Quirino De Giorgio

Quirino De Giorgio

An Architect’s Legacy

By Michel Carlana

Luca Mezzalira

Curzio Pentimalli

Mobilificio Fabris, 1967–1968. The original project

2 Casa 1931–1932

154

Cinema La Quirinetta 1946–1947

334

6 Casa 1933–1934

160

Cinema Altino 1946–1951

345 Memoriale 1973–1977

10 Negozio Benincà 1936–1937

173 Cinema Olimpico 1947

356

16

178 Stazione di servizio Shell 1948

368 Condominio San Giacomo 1975–1978

184 Cinema Cristallo 1949

376 Villa Urania 1980

192

Cinema Politeama 1950–1951

385 Villa Nicolé 1988–1991

200

Villa Primula Rossa 1960–1962

395

Sede del gruppo rionale fascista Evaristo Cappellozza 1937–1938

22

Sede del gruppo rionale fascista Nicola Bonservizi 1937–1938 32

Stazione di servizio Shell per la società Sirca 1937–1938 43 Borgo rurale Littorio 1938 52

Borgo rurale Fratelli Grinzato 1938 72

Ampliamento della sede del gruppo rionale fascista Italo Tinazzi 1938 76 Casa rurale 1938–1939 80

Casa del fascio 1938–1939

89

Casa del fascio 1938–1939

95 Monumento ai caduti 1938–1939 98 Casa del fascio 1939 104

Casa del fascio 1939–1940

114 Casa Gatto 1939–1940 120

Casa Doriguzzi 1939–1940

127

Casa del fascio 1939–1943

136 Ca’ Franca 1940–1941 142 Ca’ Stella 1940–1941 150

Negozio Amadio 1945–1948

208 Cinema Las Vegas 1961 217

Cinema Teatro Verdi 1961–1963

226 Cinema San Francisco 1962–1963 232 Complesso San Marco 1963 236 Complesso SIMMAR 1963–1965 240 (Ex) Cinema Mantegna 1963–1967 250 Hotel Flora 1965 259 Cassa Rurale ed Artigiana 1965–1966 264

Complesso Palladio 1965–1968

268 Boutique Saint George’s 1967 274

Mobilificio Fabris 1967–1968

280

Scuola elementare 1969–1971

288 Villa Venere 1970–1971 299

Villa Selene 2000 1970–1977

308

Scuola elementare 1972–1974

318

Caffè Speak Easy 1973–1975

324 Villa Acacie 1973–1976

Villa Orchidea 1973–1976

Mobilificio De Toni 1975–1977

List of Works

Quirino De Giorgio: An Architect’s Legacy

By Michel Carlana, Luca Mezzalira, Curzio Pentimalli

2 Casa 1931–1932

154

Cinema La Quirinetta 1946–1947

334

6 Casa 1933–1934

160

Cinema Altino 1946–1951

345 Memoriale 1973–1977

10 Negozio Benincà 1936–1937

173 Cinema Olimpico 1947

356

16

178 Stazione di servizio Shell 1948

368 Condominio San Giacomo 1975–1978

184 Cinema Cristallo 1949

376 Villa Urania 1980

192

Cinema Politeama 1950–1951

385 Villa Nicolé 1988–1991

200

Villa Primula Rossa 1960–1962

395

Sede del gruppo rionale fascista Evaristo Cappellozza 1937–1938

22

Sede del gruppo rionale fascista Nicola Bonservizi 1937–1938 32

Stazione di servizio Shell per la società Sirca 1937–1938 43 Borgo rurale Littorio 1938 52

Borgo rurale Fratelli Grinzato 1938 72

Ampliamento della sede del gruppo rionale fascista Italo Tinazzi 1938 76 Casa rurale 1938–1939 80

Casa del fascio 1938–1939

89

Casa del fascio 1938–1939

95 Monumento ai caduti 1938–1939 98 Casa del fascio 1939 104

Casa del fascio 1939–1940

114 Casa Gatto 1939–1940 120

Casa Doriguzzi 1939–1940

127

Casa del fascio 1939–1943

136 Ca’ Franca 1940–1941 142 Ca’ Stella 1940–1941 150

Negozio Amadio 1945–1948

208 Cinema Las Vegas 1961 217

Cinema Teatro Verdi 1961–1963

226 Cinema San Francisco 1962–1963 232 Complesso San Marco 1963 236 Complesso SIMMAR 1963–1965 240 (Ex) Cinema Mantegna 1963–1967 250 Hotel Flora 1965 259 Cassa Rurale ed Artigiana 1965–1966 264

