The Built Work of Giuseppe Pizzigoni 9783035624601, 9783035624588

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The Built Work of Giuseppe Pizzigoni

The Built Work of Giuseppe Pizzigoni Luciano Motta

with an Essay by Wim van den Bergh

Birkhäuser

Giuseppe Pizzigoni, Scheme of economy of space for the project “EGEO”, Competition of Banca Popolare di Bergamo for Housing Reconstruction after World War II, 1948 (Pizzigoni 1982, p. 90)

Contents

8 Acknowledgements

Part 1 11

Pizzigoni’s Journey through Modern Architecture, Wim van den Bergh

39

Introduction to the Atlas of Pizzigoni’s Built Work

Part 2 51

Atlas of Pizzigoni’s Built Work

52

Plate I

House for his father, Bergamo, 1925–27 (I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stairs

54

Plate II

House for his father, Bergamo, 1925–27 (II). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stairs

56

Plate III

Traversi House, Bergamo, 1930. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

58

Plate IV

Locatelli House, Bergamo, 1931. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stairs

60

Plate V

Invernizzi Tomb, Bergamo, 1931



Monument to Lawyers Fallen in World War I, Bergamo, 1930



Facchinetti Tomb, Bergamo, 1934. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

62

Ghezzi Tomb, Bergamo, 1934

Plate VI



Crespi Tomb, Bergamo, 1957



Monument to Military Health Corps, Bergamo, 1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

64

Plate VII

Rinaldi-Ardiani House, Selvino (Bergamo), 1932. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Circulation

66

Plate VIII

Rooms C and D at the Fascist Revolution Exhibition, Rome, 1932. . . Proportions

68

Plate IX

Monument to the Calvi Brothers, Bergamo, 1933. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

70

Plate X

Cubo House, Bergamo, 1933–35 (I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roofs

72

Plate XI

Cubo House, Bergamo, 1933–35 (II) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

74

Plate XII

Alemanni House, Roncobello (Bergamo), 1938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

76

Plate XIII

Entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church, Bergamo,



1943–49 (I) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

78

Entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church, Bergamo,

Plate XIV



1943–49 (II). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

80

Plate XV

Double-rise staircase and mezzanine, Bergamo, 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stairs

82

Plate XVI

Ardiani Tomb, Bergamo, 1946 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

84

Plate XVII

Baj Tomb, Bergamo, 1947 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

86

Plate XVIII

Minima House, Bergamo, 1946 (I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orientation

88

Plate XIX

Minima House, Bergamo, 1946 (II). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Windows

90

Plate XX

Azimonti-Fortis House, Bergamo, 1949 (I) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Windows

92

Plate XXI

Azimonti-Fortis House, Bergamo, 1949 (II). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Circulation

94

Plate XXII

Parish Cinema-Theatre, Stezzano (Bergamo), 1950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

96

Plate XXIII

Fara Houses, Bergamo, 1949. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Circulation

98

Plate XXIV

Mayer Printing Works and Apartments, Bergamo, 1953 (I) . . . . . . . . . . . . Circulation

100

Plate XXV

Mayer Printing Works and Apartments, Bergamo, 1953 (II) . . . . . . . . . . . Roofs

102

Plate XXVI

Rota Apartments in Via Matris Domini, Bergamo, 1952. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orientation

104

Plate XXVII

Maffioletti Tomb, Bergamo, 1951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

106

Plate XXVIII

Pedrini-Cornelli Tomb, Villa d’Almè (Bergamo), 1951–52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

108

Plate XXIX

Traversi Tomb, Bergamo, 1950–54 (I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

110

Plate XXX

Traversi Tomb, Bergamo, 1950–54 (II). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roofs

112

Plate XXXI

Broletti House, Pontenossa (Bergamo), 1951 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Windows

114

Plate XXXII

Lubrina House, Bergamo, 1953 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Windows

116

Plate XXXIII

Bosis House, Tavernola Bergamasca (Bergamo), 1954 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Windows

118

Plate XXXIV

Gilberti House, Gorlago (Bergamo), 1951–56. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roofs

120

Plate XXXV

Celadina Parish Centre, Bergamo, 1955–58 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

122

Plate XXXVI

Primary School, Rota d’Imagna (Bergamo), 1946–62. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orientation

124

Plate XXXVII Finazzi Building, Bergamo, 1956 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Circulation

126

Plate XXXVIII Parish House, Brusaporto (Bergamo), 1957. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orientation

128

Plate XXXIX

Riva House, Bergamo, 1957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roofs

130

Plate XL

INA Social Housing, Trescore Balneario (Bergamo), 1957–59. . . . . . . . . . Circulation

132

Plate XLI

Billi Tomb, Bergamo, 1957. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

134

Plate XLII

Comana Marble Works, Seriate (Bergamo), 1957 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

136

Plate XLIII

Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957 (I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orientation

138

Plate XLIV

Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957 (II) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

140

Plate XLV

Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957 (III) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

142

Plate XLVI

Bordogna House, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1958 (I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

144

Plate XLVII

Bordogna House, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1958 (II). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Circulation

146

Plate XLVIII

Mayer House, Bergamo, 1959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roofs

148

Plate XLIX

Paleocapa Technical High School, Bergamo, 1958 and 1965. . . . . . . . . . . Windows

150

Plate L

Extension of the Donizetti Theatre, Bergamo, 1959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

152

Plate LI

Pipia Tomb, Bergamo, 1959 (I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

154

Plate LII

Pipia Tomb, Bergamo, 1959 (II) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

156

Plate LIII

Nani Tomb, Bergamo, 1959



Pizzigoni Tomb, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1959. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

158

Overview of the most noteworthy hyperbolic paraboloids

Plate LIV



built by Pizzigoni between 1956 and 1964. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

160

Plate LV

Cheesemaker’s house, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo), 1960–62. . . . . . . . . Structure

162

Plate LVI

Cheese factory, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo), 1960–62. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Windows

164

Plate LVII

Pig barns, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo), 1960–62 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Circulation

166

Plate LVIII

Sanguinetti Padoa House, Rome, 1961. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orientation

168

Plate LIX

Nursery school, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1960–63 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roofs

170

Plate LX

Celadina Nursery School, Bergamo, 1963. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Windows

172

Plate LXI

C.E.P. Nursery Schools, Bergamo, 1965. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

174

Plate LXII

Town hall, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1962–65. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

176

Plate LXIII

Pezzoli House, Leffe (Bergamo), 1964 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

178

Plate LXIV

Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960–65 (I) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure 

180

Plate LXV

Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960–65 (II). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stairs

182

Plate LXVI

Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960–65 (III) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Windows

184

Plate LXVII

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964 (I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orientation

186

Plate LXVIII

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964 (II). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

188

Plate LXIX

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964 (III). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure

190

Plate LXX

Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo, 1961–65 (I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proportions

192

Plate LXXI

Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo, 1961–65 (II) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

194

Plate LXXII

Brandolisio Tomb, Bergamo, 1966



Bruni Tomb, Bergamo, 1966. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Construction

Part 3 197



Chronology of Pizzigoni’s Built Works

232

Collection of Recent Photographs

287

Bibliography

293

Index of Buildings by Giuseppe Pizzigoni

295

Illustration Credits



Acknowledgements

This work is the result of research begun in 2011 with Wim van den Bergh. Its general structure, the research method and the choice of content originate from Wim’s ideas and teachings, especially during the years we worked together at the RWTH University in Aachen (Germany). Special thanks are also due to Wim’s team at RWTH, especially Karen, Mark and Nathalie for their advice and support. It would not be possible here to name all the people who have known and contributed to the development of this volume since I have been living in Germany. I can only say that Pizzigoni’s work has always been received with the most sincere interest and curiosity by students and teachers at RWTH, and ­other schools of architecture, as well as among practising architects. Rolf Gerhardt and Alberto Pugnale have been invaluable in finding a way to analyse and describe Pizzigoni’s projects featuring concrete shells. I would also like to thank the staff of the Angelo Mai Library in Bergamo, who were so willing to provide unlimited access to the materials in the Pizzigoni Archive. Among the people in Ber­gamo who have supported my research in different ways, I would like to mention Elisabetta Manca, director of the Angelo Mai Library, Paolo Belloni, for his advice and systematic work at the archive, Attilio Pizzigoni, for his generosity in editing the main publication on the subject and for making it possible to set up the archive, Davide Pagliarini, for his advice and work with the magazine ARK, and all the current owners of Pizzigoni’s works, who with pride and generosity have almost always opened the doors of their homes and in some cases even contributed to enriching the documentary material at my disposal. Special thanks go to Mary McIntosh, the translator, for her professionalism and patience in finding the terms appropriate to the discipline. Simple thanks are not enough to express my gratitude to Carolin Stapenhorst, because everything about our work is the result of more than 20 years of living and working together. 8

This work is dedicated to Antonia, my mother and Giuseppe Pizzigoni’s daughter, with whom I discussed and shared every aspect of her father’s work. She has provided innumerable informations regarding works, dates and people, practically everything that was not to be found in bibliographic and archival sources. Above all, her points of view have always been sincere and intelligent, and this was the most useful thing I could have possibly wished for in order to understand the life and work of Pino Pizzi­goni.

