The architecture of modern Italy. Volume II, Visions of Utopia, 1900 - present

"Modern Italy" may sound like an oxymoron. For Western civilization, Italian culture represents the classical past and the continuity of canonical tradition, while modernity is understood in contrary terms of rupture and rapid innovation. Charting the evolution of a culture renowned for its historical past into the 10 modern era challenges our understanding of both the resilience of tradition and the elasticity of modernity. We have a tendency when imagining Italy to look to a rather distant and definitely premodern setting. The ancient forum, medieval cloisters, baroque piazzas, and papal palaces constitute our ideal itinerary of Italian civilization. The Campo of Siena, Saint Peter's, all of Venice and San Gimignano satisfy us with their seemingly unbroken panoramas onto historical moments untouched by time; but elsewhere modern intrusions alter and obstruct the view to the landscapes of our expectations. As seasonal tourist or seasoned historian, we edit the encroachments time and change have wrought on our image of Italy. The learning of history is always a complex task, one that in the Italian environment is complicated by the changes wrought everywhere over the past 250 years. Culture on the peninsula continues to evolve with characteristic vibrancy. Italy is not a museum. To think of it as such--as a disorganized yet phenomenally rich museum unchanging in its exhibits--is to misunderstand the nature of the Italian cultural condition and the writing of history itself

This groundbreaking and authoritative two-volume survey is the first truly comprehensive history of modern Italian architecture and urbanism to appear in any language. Told in lively prose, it recounts more than 250 years of experimentation, creativity, and turmoil that have shaped the landscape of contemporary Italy.
Volume II: Visions of Utopia, 1900 Present, tracks the development of Italy s architectural avant-garde through the upheavals of the twentieth century. Beginning with the development of Italian art nouveau--"stile liberty"--and moving through futurism, fascism, rationalism, and on to the creative experimentation of the present day, it explores the work of such pivotal figures as Raimondo d Aronco, Antonio Sant Elia, Adalberto Libera, Giuseppe Terragni, Pier Luigi Nervi, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa, Aldo Rossi, and Renzo Piano.
The Architecture of Modern Italy is exhaustively illustrated with rare period images, new photography, maps, drawings, and plans. With Colin Rowe's Italian Architecture of the 16th Century, it provides a nearly complete overview of the history of Italian architecture.

This groundbreaking and authoritative two-volume survey is the first truly comprehensive history of modern Italian architecture and urbanism to appear in any language. Told in lively prose, it recounts more than 250 years of experimentation, creativity, and turmoil that have shaped the landscape of contemporary Italy. Volume Visions of Utopia, 1900Present , tracks the development of Italys architectural avant-garde through the upheavals of the twentieth century. Beginning with the development of Italian art nouveau--"stile liberty"--and moving through futurism, fascism, rationalism, and on to the creative experimentation of the present day, it explores the work of such pivotal figures as Raimondo dAronco, Antonio SantElia, Adalberto Libera, Giuseppe Terragni, Pier Luigi Nervi, Gio Ponti, Carlo Scarpa, Aldo Rossi, and Renzo Piano. The Architecture of Modern Italy is exhaustively illustrated with rare period images, new photography, maps, drawings, and plans. With Colin Rowe's Italian Architecture of the 16th Century , it provides a nearly complete overview of the history of Italian architecture. This groundbreaking and authoritative two-volume survey is the first truly comprehensive history of modern Italian architecture and urbanism to appear in any language. Told in lively prose, it recounts more than 250 years of experimentation, creativity, and turmoil that have shaped the landscape of contemporary Italy.
Volume I: The Challenge of Tradition, 17501900, explores the dynamic balancing of forces demanded by a reverence for Italy's unparalleled architectural patrimony and a desire for new means of expression and technological innovation. From the neoclassical fantasies of Giovanni Battista Piranesi to the spectacular steeland-glass gallerias of Milan and Naples, it reveals an underappreciated history of richness and complexity.
The Architecture of Modern Italy is exhaustively illustrated with rare period images, new photography, maps, drawings, and plans. With Colin Rowe's Italian Architecture of the 16th Century, it provides a nearly complete overview of the history of Italian architecture. This groundbreaking and authoritative two-volume survey is the first truly comprehensive history of modern Italian architecture and urbanism to appear in any language. Told in lively prose, it recounts more than 250 years of experimentation, creativity, and turmoil that have shaped the landscape of contemporary Italy. "Volume II: Visions of Utopia, 1900Present," tracks the development of Italys architectural avant-garde through the upheavals of the twentieth century. Beginning with the development of Italian art nouveau--"stile liberty"--And moving through futurism, fascism, rationalism, and o Introduction....Pages 10-13 Architects of the Avant-Garde, 1900s–1920s....Pages 14-65 Architecture during the Fascism Regime, 1922–1944....Pages 66-141 Postwar Reconstruction, 1944–1968....Pages 142-205 Italian Architecture for the Next Millennium, 1968–2000....Pages 206-257 V. 1. The Challenge Of Tradition, 1750-1900 -- V. 2. Visions Of Utopia, 1900-present. Terry Kirk. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.