Michele Busiri Vici (2 May 1894 – 4 February 1981) was an Italian architect and urban planner, belonging to the Busiri Vici (pronounced Booseeree Veechee) family of architects who have been active since the seventeenth century. A winner of the Prix de Rome, he is known for his work on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia.

Early life

Busiri Vici was born in Rome, where in 1921 he graduated from the School of Engineering. Among his earliest works is the design of the new National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography GA Sanna in

Sassari Sassari (, ; sdc, Sàssari ; sc, Tàtari, ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 127,525 inhabitants, and a Functional Urban Area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, ...

, which he created with his father, Carlo. The project, built between April 1925 and December 1929, was commissioned by Zelí Castoldi Sanna, daughter of the entrepreneur and patron of the arts in Sassari

Giovanni Antonio Sanna Giovanni Antonio Sanna ( Sassari, 29 August 1819 – Rome, 9 February 1875) was an Italian entrepreneur and politician. Biography Giovanni Antonio Sanna was son of Giuseppe Sanna, a lawyer, and Maria Ignazia Sanna. He migrated in Marseille, Fr ...

. ;Family background The Busiri Vici family includes a number of French-Italian architects formed by the union of the French Beausire family with the Vici family of

Arcevia Arcevia is a ''comune'' in the province of Ancona of the region of Marche, central-eastern Italy. History According to tradition, Arcevia originates from a Gallic settlement anterior to the Roman conquest of Italy; following that, it became ove ...

. The progenitor of the French side of the dynasty was Jean Beausire (1651–1743), whose descendants thrived as architects under the Ancien Régime. On the Italian side, Andrea Vici (1743–1817) was a second generation architect who gained regard for his work under Luigi Vanvitelli on the Palace of Caserta and later gained Vatican patronage. Andrea's daughter Barbara Vici married Beausire's descendant Giulio Cesare Busiri (1792–1818) in 1815, joining the two families as Busiri Vici. Famous members of the family include Clemente Busiri Vici (1887–1965), who designed churches for Pope Pius XI, such as Gran Madre di Dio and San Roberto Bellarmino, both in Rome. Clemente's brother Michele Busiri Vici (1894–1981) worked on the Costa Smeralda. Another brother, Andrea Busiri Vici (1903–1989), was a prominent architect, art critic and scholar who worked with his brother Clemente on San Roberto Bellarmino. Andrea and his brothers also worked on a variety of projects for the Fascist hierarchy, including the design for the ''Istituto Luce'', a propaganda arm for the state. Clemente also helped design villas for prominent members of the Fascist leadership including the Maresciallo

Pietro Badoglio Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...

.Architetti ingegneri urbanisti a Roma nel Novecento

Career

Vici began his working life in the studio of his older brother Clemente. Between 1926-1928 they designed and built a castle for the Gaulino family in Sestri Levante and a villa-museum for the Gaulino family in Turin. Since 1945 the Villa Gaulino has been a prestigious hotel. In 1930, this time without the collaboration of his brother, Vici created the villa Attolico near Porta Latina in Rome. With his colleague Louis Piccinato, he arranged the European parks and gardens display for the Universal Exhibition of 1942 (E42). During the same period he restored the Castle of Torre in Pietra near Rome. In 1938 he was entrusted with the design and construction of gardens around the archaeological site of Ostia Antica, under the supervision of Piccinato. In 1939 Vici traveled to 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 ...

, where he received an award from the city of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

for the design of the Italian Pavilion at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

. In 1955 he was asked to compose the master plan of the coast of

Sabaudia Sabaudia is a coastal town in the province of Latina, Lazio, in central Italy. Sabaudia's centre is characterised by several examples of Fascist architecture. Villa Volpi, a neoclassical seaside villa built for Countess Nathalie Volpi of Misurata ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, central

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 in consequence designed and built numerous villas in the area between Sabaudia and

San Felice Circeo San Felice Circeo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, in the Lazio region of central Italy. It was an ancient city called Circeii. It is included in the Circeo National Park. Sites include the Grotta Guattari, one of the oldest Ne ...

. It was here that he developed a personal style ("Mediterranean architecture"), characterized by soft, whitewashed walls and fixtures painted in the colour now known as 'Busiris Green'. In later years he also worked on the arrangement of the excavations of

Ostia Antica Ostia Antica ("Ancient Ostia") is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of Ostia (Rome), Ostia, that is the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of Rome. "Ostia" (plur. of "ostium") is a ...

