GIUSEPPE TERRAGNI
(1904-1943)
Giuseppe Terragni was an Italian architect who worked
primarily under the fascist regime of Mussolini and
pioneered the Italian modern movement under the rubric of
Rationalism. One of his more famous works is the Casa del
Fascio which was begun in 1932 and completed in 1936; it
was originally built in accordance with the International
Style of architecture in Como.
Giuseppe Terragni was born in Meda, Lombardy.
He attended the Technical College in Como then studied
architecture at the Milan Polytechnic. In 1927 he and his
brother Atilia opened an office in Como. They remained in
practice until Giuseppe's death during the war.
A pioneer of the modern movement in Italy, Terragni
produced some of its most significant buildings. A founding
member of the fascist Gruppo 7 and a leading Italian
Rationalist, Terragni fought to move architecture away from
neo-classical and neo-baroque revivalism. In 1926 he and
other progressive members of Gruppo 7 issued the manifesto
that made them the leaders in the fight against revivalism.
In a career that lasted only 13 years, Terragni created a
small but remarkable group of designs; nearly all of them
are in Como which was then the center of modern Italian
architecture. These works form the nucleus of the language
of Italian rationalist or modern architecture. In his
last designs, Terragni achieved a more distinctive
Mediterranean character through the fusion of modern theory
and tradition.
Terragni died in Como in 1943.
fonte: www.wikipedia.org