9

Pizzigoni’s Journey through Modern Architecture Wim van den Bergh

1  Pino Pizzigoni, Self-portrait, 1943

My first encounter with Giuseppe (Pino) Pizzigoni’s work was in 1980, while still a student. I was researching the work of another local hero, Frits Peutz, in Heerlen. In going through Peutz’s enormous library I came upon an Italian publication on cemeteries called Architettura Funeraria Moderna, by Roberto Aloi, first published by Hoepli in Milan, in 1941 and then reprinted twice with the addition of more recent projects, first in 1948 and then again in 1953. In the 1953 version that Peutz possessed, two burial chap11

2  Baj Tomb, Bergamo, 1947

els attracted my attention, the Baj Tomb (Fig. 2) and the Ardiani Tomb, both by the same architect, Giuseppe Pizzigoni, and both situated in the cemetery of Bergamo. What actually interested me in those funeral chapels was their tectonic quality, in other words the rational relationship between form, proportion, material and construction. One should keep in mind that this was the period in which the work of the Italian Rationalists was high on a student’s agenda and its formal aspects in particular captivated the mind and attracted the eye. At first sight, both chapels fitted into that genre of Italian Rationalist architecture and looked like interesting formal exercises, until one realised ­(after reading the captions) that they were made entirely out of 12

3  Rinaldi-Ardiani House, Selvino, 1932

only one material, namely granite and not, as one first expected, reinforced concrete. Thus, these were not just formal follies but real tectonic experiments in which the ‘rational’ limits of form, proportion, material and construction were literally tested to breaking point. And as I reflect on my own design work from that period (such as the Mono-tube Chair of 1981), these truly tectonic experiments, in which form, proportion, material and construction became the expression of one fundamental ‘rational’ idea, were what interested and intrigued me. However, my initial search to find out more about the work of this Giuseppe Pizzigoni in books, and via the Avery Index in periodicals, delivered very little. Other than those burial chapels, one found the House for his father in Bergamo (1925–27) and an intriguing image (echoing the work of Adolf Loos) of the Rinaldi-­ Ardiani House in Selvino of 1932 (Fig. 3). Then a few years later, in 1986, in the course of a publication on Frits Peutz for Casabella, I met two young Italian architects, Mirko Zardini and Luca Ortelli, who worked as editors for Electa and as such were very well informed about the architects of the Rationalist period. So I asked them if they knew anything about an architect from that period by the name of Giuseppe Pizzigoni from Bergamo. Initially they told me they had never heard of him, but would make some inquiries for me. A few days later Mirko Zardini informed me that after a little searching he had found out that Electa had actually published a small book on Pizzigoni’s work in 1982, entitled Pizzigoni, Invito allo spazio progretti e architetture 13

4  Minima House, Bergamo, 1946

1923–1967 (Pizzigoni, Invitation to space, projects and architecture 1923–1967). After obtaining the book it became clear to me why Pizzigoni was so little known as a so-called ‘Rationalist’ architect and had been neglected for a long time by the architectural historians. Not unlike the reception of Peutz’s work in Dutch architectural history, Pizzigoni’s very diverse works just didn’t fit seamlessly into the usual frameworks constructed by historians to identify and evaluate the historical importance of an architect and his work. This is because that system of “categories” is mainly based on stylistic novelty and then formal consistency over time. But that was not what the work of Pizzigoni was about; as a self-conscious architect of his time, his quest, and as such his historical contribution to architecture’s body of knowledge, was to find a rational link between art and technique. In essence, it was to find out how to establish a synergy between both the inherently formal and the fundamentally spatio-structural character of the new and so-called ‘modern’ architecture of the post-World War I period. And his method was to constantly experiment with different forms, different proportions, different materials and different types of construction, whether these were modern or traditional. ­Consequently, this was very similar to the self-conscious and experimental attitude towards the development of architecture as his contem­ porary Peutz. 14

Some years later, while staying in the vicinity of Bergamo, I paid a short visit to its monumental cemetery to see those funeral chapels that had drawn my attention to Pizzigoni’s work and I searched for the ‘Casa minima unifamiliare’ (Minima House, Fig. 4). This was an intriguing little house I had discovered in the book that Pizzigoni designed in the same year he also designed the aforementioned chapels. Actually, this strange-looking tiny house was a marvellous piece of three-dimensional thinking in terms of space, functionality, size and, presumably, perspectival perception of its interior which I wanted to experience in reality (Figs. 5, 6). However, I couldn’t find it. Its address in the book was indicated as Campo Brumana (an address that didn’t exist anymore) and since it was a prototype I presumed it had been demolished. Nevertheless, this strange little marvel of a machine à habiter kept recurring in my mind. Thus, when somewhere at the beginning of the new millennium Gilbert Hansen asked me if I would like “to contribute a drawing on the concept of detail in another

5  Minima House, Bergamo, 1946. Plans, Sections and Elevations by Pizzigoni

6  Minima House, Bergamo, 1946. Details by Pizzigoni 15

7/8  Minima House, Bergamo, 1946. Drawings by Wim van den Bergh 16

architect’s work” for an issue of the Danish magazine B Arki­tek­ turtidsskrift that he was planning, Pizzigoni’s Minima House came to mind. Reconstructing it by means of a drawing (I thought) would probably help me to understand its three-dimensional secrets better. I sent Gilbert my drawing (Figs. 7, 8) together with the book and then forgot about it until a few years later when I needed some images from the book for a lecture and could not find it in my library anymore. Upon contacting Gilbert to get it back, I learned that the issue on ‘Details/Detaljere’ had not been forgotten, but had taken much more time than he had expected, and would come out just a week after our exchange (Van den Bergh, 2005). Well, there are coincidences and coincidences. It must have been somewhere around 2005 that a young Italian architect by the name of Luciano Motta contacted me. His wife, also a young architect, had been a former student of mine at the RWTH Aachen University and he was currently doing his PhD research at the IUAV University of Venice, and the subject of his doctoral thesis was ‘The Project for the Town Hall in Heerlen (Frits Peutz, 1936/ 1942)’. Two years after a very interesting conversation with him on Peutz’s architecture, I received a complimentary copy of his impressive doctoral thesis accompanied by a nice letter, which, according to the return address, had been sent from Bergamo. So in the letter I sent to him to compliment him on his work, I asked, mainly out of curiosity, whether he was familiar with the work of a rather obscure architect from his hometown, a fellow by the name of Pino Pizzigoni whose projects had intrigued me. Well, I guess you can imagine my surprise when he wrote me back that this Pino Pizzigoni was in fact his grandfather, whom he had never met since nonno Pino died before he had been born, but that his f­ amily was still living in Pizzigoni’s first realised work, the House for his father. He further told me that the Minima House was still in rather good condition. Life and Work, 1901–67 Giuseppe (Pino) Pizzigoni (Bergamo, 1901– 67) was the first child of Attilio Pizzigoni, a lawyer, and Maria Patirani. His mother died in childbirth when he was only three years old. Already at an early age Pino was passionate about painting and found a teacher in the painter Giacomo Bosis (1863–1947), who (like Carrà, Sant’Elia and Boccioni) had been a student of Cesare Tallone at the famous Acca­ demia Carrara in Bergamo. However, after completing high school in 1918, the young Pizzigoni did not follow his early passion for painting by continuing his studies at the Accademia Carrara, or the equally famous Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. Instead, he enrolled at the Politecnico di Milano to study architecture. Here, between 1919 and 1924 he studied together with other students such as Giuseppe Terragni, Luigi Figini, Gino Pollini, Piero Bottoni, 17

Carlo Enrico Rava and Luciano Baldessari. His favourite teachers were the eclectic architect Gaetano Moretti and the young assistant Giovanni Muzio.

Novecentismo, 1924–30 During his military service, Pizzigoni’s first realised work of architecture became, from 1925–27, the House for his father in Ber­gamo (Fig. 9). It is an excellent example of so-called Novecento architecture, which as such was immediately published by Gio Ponti in the March 1928 issue of Domus, a new magazine that Ponti had founded the same year. It was in fact Ponti’s new vehicle to promote “domestic” Italian neoclassical culture and act as a fore­runner between the “false antique” and the “ugly modern”. Novecentismo was the Italian name for a group of young artists and architects in and around Milan that corresponded to the European tendency of a ‘call to order’ after World War I. It initially grew out of a group of seven artists at the Galleria Pesaro in Milan in 1922 and was led by Margherita Sarfatti, a writer and art critic for Mussolini’s newspaper, Popolo d’Italia. The group consisted of the painters Mario Sironi, Achille Funi, Anselmo Bucci, Leonardo Dudreville, Gian Emilio Malerba, Piero Marussig and Ubaldo Oppi. Independently of this first group, there was another with the same name, whose aim was to link their new artistic developments to the great art of the past. It consisted of a group of architects

