella. Tre architetture in Toscana'', Edizioni Diabasis, Parma, 2016.
References
External links
*
pagina monografica del sito Vitruvio
Casa alle Zattere in Venice(with drawings)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardella, Ignazio
1905 births
1999 deaths
Architects from Milan
20th-century Italian architects
Polytechnic University of Milan alumni
Olivetti people