, the port of ancient Rome, and created several villas at Appia Antica,

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...

and Torre in Pietra. During his long career he tackled various disciplines of architectural practice. As a naval architect he created the interior of the turbine steamship Raphael for the Italian Navigation Company. As an urban architect he contributed to the redevelopment of Athens and Rome, where his distinctive buildings remain, many with windows still painted Busiris Green, in the Via Vigna Stelluti,

Ponte Milvio The Milvian (or Mulvian) Bridge ( it, Ponte Milvio or ; la, Pons Milvius or ) is a bridge over the Tiber in northern Rome, Italy. It was an economically and strategically important bridge in the era of the Roman Empire and was the site of the f ...

and

Parioli Parioli () is the 2nd ''quartiere'' of Rome, identified by the initials Q. II. The toponym is also used to indicate the urbanistic area 2B of the '' Municipio Roma II''. The name comes from Monti Parioli, a series of tufa hills, and was given ...

areas. In the early sixties, Vici was commissioned by the

Aga Khan Aga Khan ( fa, آقاخان, ar, آغا خان; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias. Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Karim ...

Prince Karim

Aga Khan IV Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He ha ...

, along with Luigi Vietti and

Jacques Couelle Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, other leading architects of the time, to create

Porto Cervo Porto Cervo (; ) is an Italian seaside resort in northern Sardinia. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Arzachena, in the province of Sassari. Created by Prince Karim Aga Khan and various other investors, Porto Cervo is the main centre of Co ...

and the

Costa Smeralda The Costa Smeralda (, ; sdn, Monti di Mola; sc, Montes de Mola) is a coastal area and tourist destination in northern Sardinia, Italy, with a length of some 20 km, although the term originally designated only a small stretch in the comm ...

, or "Emerald Coast", in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. Vici designed the Church of Stella Maris in Porto Cervo, which remains one of his most distinctive designs. He also built the Hotel Romazzino and Hotel Lucia della Muntagna and the district of Sa Conca, along with numerous villas for

Veruschka von Lehndorff Vera Lehndorff (German: Vera Anna Gottliebe Gräfin von Lehndorff; born 14 May 1939), known professionally as Veruschka, is a German aristocrat, model, actress and artist. She is considered the "first German supermodel.“ Early life von Lehn ...

and others. ;Architectural style Developing the 'Mediterranean' style of architecture he had already tested on the

Pontine Marshes 250px, Lake Fogliano, a coastal lagoon in the Pontine Plain The Pontine Marshes (, also ; it, Agro Pontino , formerly also ''Paludi Pontine''; la, Pomptinus Ager by Titus Livius, ''Pomptina Palus'' (singular) and ''Pomptinae Paludes'' (plu ...

area, Vici adopted even softer, organic forms, almost always coated with whitewash, and repeating decorative elements such as chimneys, arches, triangular slits, Mediterranean terracotta tiles and ceramics. He often incorporated elements of the landscape into his interiors - for instance leaving handsome granite boulders where they lay and incorporating them into a living room as cushion-scattered sofas. Further north along the eastern coast of

, at Porto Rafael opposite the archipelago of La Madalena, Vici designed the Piazzetta, a chapel, and numerous private villas, for instance for the Ward and Brandolini families, during the course of the 1960s. His work in Porto Cervo and Porto Rafael made a decisive contribution to the creation of the contemporary landscape of the north of Sardinia and has been celebrated in exhibitions and books.

Death

Michele Busiri Vici retired in 1977, and died in Rome, aged 86. His grandson, also named Michele Busiri Vici, practices architecture in New York City, where he is principal and founder of Space4Architecture (S4A).

References

Busiri Vici Clemente
Fascismo - Architettura - Arte / Arte fascista web site Marina Natoli (ed.), Michele Busiris Vici. Landscape and Architecture 1941-1973 in northern Lazio, Rome, Fratelli Palombi, 2001. Order of Architects of Rome and Rieti. 50 Years of Occupation. Rome, kappa, 1983.

External links

The Architect of the Costa Smeralda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vici, Michele Busiri 1894 births 1981 deaths Italian fascist architecture Architects from Rome