9  House for his father, Bergamo, 1927 18

inspired by Milanese Neo-classicism who tried to promote a renewed yet recognizably Italian architecture linked more with the aims of metaphysical painters such as Giorgio de Chirico or Carlo Carrà than with those of the Futurists like Mario Chiattone or Antonio Sant’Elia. The initial group of architects consisted of Giovanni M ­ uzio, Gio Ponti, Mino Fiocchi and Emilio Lancia, joined later by Pino Pizzigoni, Alpago Novello, Aldo Andreani, Giuseppe de Finetti, Gigiotto Zanini, Piero Portaluppi and others. Novecentismo was an integral part of the period in which Italian Rationalism was slowly establishing itself, a period in which Italy’s new order in the form of Mussolini’s Fascism (which had come to power in 1922) was still in search of a formal language and a distinctive style for its new buildings and monuments. As elsewhere in Europe, in Italy the roaring twenties was a period in which art and architecture had to redefine themselves, finding rational links between the traditional and the modern, craft and industry, art and technique, and establishing a synergy between both the inherently formal and the fundamentally structural character of the new, to wit, ‘modern’ art and architecture. In Pizzigoni’s case, what happened was that an architect by training would develop by means of his collaborations into both an artist and an engineer. In the period between 1925 and 1927, in which Pizzigoni was dealing with the House for his father, he entered a competition for a bridge in partnership with the engineer Gavazzi and started his collaboration with Giovanni Muzio. In 1926 he participated with Muzio in a competition for the planning of Bergamo Bassa (Ber­ gamo’s New Town) and he collaborated in the interior design of the Banca Bergamasca (new headquarters of a banking institution). In 1927, in collaboration with the architects Maiocchi and Montorfano, Pizzigoni won first prize in a competition for a fountain on the Piazza della Scala in Milan and he came third in the compe­ tition for the renovation of Bergamo’s Città Alta (Bergamo’s Old Town). Between 1927 and 1929 Pizzigoni and Muzio again worked ­together intensively with the painter Mario Sironi on the 1928 Padiglione della Stampa Italiana (Italian Press Pavilion) for the  Inter­ national Press Exhibition, Pressa, in Cologne (with the famous designs of El Lissitzky), and after that on the exhibition design for the Italian Pavilion at the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona (the one with Mies’ Barcelona Pavilion). Between 1929 and 1931 Pizzigoni joined studios with the engineer Michele Invernizzi, with whom he collaborated in several housing projects like the Workers Housing Clementina in Bergamo, Beratto House and Traversi House (Fig. 10). In the same period he won the competition for the Church in Gorno and collaborated with the Maiocchi brothers in the competition for the Cathedral of La Spezia. 19

10  Traversi House, Bergamo, 1930

In the meantime, he also designed and realised prototypes of furniture for the Monza Triennial IV, which was planned to take place in 1930. Here Pizzigoni also collaborated with the Novecento painter Achille Funi, on the design of the main hall, the ‘Salone della IV Triennale’. This was actually a crucial triennal, the last one located in Monza, that would mark a shift from the more traditional and classical to the more modern and industrial, featuring the title ‘Sintesi delle arti e funzionalità: Esposizione Triennale internazionale delle arti decorative ed industriali moderne’ (Synthesis of Arts and Functionality: International Triennial Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts). Three years later, the Triennial V (1933) would move to Milan and add ‘e dell’architettura moderna’ (and of Modern Architecture) to the official name. Its title ‘Stile – Civiltà: Esposizione triennale delle arti decorative e industriali moderne e 20

dell’architettura moderna’ (Style – Civilisation: Triennial Exhibition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts and Modern Architecture) showed that the gradual search for a formal language and distinguishing style to express the new and modern Italy under Mussolini was coming to a conclusion.

Razionalismo, 1931–37 Pizzigoni’s 1931 design for a house with a studio for the painter Romualdo Locatelli in Bergamo (Fig. 11) marked a first  change in his work. It was as if the themes of the Monza Triennial IV (1930), la semplificazione formale (formal simplification) and sintesi delle arti e funzionalità (synthesis of arts and functionality), had influenced the architectural discourse. The studio-home would be located in the rural countryside of Bergamo, more specifically on the Colle Bastia and would consequently be visible from afar. This brought to light an old paradox, namely how to stand out without standing out, or to paraphrase Gio Ponti, how to tread the nar­ row path between “fake traditional” and “ugly modern”? Pizzi­goni answered the question with the experienced eye of the painter. His constellation of pure geometric shapes blended in perfectly with both the landscape and the rural architecture, and he showed how those equally simple and functional tile-covered roofs had been the classical basis for all traditional housing types. In 1933 Pizzigoni won first prize for the Monument to the Brothers Calvi on Piazza Matteotti in Bergamo. In the same year he also assisted Muzio in the design of the Palazzo dell’Arte in Milan and collaborated with him in the embellishment of the

11  Locatelli House, Bergamo, 1931 21

12  Competition entry for the railway station in Florence, 1932

famous exhibition that year. This was the renowned Milan Triennial V, actually the first to take place in Milan; it featured the words ‘Stile – Civiltà’, a hint of things to come. The years between 1933 and 1937 were mainly the era of large architectural competitions for the monumental buildings that had to celebrate the glories of the new fascist state. Pizzigoni entered several of them. In 1933 he worked for a few months in Rome together with the architect Steiner at the ‘Concorso dell’Audi­ torium di Roma’ (Competition for a new auditorium in Rome). Then he entered the ‘Concorso per il Stazione di Firenze’ (Competition for the railway station of Florence, Fig. 12), the ‘Concorso per il Palazzo del Littorio di Roma’ (Competition for the Palazzo del Littorio in Rome), in collaboration with the engineer Giancarlo Eynard and the painter Achille Funi and the ‘Concorso per il Palazzo degli Uffici Statali a Bergamo’ (Competition for a new adminis­ trative building in Bergamo). This also was the period in which Pizzigoni’s tectonic experiments were mainly dealing with the formal and proportional aspects of the building’s structural frame in relation to its functionality, its construction and its materialization. Between 1933 and 1935, besides working on these competitions and teaching at the Accademia Carrara di Bergamo, Pizzigoni also became the director of Bergamo’s Scuola d’Arte Applicata 22

13  Cubo House, Bergamo, 1935

­Andrea Fantoni (School of Applied Arts) for the period of one year. In 1934, he started writing articles, with his piece called ‘Punti di vista artistici’ (Artistic points of view), followed one year later by two pieces on the subjects of windows (‘Finestre’) and walls (‘Muri’). Around the same period he started working on a project for the subdivision of the Orti Brentani in Bergamo including projects for several houses. Only one of them was realised, the so-called Cubo House (Fig. 13), a house with two apartments, built for two of his cousins (the Rivas). It was a simple cubic volume on four corner columns with the living room projecting out and overlooking the garden via a corner window. World War II, 1938–45 Pizzigoni had always refused to become a member of the fascist party and gradually started to feel the consequences. As early as 1936 he complained in a letter about the restrictive laws on the exercising of the profession for non-party members, which not only meant that he had difficulties getting commissions, but also that he was denied opportunities to participate in competitions and exhibitions. In 1938 he wrote a piece in L’Eco di Bergamo (23-04) with the title ‘Problemi d’arte: e il giudizio del popolo?’ (Problems of art: What about the judgement of the people?). 23

14  Apartment Building, Bergamo, 1936

15  Alemanni House, Roncobello, 1938. Below, Pizzigoni and Mr Alemanni looking at the newly completed house. Above, Mrs Alemanni at the window of the house on top of a bridge. 24

16  Roncalli Chairs, 1942

17  Pedrini Stool, 1948

Between 1935 and 1937 he produced some interesting designs for multi-storey buildings, experimenting in particular with vertical circulation types (Fig. 14). None of these projects were realised. Until 1938 the only commission was the design of a small mountain lodge for Alemanni (Fig. 15), or more accurately the construction of a little bridge over a small mountain stream with a lodge on top, in Roncobello. In the years that followed he only made designs for interiors and furniture (Figs. 16, 17) since the situation in Italy was deteriorating fast for non-party members. In 1939 Mussolini invaded Albania (in 1935 he had already invaded Ethiopia via Italy’s East African colonies, Eritrea and Somalia) and in 1939 Mussolini signed a full defensive alliance with Nazi Germany, known as the Pact of Steel. He had not yet declared war on Britain and France (this would not happen until mid-1940). In September 1940 he would invade Egypt from Libya, Italy’s colony in North Africa, and a few weeks later he was to declare war on Greece. However, from the very beginning things did not go as well as Mussolini had expected. In 1942 Pizzigoni married Giuseppina Gallina and their first child, Maria, was born before he was drafted for military duty, which he served on the Aegean island of Karpathos in 1943 (Fig. 18). In the turbulent period of the Repubblica di Salò, between September 1943 and mid-1945, much of Italy had already surrendered to the Allies, but a fascist puppet state virtually occupied by Nazi Germany went on until the complete liberation of Italy. It was at this time that Pizzigoni started working on two new and interrelated tectonic experiments: one more spatial and dealing with form, proportion and function (i.e. experiments in minimal housing), the other more 25

