Architecture in Upper Italy 1946-1976.
In contemporary photographs and newly drawn plans, architect Martin Feiersinger and sculptor Werner Feiersinger have rediscovered the post-war architecture of northern Italy: idiosyncratic and characteristic buildings by neorealists, rationalists, brutalists and organicists. The review, put together with aut. architektur und tirol, can now for the first time be seen in Germany: from 26 September 2019 to 15 July 2020 at the Finstral Studio Friedberg, right on the A8 autobahn by Augsburg.
With the comprehensive inventory of ITALOMODERN, Werner and Martin Feiersinger guide our gaze towards the heterogeneous architecture of the post-war era in northern Italy. The brothers focus on two separate aspects according to their respective perspectives as sculptor and architect. “On the one hand are the sculptural qualities of the buildings, their materiality and the various surfaces, on the other are the creation of space, functional design and integration into the surroundings.” - say Martin and Werner Feiersinger.
The show ranges from the precursors of today's “tiny houses” such as the “Case Zucca” of Mario Cavallè in Milan and small residential houses such as the “Casa Rossa” of Gino Valle in Udine, to today’s bold residential complexes in Trieste and Genoa. The photos exhibited, 115 in total, also include images of the machine-like architecture of Olivetti's “La Serra” Hotel in Ivrea, the spectacular silhouette of the “Torre Velasca” by BBPR in Milan or the courageous constructions and individual works of lesser-known architects. Not timeless architecture, then, but rather buildings that are a clear expression of a time when people looked, full of optimism, to a future shaped by architecture.
Image above: Mario Cere Ghini, bivouac, Lecco, Grignetta, 1966-67
Image on right: Iginio Cappai, Pietro Mainardis, Olivetti Hotel, Ivrea, 1967-75