The well-known spread between the two wars “Modern Movement” which includes minds of the caliber of Frank Lloyd Wright and the great Le Corbusier. This develops in connection with the Italian rationalism, current of which Giuseppe Terragni is the greatest exponent.
Who was Giuseppe Terragni
Giuseppe Terragni (Meda, April 18, 1904 – Como, July 19, 1943) was an Italian architect. It grows with the father owner of a construction company which transmits to him from an early age the passion for urban planning and architecture. He decides to enroll at the Como Technical Institute to study physics and mathematics and once he graduates he enrolls in the Higher School of Architecture at the Royal Higher Technical Institute, now known as the Milan Polytechnic.
Once graduated, he is ready to train in arristic current of which he will become the greatest Italian exponent: Italian rationalism. In fact, on November 16, 1926, he signed the first official document of the movement together with exponents such as Luigi Figini, Gino Pollini and Adalberto Libera.
Theoretical thinking and the beginning of the career
With his friends and colleagues he forms the Group 7, a collective that introduces the ideas of the Modern Movement to Italy. Several of their articles on Italian rationalism were published in 1927 for the Rassegna Italiana magazine. They later decide to found their own together and that’s how it was born “Clock face” directed first by Pier Maria Bardi and then by Massimo Bontempelli.
In the same year opens a studio in Como where he begins to work on some projects for the city such as the renovation of the facade of the Metropole-Suisse hotel, but also of a series of apartments that always express his artistic conception.
In the Thirties, with the advent of the Mussolini regime, the works of the Casa del Fascio which on a purely aesthetic level demonstrates its beauty and elegance. He also opened a studio in Milan together with Lingeri and built several houses together.
The great success and the end of architectural projects
In 1936 he created one of the most popular structures in Como, namely theSant’Elia Asylum which is part of his social intervention project. In fact, he wants to create a place where mothers can leave their children while they work.
In short, during the late Thirties, Terragni’s business was very rich in projects. It also makes the “Danteum”, work dedicated to the famous Italian poet and builds numerous houses in the city of Como. However, it is called for participate in the war in 1941 and on his return he can only slowly fade away from psychic and physical trauma.