18  Karpathos (Greece, Aegean Sea), crayon drawing by Pizzigoni, 1943

technical and dealing with structure, material and construction (i.e. experiments with granite, reciprocal frames, concrete shells, hypars, etc.). Due to rapid post-war reconstruction and the need for affordable housing, Pizzigoni began to use his enormous ability to really think three-dimensionally. It was probably his experience with all aspects of perspectival projection, imagination and representation that gave him this ability to imagine the traces of movements and forces in a space or a structure, in three and even four dimensions. Economy of dwelling space, 1945–50 Immediately after the liberation of Bergamo, Pizzigoni took up an active role again in shaping the city. He wrote a lot of articles for the newspaper Giornale del Popolo that show his active involvement, including: ‘Per una nuova edilizia cittadina’ (Towards new urban building, 22-06-45), ‘Costruire nuove case’ (Building new houses, 08-12-45), ‘Commento al regolamento edilizio del nostro comune’ (About new city planning in Bergamo, 21-01-46), ‘La riforma edilizia’ (The building reform, 15-02-46). In order to overcome the post-war building crisis with an actual building initiative, he presented several housing projects dealing with the economy of dwelling space in all its aspects: functionality, furniture, costs, material, construction, etc. The only project dealing with Pizzigoni’s ideas on the economy of dwelling space that was actually carried out was the aforementioned Minima House of 1946. It was the realization of the prize-­ 26

winning design in a competition for economical one-family workers’ housing. The design for this house was based on studies from 1945 on a minimum dwelling cell of just 3.60 × 2.16 m, but it went a step further by also employing perspectival aspects in the perception of its interior space. The house is designed as a row-house with a small garden in the back. The shed roof not only helps to heighten the perspectival perception of the space, it also provides fresh air and light even deep inside the house (Fig. 19). Besides his experiments with the economy of dwelling space, he also started experimenting with the structural use of granite, which he had patented. In 1944 he wrote a piece about ‘L’uso strutturale del granito’ (Structural use of granite) for Giò Ponti’s new magazine Stile. The first built results are the aforementioned burial chapels, the Ardiani Tomb (Fig. 20) and the Baj Tomb (Fig. 2) in Bergamo cemetery. Here, too, other burial chapels and tombs by Pizzigoni can be found, including: the Maffioletti Tomb (1951), the Traversi Tomb (Fig. 21), the Billi Tomb (Fig. 22) the Pipia (1959) and the Brandolisio (1966). The year 1947 was one of many competitions. Pizzigoni entered the ‘Concorso per la chiesa del Quartiere sperimentale QT8 a Mila­no’ (Competition for the church in the QT8 experimental district in Milan) with a project for a church built entirely out of granite,

19  Minima House, Bergamo, 1946. Details by Pizzigoni 27

20  Ardiani Tomb, Bergamo, 1946

21  Traversi Tomb, Bergamo, 1950–54

22  Billi Tomb, Bergamo, 1957

and won some other competitions. These included first place in the ‘Concorso per la sistemazione del Piazzale della Stazione a Bergamo’ (Competition for the new urban definition of Piazzale della Stazio­ne in Bergamo), in collaboration with Sandro Angelini, the ‘Concorso per il primo settennio INA Casa’ (Competition for the first INA Social Housing Programme) and tied for second place in the ‘Con­corso per la sistemazione dell’area dell’ex-ospedale di Bergamo’ (Competition for the development of the former hospital area in Bergamo). In the following years he was intensely involved in the further development of Bergamo and its surroundings,

23  Pizzigoni, Zucchelli, Le Corbusier, CIAM 7, Bergamo, 1949 28

24  Fara Houses, Bergamo, 1949–52

continuing to write for the newspapers Giornale del Popolo and L’Eco di Bergamo, becoming a member of the editorial board of the periodical La rivista di Bergamo and initiating international exhibitions. Furthermore, he was the president of the organizational committee for the CIAM 7, the first post-war Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne, held in Bergamo in 1949 (Fig. 23). In the period of 1949–50 he realised several projects: the Fara Houses in Bergamo (Fig. 24), as part of the first INA Housing Programme, the Parish Cinema-Theatre in Stezzano (Fig. 25) and, all in Bergamo, the apartment buildings Rota, Rota/Facchinetti and Azimonti-Fortis.

25  Parish Cinema-Theatre in Stezzano, 1950 29

26  Sketch for a wall painting, Pizzigoni, around 1957

27  Lubrina House, Bergamo, 1953

Perspectival engineering, 1950–67 Pizzigoni’s intellectual fascination with the mysteries of perspectival projection was something that seems to have been a constant during his active life (Fig. 26). After his first publication on the subject, ‘Idee sulla prospettiva’ (Ideas about perspective drawing), which he wrote at the beginning of his teachings at the ­Accademia Carrara in 1932, he produced a second more extensive one in 1951, bearing the title ‘Prospettiva illustrata per pittori, architetti, scenografi e cineasti’ (Illustrated perspective for painters, architects, set designers and filmmakers), followed in 1954 by the article ‘Dell’influenza della prospettiva nell’evoluzione delle arti plastiche’ (On the influence of perspective in the evolution of the plastic arts), the book La prospettiva (Perspective drawing), published in 1966, and finally the contribution ‘Causa dell’attuale crisi delle arti. La prospettiva e i problemi della visualità’ (Cause of the present crisis in the arts. Perspective and the problems of visuality), published in 1968, a year after his death. Buildings realised by Pizzigoni between 1954 and 1959 include: the Bosis House in Tavernola Bergamasca (Fig. 28), a villa built on a steep slope overlooking Lake Iseo; the Lubrina House in Bergamo (Fig. 27); the Primary School in the village of Rota d’Imagna in the pre-Alps (Fig. 30); the Gilberti House, a suspended patio house with medical practice for Dr. Gilberti (Fig. 29); the Paleo­ capa Technical High School in Bergamo (Fig. 31); and the Colombo House (Fig. 32), which was built on one of the plots of the Orti Brentani, just 100 m from the Cubo House in Bergamo. This last one is probably one of the best examples of how Pizzigoni’s ideas on perspective also entered into his architectural work. 30

28  Bosis House, Tavernola Bergamasca, 1954

29  Gilberti House, Gorlago, 1954–56

30  Primary School, Rota d’Imagna, 1946–56

31  Paleocapa Technical High School, Bergamo, 1958 31

33  Country House with Horse Stable at the Gabbione, Gorlago, around 1962

32  Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957

34  Comana Marble Works, Seriate, 1957

35  C.E.P. Nursery School, Bergamo, 1965 32

36/37  Pig barns, Torre Pallavicina, 1960–62

After experimenting with reciprocal frames in furniture around 1948 (Fig. 17), Pizzigoni became interested in the construction of concrete shells (hyperbolic paraboloids) around the mid-1950s and, being an autodidact in this field, built some simple full-scale models on a site he owned near Zandobbio, just to test them and see what one could do with them. He used a saddle-roofed structure as a country house with stables for horses (Fig. 33) and an umbrella structure made of four hypars (now demolished) for washing and grooming the horses. After that he started using concrete shells in several of his building projects, one of the first being the Comana Marble Works in Seriate (Fig. 34), a simple industrial hall. He also used it for school buildings, such as the C.E.P. Nursery School in the Monterosso quarter of Bergamo (Fig. 35). But maybe the two most interesting examples are: the pig barns in Torre Pallavicina (Figs. 36, 37) and last but not least, the Church of the Immacolata in Longuelo, Bergamo (Figs. 38, 39). As well as working with space and experimenting with the structures that produced such extravagant spaces as those in the church in Longuelo, Pizzigoni was also very interested in aspects of equilibrium in both the construction and the composition of a building. It seems that for Pizzigoni, gravity was not a force one 33

38/39  Church of the Immacolata, 1961–65

40  Extension of the Donizetti Theatre, Bergamo, 1959 34

41  Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960–65

42  Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960–65. Sketches by Pizzigoni

should fight against, but a force one could use. Already in the ­ xtension of the Donizetti Theatre (Fig. 40) he had used hanging e granite pilasters, not just to take gravitational weight away from the existing side walls of the theatre, but also to use them as compositional elements echoing the neoclassical façades of the old building. Other examples of his play with the idea of balancing are: the residential Pagoda Apartments, better known as ‘La Pagoda’, in Bergamo (Figs. 41, 42); the town hall of Zandobbio (Fig. 43), 35

43  Town hall, Zandobbio, 1962–65

44  Sanguinetti Padoa House, Rome, 1960–61

where it is more a question of balancing between symmetry and asymmetry; Sanguinetti Padoa House in Rome (Fig. 44) and finally Nani House in the pre-Alps near Parre (Figs. 45, 46). In the last years of his relatively short life he also started inventing new types of shades for windows; one that works like scissors (Fig. 47) and another that works like an umbrella (Fig. 48). He worked on several competitions, including the ‘Concorso per l’Istituto Magistrale di Bergamo’ (Competition for the Bergamo Teacher Training College), the ‘Concorso per la Chiesa del Cimitero di Bergamo’ (Competition for the church in the Bergamo cemetery), 36

45  Nani House, Parre, 1964

46  Nani House, Parre, 1964. Drawings by Pizzigoni

which he won in a tie, but which did not get built, and the  ‘Con­corso per l’Istituto Sordomuti di Bergamo’ (Competition for the Bergamo Deaf-Mute Institute), another first prize. His last listed project was for a prefabricated house in steel. Pino Pizzigoni died in his studio on March 29, 1967, at the age of 65.