Complesso Palladio 1965–1968

268 Boutique Saint George’s 1967 274

Mobilificio Fabris 1967–1968

280

Scuola elementare 1969–1971

288 Villa Venere 1970–1971 299

Villa Selene 2000 1970–1977

308

Scuola elementare 1972–1974

318

Caffè Speak Easy 1973–1975

324 Villa Acacie 1973–1976

Villa Orchidea 1973–1976

Mobilificio De Toni 1975–1977

List of Works

Quirino De Giorgio: An Architect’s Legacy

By Michel Carlana, Luca Mezzalira, Curzio Pentimalli

Quirino De Giorgio created some of the most significant buildings of the last century in Veneto, in a landscape made of memory, complexity and contradictions. Taken as a whole, his remaining works constitute a brief but fundamental part of the history of modern Italian architecture: a little trip through the twentieth century.

Travelling north from the city of Padua, just before reaching the Municipality of Camposampiero, a reinforced concrete building on an exceptional scale can be spotted to the west.

At first it is difficult to see what period it belongs to, but you are definitely attracted by the archaic appearance of this “edifice”.1 You are tempted to get closer for a clearer idea of its nature and size.

1

1 Quirino De Giorgio, bird’s eye view of the Memoriale at San Giorgio delle Pertiche in the Province of Padua, 1973.

Quirino De Giorgio created some of the most significant buildings of the last century in Veneto, in a landscape made of memory, complexity and contradictions. Taken as a whole, his remaining works constitute a brief but fundamental part of the history of modern Italian architecture: a little trip through the twentieth century.

Travelling north from the city of Padua, just before reaching the Municipality of Camposampiero, a reinforced concrete building on an exceptional scale can be spotted to the west.

At first it is difficult to see what period it belongs to, but you are definitely attracted by the archaic appearance of this “edifice”.1 You are tempted to get closer for a clearer idea of its nature and size.

1

1 Quirino De Giorgio, bird’s eye view of the Memoriale at San Giorgio delle Pertiche in the Province of Padua, 1973.

2

As was the case with other cemetery planners before him, Quirino De Giorgio not only designed the Memoriale at San Giorgio delle Pertiche but was buried inside the structure himself. He died in Abano Terme, in the Province of Padua, on 19 April 1997. It is only possible to find the architect’s own loculus after getting specific instructions,2 as there is no inscription, only a polished stone slab and a little timeworn sheet, almost as if testifying to the state of suspension and anonymity.

The tomb of Adolf Loos without the name “Adolf Loos”.

2 At the time of writing, Quirino De Giorgio is buried in the cemetery of San Giorgio delle Pertiche, on the raised floor of the northern side of the east wing, in an anonymous loculus marked by a creased sheet of paper.

The precise coordinates for finding the architect’s grave were only obtained after a personal phone call to his partner, Luigina Tromben.

Casa, 1931–1932. View of the house in the urban context

Casa, 1931–1932. Main south-west facade, along Via Giotto

Quirino De Giorgio is an unknown architect: this is the starting point. It is only possible to approach him by physically discovering the locations of his remaining works. A man without a tomb, without a place, is a man who roams as if he were still alive.

Casa, 1931–1932. Via Giotto 50, I–35121 Padua (PD) 45°24’52.02”N, 11°52’30.29”E

3

2

As was the case with other cemetery planners before him, Quirino De Giorgio not only designed the Memoriale at San Giorgio delle Pertiche but was buried inside the structure himself. He died in Abano Terme, in the Province of Padua, on 19 April 1997. It is only possible to find the architect’s own loculus after getting specific instructions,2 as there is no inscription, only a polished stone slab and a little timeworn sheet, almost as if testifying to the state of suspension and anonymity.

The tomb of Adolf Loos without the name “Adolf Loos”.

2 At the time of writing, Quirino De Giorgio is buried in the cemetery of San Giorgio delle Pertiche, on the raised floor of the northern side of the east wing, in an anonymous loculus marked by a creased sheet of paper.

The precise coordinates for finding the architect’s grave were only obtained after a personal phone call to his partner, Luigina Tromben.

