Ignazio Gardella began working on architectural projects in Alessandria in 1929, including the Dispensario Antitubercolare (1929-1930), which is regarded as an example of Italian Rationalism, and the Laboratorio Provinciale di Igiene. He was laying the groundwork for his future career as an architect. He was recognised for his work in the Rogers editorial group’s journal “Casabella,” famed for its Italian architecture creativity.
Early Years
Despite being one of the most prominent proponents of the style, Gardella chose to break free from Rationalism’s creative limits. To that goal, he travelled to many countries to study different techniques. He began by travelling to Germany, where he attended the Frankfurt School and became acquainted with German architecture. In 1938, he travelled to Finland to see Ilmari Tapiovaara’s mentor, designer Alvar Aalto. That same year, he returned to Italy with a completely new design concept. He designed the Milan-Green concept, which became the foundation for the AR Plan to reconstruct the city following WWII.
Biography
Gardella and a group of young architects from Milan created the Studi Architettura Movement in 1945 after WWII, intending to outline the foundations of Italian Rationalism. From building design to university lectures, the group championed postwar Italian architecture. Gardella began teaching at the IUAV in Venice in 1947 and was promoted to a chaired position in 1962.
Throughout the 1950s, Gardella was involved in key initiatives that helped to rebuild Italy. The Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea in Milan (1953), the Casa delle Zattere in Venice (1958), and the Olivetti canteen in Ivrea are among them (1958). He began working on increasingly difficult projects that necessitated superior architectural and engineering skills in the years that followed. Among the most notable examples are the Alfa Romeo offices in Arese (1972), the new headquarters of the Faculty of Architecture in Genoa (1989), and the Palace of Justice in La Spezia (1994).
Ignazio Gardella was critical of his work and frequently wished to break free from Rationalism’s canons. Sensitivity and a good eye, he thought, were the tools for creating forms and thicknesses. This defiance led to his Digamma armchair, which was first published in 1957 by Dino Gavina and is presently published by Santa & Cole. With a rationalist body (seat and back) and ultra-rational articulations (arms and legs), the Digamma armchair (1957) is the clearest manifestation of Gardella’s effort to overcome Rationalism: it is a little masterpiece of great aesthetic and formal worth.
Recognition
The President of the Italian Republic awarded Ignazio Gardella the Medaglia d’oro ai benemeriti della scienza e della culture in 1996. Gardella’s career in architecture and design has been one of national renewal, as he is voracious and determined. Jacopo Gardella, his son, became an architect as well.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
Ignazio Gardella – Biography | Santa & Cole. https://www.santacole.com/en/biographies/?ignazio-gardella
Additional Reading
Ambasz, E. (Ed.). (1972). Italy: The new domestic landscape: Achievements and problems of Italian design (No. 15). New York Graphic Society Books.Bosoni, G. (2008). Italian design. MoMA.
Burigana, A., & Ciampi, M. (2006). Italian designers at home. Seagull Books.
Calefato, P. (2021). Fashion as Cultural Translation: Signs, Images, Narratives. United Kingdom: Anthem Press.
Celant, G., & Strauss, C. (2020). Radical: Italian Design 1965-1985: The Dennis Freedman Collection. The Museum of Fine Arts.
Ciampi, M., Burigana, A. (2006). Italian Designers at Home. United Kingdom: Antique Collectors Club Limited.
Gnoli, S., Bowles, H. (2020). The World of Federico Forquet: Italian Fashion, Interiors, Gardens. United States: Rizzoli International Publications, Incorporated.
Hunt, J. D. (Ed.). (1996). The Italian Garden: Art, Design and Culture. Cambridge University Press.
Lazzaro, C., & Lieberman, R. (1990). The Italian Renaissance garden: from the conventions of planting, design, and ornament to the grand gardens of sixteenth-century Central Italy (p. 826). New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Lees-Maffei, G., & Fallan, K. (2014). Made in Italy rethinking a century of Italian design. Bloomsbury.
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Giancarlo Pozzi (1924 – ) Italian Industrial Designer
Pozzi’s professional career began in 1950. He worked with architect Alberto Rosselli from 1963 to 1967. From 1970 to 1974, he collaborated with Achile Castiglioni and the Ponti/Fornaroli/Rosselli Studio.Read More →
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The Wit and Humour of the Gibigiana Table Lamp
Castiglioni’s approach to design is characterised by wit and humour, which is portrayed here by a shape that resembles an animal or bird. The Gibigiana is a table light that may be adjusted. It includes a dimmer and produces reflected light. Read More →
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Centre Pompidou Presents Retrospective on Designer Ettore Sottsass
Although he was largely known for founding the design group, Memphis Milano, Sottsass always reverted back to painting to free his senses. This liberation would frequently and characteristically appear in all the work he’d create throughout his life. Lamps, chairs, cabinets — anything that released the senses.Read More →
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How the Memphis Design Movement Made a Comeback
To call an armchair or a bookcase “revolutionary” might seem like a stretch, but for the design world, the original show of the Memphis design movement was as genuinely shocking as the first Sex Pistols performance. But unlike his revolutionary punk predecessors, Ettore Sottsass, this design moment’s founder, certainly knew the rules he was breaking…
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‘The New Domestic Landscape’ – MoMA’s ambitious design show 1972
THE NEW DOMESTIC LANDSCAPE was one of The Museum of Modern Art’s most ambitious design shows. The exhibition, directed and built by Emilio Ambasz, Curator of Design in the Museum’s Department of Architecture and Design, focused on current design trends in Italy with 180 items for everyday use and 11 environments commissioned by the Museum.Read More…
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Flavio Conti Italian architect and designer
Flavio Conti is an Italian architect and designer; born Legnago, Verona; active Milan. He studiedRead More →
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