47  Scissor Window, patented ­prototype, around 1950

37

48  Umbrella Window, study model, 1966

Introduction to the Atlas of Pizzigoni’s Built Work

“This little volume uses not one word more – perhaps it may even use a few words less than necessary – to explain the vast field of perspective drawings with all their possible applications. There are, however, a few small things which have never been mentioned before, and which are not to be found in the countless texts written on this subject. At a certain point readers will realise, perhaps to their surprise, that they are navigating in a new geometrical world; we shall see that painters, and especially modern painters, will find support for their imagination, and what is more, they will immediately enjoy using this method which has sketching as its starting point.” Introductory note to Giuseppe (Pino) Pizzigoni, Prospettiva Illustrata per pittori architetti scenografi e cineasti (Illustrated perspective for painters, architects, set designers and filmmakers, Bergamo 1951).

39

1  Giuseppe Pizzigoni, Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo, 1965. Photograph by Carlo Leidi, 1982

2  Giuseppe Pizzigoni, Proposal for the restoration of the façade of the Angelo Mai Library, Bergamo, 1927. The Pizzigoni Archive has been kept in this building since 1992.

There is something behind every one of Pizzigoni’s projects which remains even when a work has disappeared or is irreparably altered. What remains are the rules of the game, and since every time they are intentionally different, the results are always unpredictable. The first part of this introduction serves to explain why I see the tool of redrawing as the most direct and effective way to analyse and consequently illustrate the rules by which works are made. The second part, on the other hand, is a sort of self-analysis of redrawing as a research tool, a journey through the references from which the method used in this study was conceived. There are two main primary sources on the subject: material from the Giuseppe Pizzigoni Archive and the buildings themselves. The archive consists of a large number of documents – some 20,000 of them – including drawings, notes and photographs, ­subdivided into 571 archival units identified by the letter A (small folders, 30 × 40 cm) and the letter B (large folders, 100 × 70 cm). Each archival unit refers to a project, and since there are around 330 projects, some are described in more than one archival unit. The project for the Longuelo church has the highest number of documents; there are 760 altogether in two different archival units, plus a metal model which is the only original model in the archive. The projects which have the highest number of archival units are those which underwent various design phases before they were built, like the school at Rota Imagna (4 units, 96 documents) or the project for the episcopal seminary in Bergamo Upper Town (3 units, 243 documents). Some projects – for works like tombs or pieces of furniture – are contained in a single document in one archival unit. During the research, it emerged that a number of documents 40

marked as referring to a certain project in fact corresponded to a different project, and some photographs had been filed with erroneous attributions. Some of these errors are mentioned in the notes on the document files in Part Three. A concise description of the content of the drawings in the archive might put them into two categories: one for sketches and conceptual phases of the projects and the other for the different versions of the execution planning, corrected and modified. Dates are an important element when analysing and interpreting documents, and one which Pizzigoni introduced systematically (also in the sketch sheets) from the mid-1930s. The other main source for research were the works themselves. In this regard, the first thing was to find the exact geographic locations, by combining the design plans from the archive with a patient search of online geographical databases, especially those found through the Google search engine. Once the existence of a work had been verified, it was necessary to find it and photograph it on site. Part Three’s notes on the document files contain a complete evaluation of the current state of conservation, with a 5-point descriptive scale; demolished, poor, reasonable, good, excellent. This evaluation also contains notes on the history of the works. Here the first problem arises; the question of whether the original designs conserved in the archive truly correspond to the built works (in their state immediately after construction). In most cases, this correspondence does exist, even if there are some significant discrepancies. In other cases, the versions of the projects from the archive correspond only in part to the built works. And in these cases another question presents itself: which of the projects from the archive are closest to the built work? More importantly, is it always possible to find the principal version, or in some cases could there be a combination of the various versions, with partial corrections? Unfortunately, is it not possible to give a univocal ­answer to these questions, because each work would have to be analysed separately. It is, however, possible to observe that in some cases the drawings which most faithfully describe the built work do not have the same “quality” as other drawings which instead refer to intermediate versions of the same project. Existing publications often prefer to use drawings considered “best”, i.e. those which have the most intrinsic qualities, rather than those which better fit with what can be seen in photographs. This is clearly the case in the Fara Houses from 1952, where the inter­ mediate designs (datable to 1949) were published in a number of magazines (Comoglio 2020, Belloni 1998, Pizzigoni 1982) and assumed an importance similar to or greater than the final project. In fact – and this is a general problem which regards almost all literature on architecture – there is a separation between the content of the drawings and that of the photographs, as if a precise 41

3  Giuseppe Pizzigoni, First proposal for the Fara Houses (social housing), Bergamo, 1949

correspondence was not necessary between the two. The con­ sequence of this is that only a superficial level of comprehension of the images is possible to the reader and recipient of a publication, and this is true for both the drawings and the photographs. The most important publication on the architect’s work is the exhibition catalogue from the exposition Pino Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio, which took place in Bergamo in 1982. In addition to a collection of essays by nine different authors, the catalogue includes a selection of 123 original drawings and 89 photographs which ­refer to 41 completed projects and another 18 studies and unfinished projects. The monograph’s quality is undoubtedly high. However, the problems and questions raised above remain. What level of reading is possible? Furthermore, how much objective information about the works is given and how much has to be deduced from the images, without this information being verifiable? At this point, another problem must be considered, concerning the publication of unbuilt projects. Which editions of these proj­ ects can we assume would have been chosen to be built? Here again, in most cases, no certain answer is possible. The choice to publish unbuilt architectural projects is necessarily an arbitrary one, particularly in the case of architects like Pizzigoni who conceive a project as a continuously evolving process. On the contrary, when a work has been built, there is always a version that, regardless of whether it might be judged better or worse than the others, can be taken as the main one. Added to these considerations are the results of an analysis carried out in the preliminary stages of this study which concerns the number and chronological position of the works realised by

4  Giuseppe Pizzigoni, Fara Houses, Bergamo, 1952 42

PL. XVIII

Minima House, Bergamo, 1946 (I)

13

67°

9

Summ

er

45° 23° er

Wint

11 10

G

8

6

7

7

5

12

4

D

E e

4

2

5

8 54°

C

7

8

7

1 7

7

3 6

7

e

B

A

68,4°

54°

F

7,5 m

5  Luciano Motta, Plate XVIII of the ­Atlas: analysis of orientation and ­natural lighting in the Minima House (Bergamo, 1946)

Pizzigoni, and the relative publications. This analysis revealed that half of the approximately 100 architectural built works by Pizzigoni have never been published. Of these 50 almost unknown works, about 40 were produced between 1945 and 1960. Based on these data, another observation can be made: the existing historiography on Pizzigoni overestimates the period 1924–1945, but deals relatively little with the period after World War II. One possible interpretation of this issue could be the fact that Pizzigoni’s works before 1945 can be linked to established historiographic cate­gories: in particular, the Novecento Milanese (until 1935) and Razionalismo (after 1931), while the works after 1945 are more complex and personal and for this reason less easily attributed to common definitions. Perhaps the premises and considerations made so far can to some extent clarify the characteristics of the work presented here, and its motivations. In a study of analysis and description of works of architecture, the only drawings that are comprehensible and readable in their entirety are drawings that have been specially prepared for this very purpose. Through drawing, it has also been possible to compare and combine the various versions available in the archives and, in certain cases, to correct them by reconstruction using historical and current photographs. For each building, drawings were made of the plans needed in order to clearly convey a general picture, which in most cases simply meant all of them. A uniform graphic system was used. The axonometric view can be found next to the plans, which are usually in the lower part of the plates. The central part is devoted to a specific architectural motif, which appeared in two ways: directly during the collection of documentary material and also later, in the subsequent phases of analysis and reconstruction through drawing. In the course of this work eight categories have been identified, which correspond to recurring design themes in Pizzigoni’s works: construction, orientation, circulation, proportions, structures, stairs, windows and roofs. Some projects are presented over more than one plate, highlighting a number of design themes within the same building. Nani House from 1964 (Fig. 7), for example, is represented in three plates, describing the building from different perspectives: its solar orientation, its geometric features (Fig. 6) and its load-bearing structure. The reasons for analysing only completed works can be summarised as follows: firstly, they are largely unknown; secondly, because in built works there is always the final version, i.e. the object itself; and finally, because this choice ensures that any analysis goes through the entire cycle of architecture, from conception to materialisation. The first plate designed for this Atlas was the burial chapel of the Baj Tomb (Fig. 8). This work has a special place within Pizzi­ 43

PL. LXVIII

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964 (II)

