Ignazio Gardella

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ignazio Gardella (born March 30, 1905 in Milan , † March 16, 1999 in Oleggio ) was one of the most important and influential Italian architects and designers of the 20th century.

Life

Residence "Casa Cicogna alle Zattere" in Venice, 1954–1958
Residence "Casa Cicogna alle Zattere" in Venice, 1954–1958. Photo by Paolo Monti, 1982.
Office furniture, Tecno. Photo by Paolo Monti, 1963.
Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, 1981–1990

Gardella grew up in a family of architects and completed his civil engineering studies in 1930 at the Milan Polytechnic . In 1931 he opened his office in Milan. In the following years he realized numerous projects - initially with his father Arnaldo Gardella - and advanced to become an important representative of Italian modernism . In addition, Gardella drew attention to himself with his competition entries: For example with the strictly geometric, 66 meter high bell tower on the cathedral square in Milan (1934) or the urban development project “Milano verde” (1938), which he worked with the architects, interspersed with high-rise windows Franco Albini , Giulio Minoletti, Giuseppe Pagano , Giancarlo Palanti, Giangiacomo Predaval and Giulio Romano. The tuberculosis clinic in Alessandría (1933–1938), a key work of Italian razionalismo , was one of his first outstanding realizations .

1944 presented Gardella along with other representatives of Italian modernism to more completely in the spirit of Le Corbusier -designed urban master plan before "Piano AR" for Milan. With the comparatively small "house for a winegrower" in Càstana (Pavia), which Gardella realized in 1944–1947, a significant stylistic change took place: Gardella became an important pioneer of neorealism in architecture. The return to the village idyll, apparently unsullied by fascism , with an emphatically traditional architectural language was implemented in an exemplary manner. Significant works of this trend are in particular the house for employees of the Borsalino company in Alessandria (1950–1952) or the row houses in Cesate (Milan), which were built in 1951–1953 in cooperation with Franco Albini , Giovanni Albricci and BBPR .

Two years later, in 1949, he graduated in architecture from the Istituto Universitario di Architettura (IUAV) in Venice . When he built the exhibition pavilion for contemporary art (Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea PAC) in the park of the Villa Reale in Milan between 1947 and 1953, Gardella revealed his free interpretation of modern architecture: small pitched roofs and a glass facade, which in a second layer of diamond-shaped Metal grilles can be protected, shape this house. The “Casa alle Zattere” residential building on the Giudecca Canal in Venice, which was built between 1954 and 1958, impresses with its extremely subtle integration into the historical context. Similar to BBPR , Gardella opposed any dogmatic requirements of modernity.

The emphatically polygonal figure of the “Mensa Olivetti ”, which was built in Ivrea from 1953 to 1959 , is open to the landscape and affirmed Gardella's changed language. After the construction of the architecture faculty in the old town of Genoa (1975–1989), which was characterized by narrow vertical wall openings, Gardella's last major project followed: The Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (1981–1990), built with Fabio Reinhart , Angelo Sibilla and Aldo Rossi . This restoration and expansion of a theater building from 1828, developed in the language of postmodernism, is dominated by a towering stage tower into which small square window openings have been cut.

In addition to his construction work, Gardella designed numerous furniture and lights since the 1940s, which also made him known as a designer in Italy.

Gardella exerted influence above all on his two prominent students, Aldo Rossi and Vittorio Gregotti.

In 1996 he was awarded a Golden Lion for his oeuvre at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

In 1999 Ignazio Gardella died shortly before his 94th birthday in Oleggio.

Important buildings (selection)

  • 1933–1938: Tuberculosis Clinic in Alessandria -
  • 1938: Urban development project "Milano verde" for the city center of Milan (with Franco Albini , Giuseppe Pagano and others)
  • 1944–1947: House for a winemaker in Càstana ( Pavia )
  • 1947–1953: Exhibition pavilion for contemporary art (PAC) in Milan
  • 1950–1952: House for employees of the Borsalino company in Alessandria
  • 1951–1953: Row houses in the INA-Casa settlement in Cesate / Milan (with Albini, Albricci, BBPR)
  • 1950–1954: Thermal baths on the island of Ischia
  • 1954–1958: “Casa alle Zattere” house in Venice
  • 1953–1959: Olivetti canteen in Ivrea
  • 1975–1989: Faculty of Architecture in Genoa
  • 1981–1990: Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (with Fabio Reinhart , Angelo Sibilla and Aldo Rossi )

Important design objects (selection)

  • 1950: Alzabile floor lamp for Azucena
  • 1950: Wall lamp LP12A for Azucena
  • 1950: LIB2 bookcase for Azucena
  • 1956: Arenzano table lamp for Azucena
  • 1957: T1 rotary table for Azucena
  • 1957: Digamma lounge chair for Gavina Poltrone
  • 1960: Prisma floor lamp for Azucena

literature

Web links

Commons : Ignazio Gardella  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Luigi Monzo: A New Synthesis of Form and Function: Ignazio Gardella's Lung Sanatorium in Alessandria (1928 / 33-38) (March 13, 2013).
personal data
SURNAME Gardella, Ignazio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian architect and designer
DATE OF BIRTH March 30, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan , Italy
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1999
Place of death Oleggio