Casa, 1931–1932. View of the house in the urban context

Casa, 1931–1932. Main south-west facade, along Via Giotto

Quirino De Giorgio is an unknown architect: this is the starting point. It is only possible to approach him by physically discovering the locations of his remaining works. A man without a tomb, without a place, is a man who roams as if he were still alive.

Casa, 1931–1932. Via Giotto 50, I–35121 Padua (PD) 45°24’52.02”N, 11°52’30.29”E

3

4

It is easy to imagine finding him sitting under one of his works or in its vicinity. The search for Quirino De Giorgio starts from these surviving works.

Our journey is a fulfilling one as it forces us to ask ourselves where we come from. It makes us knock on the closed doors of the remaining buildings, gauging their state and the changes time has made on them.

Casa, 1931–1932. Corner detail at street level

Casa, 1931–1932. Secondary entrance

It makes us talk to the inhabitants – sometimes not the original ones – who have personalised these surviving works with different inflections of their own.

Today, in a total state of absence and ignorance about the significance of the architecture, tracing these steps could help us reacquire a sort of sense of responsibility towards the places and the architectural works themselves.

Casa, 1931–1932. First and ground floor plans, cross section

5

4

It is easy to imagine finding him sitting under one of his works or in its vicinity. The search for Quirino De Giorgio starts from these surviving works.

Our journey is a fulfilling one as it forces us to ask ourselves where we come from. It makes us knock on the closed doors of the remaining buildings, gauging their state and the changes time has made on them.

Casa, 1931–1932. Corner detail at street level

Casa, 1931–1932. Secondary entrance

It makes us talk to the inhabitants – sometimes not the original ones – who have personalised these surviving works with different inflections of their own.

Today, in a total state of absence and ignorance about the significance of the architecture, tracing these steps could help us reacquire a sort of sense of responsibility towards the places and the architectural works themselves.

Casa, 1931–1932. First and ground floor plans, cross section

5

There is an extremely pressing need to win back some of the specific reasoning of the Italian tradition of architectural planning: the simple fact of the correspondence of skills.

Casa del fascio, 1939. The casa del fascio seen from Via Cavour

100

Casa del fascio, 1939. Detail of the north-east facade

When we attempt to observe what characterises today’s (Italian) architecture almost a century later, we note an increasingly frequent split between it and a human dimension. A separation between architecture and man and an increasingly decipherable vision of the city. What can be seen, though not specifically related to the profession, is a territorial composition made up of regulations and parcels, in which the logic of the addition (and not that of the idea of the whole) characterises the places of everyday life.

Casa del fascio, 1939. View of the building from the north-west

101

There is an extremely pressing need to win back some of the specific reasoning of the Italian tradition of architectural planning: the simple fact of the correspondence of skills.

Casa del fascio, 1939. The casa del fascio seen from Via Cavour

100

Casa del fascio, 1939. Detail of the north-east facade

When we attempt to observe what characterises today’s (Italian) architecture almost a century later, we note an increasingly frequent split between it and a human dimension. A separation between architecture and man and an increasingly decipherable vision of the city. What can be seen, though not specifically related to the profession, is a territorial composition made up of regulations and parcels, in which the logic of the addition (and not that of the idea of the whole) characterises the places of everyday life.

Casa del fascio, 1939. View of the building from the north-west

101

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. Via Villa del Bosco 114, I–35029 Pontelongo (PD) 45°14’36.49”N, 12°01’20.96”E

Stripped of facile prejudices and naive reasoning, it would be easy to assume that the last true idea of a town in Italy is that from the Fascist period.

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. Detail of the south-east facade with the arengario and the base with steps

104

The whole, in turn, is determined by the place.

If compared, the two Borghi rurali (rural villages) of Candiana and Vigonza, both in the Province of Padua, exhibit different outcomes that were produced using the same process.

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. View of the building immersed in the park

105

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. Via Villa del Bosco 114, I–35029 Pontelongo (PD) 45°14’36.49”N, 12°01’20.96”E

Stripped of facile prejudices and naive reasoning, it would be easy to assume that the last true idea of a town in Italy is that from the Fascist period.

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. Detail of the south-east facade with the arengario and the base with steps

104

The whole, in turn, is determined by the place.

If compared, the two Borghi rurali (rural villages) of Candiana and Vigonza, both in the Province of Padua, exhibit different outcomes that were produced using the same process.