250

H

250 945

250

150

E 1091,2

N

A

B

C

D

315

31

5

G 45°

315 30° 30°

30° 30°

H

30° 30°

30°

30°

30° 30°

45°

54 5,6

315 315

F

315 * √3 = 545,6 31

5

545,6

545,6

5m

6  Luciano Motta, Plate LXVIII of the Atlas: geometric and proportional analysis of Nani House (Parre, 1964)

7  Giuseppe Pizzigoni, Nani House (Parre, 1964).

goni’s works; even Giovanni Muzio considered it his best (Muzio, 1967). There are a variety of reasons why this work is of such key importance; clearly, form is one of them. The Baj burial chapel consists of a portico with a square base, 3.6 m wide and 6.24 m high. The features of its construction make it an exceptional piece and Pizzigoni made the most complete and convincing use of three fields of practical research that he had long trialled in works and projects: the use of San Fedelino granite, a stone with extraordinary bending resistance; dry interlocking, transferring the shapes and joints typical of wood into stone construction; and finally the use of so-called reciprocal structures, whose overall dimensions are obtained through the combination of short elements. Finding the form to represent this work – in Muzio’s words “perfect, abstract, cerebral, intuitive” – would lay the foundations for the rest of this study. The idea behind the first plate elaborated for the Atlas is that of breaking the object of study down into its simple elements and showing it opened up, so as to understand the individual parts before understanding the whole. The 71 subsequent plates can be considered as a continuous adaptation of this method to specific cases, isolating the essential parts in order to understand the whole. After the work of analysis and drawing was completed, the plates were reordered chronologically: the plate of the Baj Tomb therefore appears in the Atlas with the Roman numeral XVII. The references which inspired the methodology of this study are now outlined. The history of architecture has an age-old tradition of describing a vast field of architectural knowledge using syn44

PL. XVII

Baj Tomb, Bergamo, 1947

7 8

10

5 9

6

1

11

15

7

9

4

1

2

8 10 3 8

6

5

D

12 13 14

11

A

B

C 4m

9  Luciano Motta, Plate XVII of the ­Atlas: constructive analysis of the Baj Tomb (Bergamo, 1947)

8  Giuseppe Pizzigoni, Baj Tomb (Bergamo, 1947)

optic tables, which goes back to Vitruvius. However, for historical and practical reasons, including the communication of knowledge through printing, we are almost only familiar with texts written since the Renaissance period. From Renaissance architectural treatises to modern design manuals, summary description plates are a communication tool that has remained remarkably stable for more than five centuries. A number of fundamental elements have remained largely unchanged: these include graphic scale, solar orientation, juxtaposition of drawings at different scales and, most notably, extensive use of proportional diagrams. The first reference for this work was the treatise on architecture by Philibert Delorme Nouvelles inventions pour bien bastir et 45

PL. XIV

Entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church, Bergamo, 1943-49 (II)

A

3

3

4

1 4 3

3

3 4

2

B 4

3

C

4

4

3 4

5,0 26,5 cm

155 cm

D

E

3 4

3

3,5 3

31 cm

112 cm

F

G 50 cm

10  Luciano Motta, Plate XIV of the ­Atlas: analysis of the bearing structure of the entrance vestibule of the Church of Santa Croce (Bergamo, 1964)

11  Philibert Delorme, Nouvelles inventions pour bien bastir et à petits fraiz, 1561, Plate “Eij”

à petits fraiz (New inventions to build well and at low cost, Paris 1561). The plates on the wooden trusses (Fig. 10), for example, were the inspiration for representing the single elements of the construction extracted from the rest of the building. Delorme replaced an overall description with a synthesis of a few essential elements, of which he gave a practical and detailed explanation: the works were thus summarised through the procedures that made them possible and not in an extensive description of the entire buildings. The second model of inspiration was the Manière de bastir, pour toutes sortes de personnes (How to build for all kinds of people, Paris 1623) by Pierre Le Muet. The plates in this construction manual for the modern city emphasise the impor46

12  Giovanni Battista Piranesi, ­Antichità Romane, Tomo III, 1752, Plate XX “Pianta di un sepolcro sull’antica via Appia nella Vigna ­Buonamici”

tance of typological classification, both in terms of functional distribution and structural stability. Both these themes, structure and circulation, are incorporated in the classification categories of the Atlas of Pizzigoni’s works. However, the most direct and profound influence on the present study were the collections on Roman antiquities by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, two of them in particular: the Volume III of Anti­ chità Romane (Roman Antiquities, Rome 1752), which describes the remains of the funeral monuments of Rome and the Ager Romanus and Descrizione e Disegno dell’Emissario del Lago Albano (Description and Drawing of the Emissary of Lake Albano, Rome 1752). The first one is directly comparable to the work here presented, as the size and range of the ruins described and the way they appear in the synoptic tables (Fig. 12) are similar to both the burial chapels and the houses of Pizzigoni. The second one sub­ divides a complex system of hydraulic works into a description of its individual parts: locks, cisterns, embankments, canals, roads and others. By separating the works and focussing on a description of the details, Piranesi gradually builds a viable manual of ­Roman aqueducts. The direction of this development, from a description of a group of works to the construction of a practical manual, has also turned out to be one of the aims – perhaps the main one – in the writing of this monograph on Pizzigoni. Two, more recent, works inspired this approach to the plates: Habitations Modernes (Modern Houses, Paris 1875) by Violletle-Duc and Ordenatlas (Atlas of Orders, Heerlen 1942) by Frits Peutz. Viollet-le-Duc’s collection of plates describes houses built in various European countries in the mid-1800s: its layout is very

13  F. P. J. (Frits) Peutz, Ordenatlas, 1942, Plate 34 ‘Het beschrüven der volledige voluut of krolneut’ (Description of the entire volute or spiral) 47

14  Wim van den Bergh, Proportional analysis of the rear façade of the Heerlen Town Hall

similar to that used here for Pizzigoni’s works, as is the choice of adding a short text to accompany the drawings, with essential information on the types of construction in relation to the climate and habits. Another important characteristic of Viollet-le-Duc’s work is his focus on certain elements of the architecture, such as the “Danish fireplace”, the “Italian staircase” or the “English window”. Without focusing on certain details, and therefore negle­c­ting many others, it would not have been possible to undertake the work of summarising and making the documents of the Pizzigoni ­Archive understandable and accessible to everyone. The last reference, Peutz’s Ordenatlas, could at first glance appear to be rather scholastic. As the name suggests, it is in fact a description of the orders of ancient architecture following on from the Renaissance treatises by Palladio, Scamozzi and Vignola. Here however, Peutz finds a way to transfer classical tradition into a modern setting and to innovate both, as he does in his built archi­ tecture. In his survey of architectural orders, innovation is achieved through the juxtaposition of the tables of orders with drawings of geometric analysis and proportions, ranging from the smallest ­details, such as the spirals of Ionic capitals (Fig. 13), to the dimen-

15  Giuseppe Pizzigoni, Drawing of the proportions of the main façade of the House for his Father, around 1925 48

sional relationships that link the parts of the architecture to the whole. The Ordenatlas changes as it grows, beginning as an exercise in redrawing architectural orders until it becomes a sampler of extraordinary forms, explained and illustrated. The tool of geometrical analysis, which Wim van den Bergh used in 1981 to explain Peutz’s architecture (Fig. 14), is also used in this study with increasing importance from plate to plate. These drawings are significant because they make visible the ideal construction of architecture, which is often hidden by the imperfection of reality and the inexorable action of time.

49

ATLAS OF PIZZIGONI’S BUILT WORK

51

PL. I

House for his father, Bergamo, 1925-27 (I)

14

7

6

C

1

7

5

13

6

9

12 8

9

4

2

10

3

11

1

A

B

10 m

52

House for his father, Bergamo, 1925 – 27 (I) Stairs 

This was Pizzigoni’s first work. The main apartment is comprised of the ground floor, the first floor and the basement. The second floor, connected to the garden by an independent staircase, is a spacious rental apartment. The storage and the service rooms are in the attic. The site has an average slope of 24% towards the southeast. Along the perpendicular axis to the road two levelled ter­ races are realised: on the first, at the same level as the road, the entrance court and the garage are located, whereas the house sits on the second, 9 m above. The steep staircase that connects the two levels is in Sarnico sandstone and is divided into two parts: the first is a double inverted cone-shaped staircase after Bramante, which begins concave and ends convex; the second has three flights, which correspond to the terracing extending towards the front side of the garden. The house itself is a compact volume of about 15 × 13 × 15 m, in load-bearing masonry finished in the lower part with a light yellow rustic plaster with entrance thresholds in white Botticino marble and reveals in Red Selva marble. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Basement plan (with detail of entry court and garage); C_Section through the monumental staircase; 1_Entrance court and garage; 2_Entrance; 3_Studio; 4_Living room; 5_Dining room; 6_Music room; 7_Marble column (Sculptor: Giacomo Manzù). Today the column is located at the centre of the room and it supports a mezzanine with a metal structure (designed in 1956; see interior photo next page); 8_Boiler of main building; 9_Dumbwaiter; 10_Kitchen; 11_Wood storage room; 12_Bathroom; 13_Wine cellar; 14_Timber roof.

53

PL. II

House for his father, Bergamo, 1925-27 (II)

12

11

9 10

9 10 13

8

C

D

15

2

4

6

5

2

8

c

9

3

7

c 2

1

2

2

A

1

2

B

10 m

54

House for his father, Bergamo,  1925 – 27 (II) Stairs

The interior spaces of the house are structured by two main load-bearing walls; the first one is parallel to the shorter sides and defines the depth of the rooms to the west; the second divides the house exactly through the centre, separating the rooms to the south from those to the north. The main apartment of the villa is developed over three floors connected by an internal staircase. This staircase has no space of its own  –  it is built around the second load-bearing wall (Fig. D and photograph). The first flight (10), is in white Botticino marble; the second (9), cantilevered on the north side, is in Red Selva marble; the flight to the basement is in Sarnico sandstone. The north flight (9) faces on to the 8.6 m high music room, which is decorated with sculptures by Giacomo Manzù, whose workshop around 1930 was located in the small rural building in the garden of the house. A phrase from St Augustine adorns the upper cornice of this space: “NOLI IRE FORAS IN TE IPSUM REDI QUIA IN INTERIORIORE HOMINE ABITAT VERITAS” (Do not seek outside yourself, seek instead within, because truth dwells deep inside). Since 1945 the house was Pizzigoni’s home; today the family of his daughter Antonia lives there. LEGEND: A_First floor plan; B_Second floor plan; C_Section cc; D_Axonometry of the interior staircase; 1_Lounge; 2_Room; 3_Bathroom; 4_Storeroom; 5_Sitting room; 10_South 6_Kitchen; 7_Boiler of rental apartment; 8_Fireplace; 9_North flight;  flight; 11_Garden (private area); 12_Garden (public area); 13_‘San Giovannino’ (Sculptor: Manzù); in the photograph: 14_‘Triangolo’ (Sculptor: Manzù); 15_Mezzanine (built around 1956).

55

PL. III

Traversi House, Bergamo, 1930

K

r: 6

r: 10

35

r: 6

H

r: 6 r: 10

7 H

30

r: 85

G

G

F

E

33

r: 2

E 0,25 m

C

3

2

4

5

D

2

6

5

3

4

5

5

1

A

1

B 7,5 m

Traversi House, Bergamo,  1930 Proportions

Traversi House is the first apartment building which Pizzigoni designed. The ground floor has a shop on either side of the entrance passage to the inner courtyard; from the courtyard an external staircase in reinforced concrete leads to eight apartments, two on each floor. The bathrooms for each flat are at the centre of the plan, and are ventilated by a shaft of 1.2 × 1.1 m: this shaft runs from the ceiling of the ground floor passage up to the roof of the building (7). The decorative motifs on the façade towards the street are in typical Novecento style. Pizzigoni’s mentor Giovanni Muzio, was one of the founders of this movement, which Pizzigoni himself referred to as Greco-Roman architecture. The first floor of Traversi House is decorated like a large trabeation (see photograph above), with precast concrete triglyphs 2.17 m high alternating with square windows and circular niches, like overscaled metopes. Five concrete cornices divide up the entire façade: the first two (Figs. E, F) were cast in situ; the other three (Figs. G, H, K) are made from precast elements 1.6 m long (which is half the distance between the windows). The three frames shown here in detail (Figs. E, G, H) demonstrate how Pizzigoni reinvented classic mouldings: he simplified the geometry of the profile, thereby accentuating the volumes and reinforcing the shadow lines. LEGEND: A_Standard floor plan; B_Ground floor plan; C_South elevation (facing street); D_South façade section; E/F_Cast in situ cornices: G/H/K_Precast cornices; 1_Shop; 2_Kitchen; 3_Room; 4_Bathroom; 5_Bedroom; 6_Ventilation shaft; 7_Bathrooms ventilation system.

57

PL. IV

Locatelli House, Bergamo, 1931

9

C

D

1 1m

11

2

1m 13 14

12

10

17 8

7

4

4

18

6 5

3

4 3 1

7

7

5

2

6

8

A

B

E

10 m

58

1m

15 16

9

10

1m

1m

19 20 (H= 3.5 m)

1m

Locatelli House, Bergamo,  1931 Stairs

The house for the painter Romualdo Locatelli is divided into two parts. The painter’s studio is a cylindrical space 7.2 m in diameter and 6 m high, which gets light through a north-facing 4 × 3 m window; the apartment is very simple, with four generous rooms and some utility areas. The studio entrance is directly from the street through a funnel-like volume, which embraces the building like a pronaos tangent to a rotunda. Once inside, the artist’s studio is framed, as in a stage set, by two columns made of precast concrete elements, filled with in-situ concrete. The entrance to the apartment is almost hidden, on the side of the house, at the point of articulation of the volumes. The entrance hall contains both the staircase and the passageways leading to all the rooms. Today, the staircase is the only element which has not been altered; its apparently free form is governed by arcs of circles inserted into a 3 × 3 m square (Fig. E). The roof pitches have wooden trusses covered with tiles; the rain gutter which today protrudes was origi­nally flush with the façade and was used to drain rainwater through spouts. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_First floor plan; C_North elevation (entrance from street to painter’s studio); D_West elevation (entrance from the garden to house); E_Staircase plan (intermediate floor: 3.5 m; step height: 17.5 cm); 1_Entrance to the painter’s studio (Pizzigoni dubbed it the ‘Antistudio’); 2_Painter’s studio; 3_Entrance hall; 4_Bathroom; 5_Room; 6_Kitchen; 7_Bedroom; 8_Balcony (2.4 m cantilevered); 9_Roof with ridge lines marked; 10_Niche to exhibit paintings (4.4 × 6 × 0.8 m).

59

PL. V

Invernizzi Tomb, Bergamo, 1931 Monument to Lawyers Fallen in World War I, Bergamo, 1930 Tomb of Teresio Facchinetti, Bergamo, 1934

E

2

1

3

4

D

C

B

A

2m

60

Invernizzi Tomb, Bergamo,  1931; Monument to Lawyers Fallen in World War I, Bergamo,  1930; Facchinetti Tomb, Bergamo,  1934 Proportions

These three monuments were designed in the first half of the 1930s, using the same design principle; three autonomous volumes stacked one on top of the other. Each one has its own representative function and specific form. The Invernizzi Tomb is in pink Zandobbio marble; its base widens slightly towards the bottom and it bears the inscription “IN FILIIS SUIS LAETATUS EST, FILIOS SUOS NON OBLIVISCITUR” (He found joy in his children, his children will not forget him); there is a lowered niche in the central part, with a candle and the monogram of Christ; the upper part has the family name engraved on a protruding volume. These differences in geometry among the parts are even more evident in the Monument to Lawyers Fallen in World War I; amid the various decorations a bas-relief of a war shield stands out in the upper prism. The Facchinetti Tomb, in terracotta, is dedicated to a boxer: the inscription is in the lower part while the centre and the top blocks have bas-relief decorations by Attilio Nani. The crownwork is separated from the rest of the stele by a special 6 cm high cornice (Fig. E); its line in section is a polycentric one; it has three arches with radii in progression (1, 2.5 and 3.5 cm) which recalls the profile of a boxing glove. LEGEND: A_Plan of the basic volumes; B_Plan of the central volumes; C_Plan of the upper volumes; D_Composition of the monuments in three elements; E_Section of the cornice of the upper block in the Facchinetti Tomb; 1_Invernizzi Tomb; 2 Lawyers’ Monument; 3_Facchinetti Tomb; 4_The niche of the central part in the Invernizzi Tomb was obtained by subtracting a cylinder and a hemisphere (Radius: 135 cm). 61

PL. VI

Ghezzi Tomb, Bergamo, 1934 Crespi Tomb, Bergamo, 1957 Monument to Military Health Corps, Bergamo, 1966

1

2

3

D

C

B

A

2.5 m

62

Ghezzi Tomb, Bergamo,  1934; Crespi Tomb, Bergamo,  1957; Monument to Military Health Corps, Rocca di Bergamo,  1966 Proportions

Like those in Plate V, these three monuments can be divided into three overlapping parts (Fig. D), each with its own formal definition. The Ghezzi Tomb (1) is made from a single piece of granite and looks like a Doric pillar that has been inverted; its entasis, i.e. the narrowing of the section from the first third, becomes instead a widening from the base to the second third; the proportions of the base and the capital are also inverted (see the summary of proportions to the side of the elevation, 1). The Crespi Tomb seems to be an homage to the flamboyant, baroque artistic style of Pizzigoni’s friend, the painter Angelo Crespi: in some design sketches (e.g., PIZ/A/127/a26) the curved and slightly hunched figure of the painter appears next to his headstone, almost as if it were his shadow. The Monument to Military Health Corps is made of Simona stone (a very compact red sandstone); it is located amongst the monuments to army corps in the Park of Remembrance in Ber­gamo. The three overlapping stones represent a stylised man with his hands raised, a universal symbol of peace (the stone representing the head has been stolen). LEGEND: 1_Ghezzi Tomb; 2_Crespi Tomb (elevations); 3_Monument to Military Health Corps (with close-up detail of the head stone); A_Plan of the base; B_Plan of the central part; C_View from above; D_Subdivision in three superimposed parts.

63

PL. VII

Ardiani House, Selvino (Bergamo), 1932

13

2

14

C

8

6

7,5 m

7

9

10

5

8

5

12 4

5

3

13

11

1 2

A

B 10 m

5

Rinaldi-Ardiani House, Selvino (Bergamo), 1932 Circulation

This holiday home built in the mountain village of Selvino, 1,000 m above sea level, was described in the 1933 issue of Domus, p. 4: “The owner wanted to have a small flat all on the same floor; the result was a relatively wide floor plan (13.5 m per side) and the need for a skylight in the middle. Hence the shape of the roof that rains inwards (impluvium roof), which gives the elevations an unusual grandeur. [...] Moreover, a large terrace had to be built, since the garden had a steep slope of 25%”. An important feature of the house is the entrance from below directly into the centre of the house via a staircase that connects the flat to the natural landscape. Minimal excavation was used to obtain the levels necessary for the basement and for the external routes of people and vehicles. The house, demolished around 1988, was built in load-bearing masonry with concrete slabs and a wooden roof. Doors and windows on the main floor were in larch. The skylight and the windows in the basement were in iron. The staircase floor was clinker, while those in the flat were orange linoleum or slate. Hot air circulation was used for heating. LEGEND: A_Basement plan ; B_First floor plan; C_Section along the staircase; 1_Portico with staircase; 2_Driveway; 3_Garage; 4_Porch; 5_Bedroom; 6_Laundry room; 7_Cellar; 8_Bathroom; 9_Kitchen;  10_Living Room;  11_Terrace;  12_Entrance hall; 13_Staircase hall; 14_Iron skylight.