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. View of the building immersed in the park

105

From case to case, whatever the function, De Giorgio’s works were so disorientating (at times because of their monumentality, at others because of excessive discretion), that they appear as elements for the rearrangement of the landscape and for providing a sense of measure. No camouflaging tricks but an infinite range of stereometrical inventions and typological redraftings.

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. Model from the large inner room with bas-relief (second project)

110

To get a better understanding of the nature of his buildings, which is “universal” in a certain sense,42 it is necessary to explore his works individually and examine them in the context in which they were being rooted.

42 During various interviews with the architect Paolo Brentel, a friend of Quirino De Giorgio in adulthood, who oversaw the restoration of the Casa del fascio in Vigonza in the Province of Padua, the word “universal” was often repeated when defining De Giorgio’s work. In order to make what Brentel intended a little more specific, we might recall some of Foucault’s reflections on the Universal Intellectual (Michel Foucault, Microfisica del potere, Einaudi, Turin, 1971, pp. 21–25).

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. Longitudinal section

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. The current bowling alley, looking south

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. The current bowling alley, looking north

111

From case to case, whatever the function, De Giorgio’s works were so disorientating (at times because of their monumentality, at others because of excessive discretion), that they appear as elements for the rearrangement of the landscape and for providing a sense of measure. No camouflaging tricks but an infinite range of stereometrical inventions and typological redraftings.

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. Model from the large inner room with bas-relief (second project)

110

To get a better understanding of the nature of his buildings, which is “universal” in a certain sense,42 it is necessary to explore his works individually and examine them in the context in which they were being rooted.

42 During various interviews with the architect Paolo Brentel, a friend of Quirino De Giorgio in adulthood, who oversaw the restoration of the Casa del fascio in Vigonza in the Province of Padua, the word “universal” was often repeated when defining De Giorgio’s work. In order to make what Brentel intended a little more specific, we might recall some of Foucault’s reflections on the Universal Intellectual (Michel Foucault, Microfisica del potere, Einaudi, Turin, 1971, pp. 21–25).

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. Longitudinal section

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. The current bowling alley, looking south

Casa del fascio, 1939–1940. The current bowling alley, looking north

111

Casa Gatto, 1939–1940. The north-east corner seen from Via Cristoforo Colombo

Imagination is the first tool: imagination that is allencompassing and not two-dimensional, that he immortalises in its initial stages with a series of “tentative” perspectives.44

115

Casa Gatto, 1939–1940. Detail of the facade on Via Guglielmo Marconi

114

When we explore his buildings, the design process, reiterated in several interviews and contributions, is clear.

44 Quirino De Giorgio, tentative hypothesis for the solution of Mobilificio De Toni at San Giorgio delle Pertiche, 1975.

Casa Gatto, 1939–1940. Via Guglielmo Marconi 5, I–35122 Padua (PD) 45°23’54.25”N, 11°52’3.65”E

Casa Gatto, 1939–1940. The north-east corner seen from Via Cristoforo Colombo

Imagination is the first tool: imagination that is allencompassing and not two-dimensional, that he immortalises in its initial stages with a series of “tentative” perspectives.44

115

Casa Gatto, 1939–1940. Detail of the facade on Via Guglielmo Marconi

114

When we explore his buildings, the design process, reiterated in several interviews and contributions, is clear.

44 Quirino De Giorgio, tentative hypothesis for the solution of Mobilificio De Toni at San Giorgio delle Pertiche, 1975.

Casa Gatto, 1939–1940. Via Guglielmo Marconi 5, I–35122 Padua (PD) 45°23’54.25”N, 11°52’3.65”E

Quirino De Giorgio (1907–1997) is one of few Italian architects whose career covers the entire span of the twentieth century: from Futurism through Fascism to the experimentations following the arrival of reinforced concrete. He masterfully articulated the full range of possibilities of a project in a multiscalar approach: from the smallest architectural scale of techniques, engineering, composition and detail to the larger urban scale, marked by his unique capacity to interpret places.

Quirino De Giorgio: An Architect’s Legacy contains a reading of his surviving works through the photographs of Enrico Rizzato – some ninety buildings that take the reader on a journey across the different facets of Italian architecture.

The book includes redrawings produced by the authors – mostly plans and sections – which accompany the images and allow the reader to understand De Giorgio’s spatial, structural, urban and landscaping inventions, showcasing the universality of his architectural creations as well as the transformations that time has stamped on them. It is not intended to be an atlas or a map, a monograph in the traditional sense or a photography book, but rather, it incorporates all these different dimensions at the same time.