65

PL. VIII

Rooms C and D at the Fascist Revolution Exhibition, Rome, 1932

7 5

4

E H Sala “D”

3 Sala “C” 3

4 6 5

8

8

3

F

H

C (cc)

R: 360 cm

7

3

8

D (dd)

G

E

d Sala D E 2

G d Sala C

A c

F

H

B

c

1 15 m

66

Rooms C and D at the Fascist Revolution Exhibition, Rome,  1932 Proportions

The layout of these two rooms was the result of a collaboration with Achille Funi, the painter. The exhibition was curated by Adalberto Libera and Mario de Renzi, who also designed much of the exhibition space and the entrance scenography from Via Nazionale. Other artists were involved, including Giuseppe Terregni, Mario Sironi and Marcello Nizzoli. Pizzigoni was not a member of the National Fascist Party (PNF), and therefore his name did not appear officially on the list of designers. Room C was dedicated to War, Room D to Victory: both were structured along axes bringing the main works on display together. These include: the “Soldier King” (Domenico Rambelli, Fig. F) and “Italy Armed” (Marino Marini, Fig. H); the ‘Infantryman singing... adieu my lovely, adieu’ mbelli, Fig. G) and the large slab with military dispatches (Ra­ (350 × 80 × 725 cm, Fig. E) in Room D. The exhibition space is designed according to the way the works are presented. Room C has a structure with four pillars  –  two triangular and two semi­ circular  –  which hold a dark veil; this creates shadow in the centre of the room, lighting up the areas around the sides. In Room D, the works act as a backdrop to a cubic space 7.5 m per side within the room, lit by a chandelier “of coloured and opaline glass”, in Pizzigoni’s words. LEGEND: A_Plan of the two rooms; B_General plan of the ground floor of the exhibition; G, D, E_Room dedicated to Victory; F, C, H_Room dedicated to War; 1_Main entrance from Via Nazionale; 2_Rooms C and D; 3_Entrance door; 4_Main itinerary; 5_Dark veil; 6_Light veil ; 7_Coloured chandelier; 8_Display cases.

67

PL. IX

Monument to the Calvi Brothers, Bergamo, 1933

6

1

2 4

1 3 4 2

F 7

3 5

D

E

3 1

A

B

C 2.5 m

68

Monument to the Calvi Brothers, Bergamo,  1933 Proportions

“This memorial stone is shaped like a flagpole monument, but it is neither only a flagpole, nor is it only a monument” (PIZ/A/270/b14). The work is dedicated to the four Calvi brothers who died as heroes in World War I, and who were first cousins of Pizzi­goni: it is the only memorial of his which is of “practical use”, bearing the flag of the City of Bergamo in front of the city hall. In the explanatory report to the competition entry, he wrote: “To appreciate how right it is to give a practical use to a monument, just think of the Statue of Liberty in New York.” The work can be divided into three parts: the base, the characteristic stela and the flagpole. This division can be seen in the different constructive functions of the blocks of pink Zandobbio marble (Fig. D). The pentagonal shape derives from the golden section, which has been used here both among parts in architecture, and between architecture and works of art. LEGEND: A_Plan of the base (decagon); B_Plan of the flag-bearing pillar (pentagon); C_Plan of the flagpole; D_Section; E_Elevation; F_Axonometric scheme of the three parts of the monument; 1_Niches for the four bronze statues of the heroes and the statue of Winged Victory (sculptors: Minotti; Costante Coter); 2_Frieze (height: 25 cm) showing heroic deeds of the Calvi brothers (sculptor: Giacomo Manzù); 3_Base block; 4_Brass ring to hold the wooden pole; 5_Concrete foundation; 6_Bronze cap; 7_Mechanism to raise flag (reconstruction from sketches contained in the Pizzigoni Archive PIZ/A/270); the original chain was replaced with a shorter one.

69

PL. X

Cubo House, Bergamo, 1933-35 (I)

18

1

7

14 14 14 14

17

9 12 15

D 16

17

14

14

7

4

3

2

5

4

8

12

9

9

1 3

3

3

A

3

6

11

B

C 12.5 m

70

0.50 m

13

Cubo House, Bergamo,  1933 – 35 (I) Roofs

Noted as an early example of Italian rationalist architecture in Bergamo, this house may in fact be the city’s first example of the style. The building was planned for two identical flats on the first and second floors, with common areas for technical and service facilities on the ground floor. The reinforced concrete load-bearing structure has eight pillars; an L-shaped pillar in each of the four corners, two pillars which correspond to the overhanging volume of the north-west elevation and two at the centre of the house. To support the large structural spans of the south-east and southwest elevations, Pizzigoni arranged inverted T-beams (parapet beams). Moreover, two ribbed concrete beams were used to support the cantilevered volume. The flat roof is made of prefabricated marble-cement elements, assembled in dry construction; Pizzi­ goni was later to use this project as the prototype for a flat roofing patent. Plate XI illustrates in detail how this system works. The windows and shutters were originally in wood  – Venetian blinds on the north-west and north-east sides, sliding frames with fixed slats on the south-east and south-west sides. The house was modified and the special roofing system, in use for more than 30 years, was demolished. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_First and second floor plans; C_Detail between the attic and the façade; D_Roofing system; 1_Entrance; 2_Garage; 3_Room; 4_Bathroom; 5_Living room; 6_Kitchen; 7_Porch; 8_Plaster; 9_Walls; 11_Floor slab; 12_Main gutter channel; 13_Secondary gutters; 14_Roofing slabs (5 cm thick); 15_Rainwater collection tank with special flue outlet; 16_Flue duct; 17_Rainwater pipe; 18_Deco­ rative cornices and window sills in prefabricated elements made of cement and marble grits.

71

PL. XI

Cubo House, Bergamo, 1933-35 (II) D

5 C 5

6

7

F

5

E G

B

J

4

G

B

C

D

E

H

F

2

3

1

3 2

A 5m

72

Cubo House, Bergamo,  1933 – 35 (II) Construction

The flat roof of the so-called Cubo House was invented and patented by Pizzigoni, as an alternative to the usual system of bituminous sheeting which was not considered durable enough and was not suited to the principle of constructive autarky demanded by the fascist regime. Two types of precast marble-cement elements were used for the roofing: outer cladding slabs (Fig. H and photograph above) and draining channels (Figs. B, C, E, F; see also Fig. D in Plate X). The overall thickness of the roof is 50 cm (see Fig. C in the Plate X). Rainwater passes through the 1.5 cm gaps between the roof slabs, and is collected in the channels below. It then flows down from the outer perimeter and the ridge channels (1 in Fig. A) into the gutters (3). From there it goes into the two collection tanks (Fig. G); it is then fed into the downpipes (2).The flow of the water is achieved by means of 4 cm differences in level between the successive elements, positioned without use of gradients. LEGEND: A_Plan of the flow of rainwater through the channels; B_Perimeter channels (34 × 20 × 8 cm); C_Other small channels (122 × 20 × 8 cm); D_Second of four elements of the eaves channels (340 × 20 × 24 cm); E and F_Elements belonging to the channels which are transversal to the eaves channels; G_Rainwater collection tank (163 × 70 × 46 cm) which also functions as a chimney (hence the “hole” in the roof in the photograph above); H_Roofing slab (132 × 150 × 5 cm); J_Diagram of the elements shown; 1_Ridge line; 2_Downpipes; 3_Eaves channels; 4_Input of the eaves channel into the rainwater collection tank; 5_Input of the other channels into the tank; 6_Outlet to the downpipes; 7_Outlet to the flues.

73

PL. XII

Alemanni House, Roncobello (Bergamo), 1938

11 10 8 10

8

C

9

10

7

8

8

16 2

14

15 1 9 12

B 12

1

11

5 8

4

6

3

2

8

14

11 13

A

5m

74

Alemanni House, Roncobello (Bergamo), 1938 Structure

Alemanni House is a holiday residence for a family of four with a maid. The house sits above one of the side streams of the Roncobello valley in the upper part of Val Brembana, at around 1,000 m above sea level. The ground floor lies on top of a low arch vault in reinforced concrete (span: 13 m; rise: 1 m; thickness at keystone: 15 cm). The roof consists of two wooden trusses (10), spaced 2.4 m apart and resting on two stone walls (8) built directly on the foundations of the arch. The two main façades were built with Sacelit panels, a composite material of cement and asbestos fibres: the panels were covered in white plaster on the outside and with wood on the inside. Since the overall thickness of these outer walls was only 15 cm, in the first few years of occupancy the owners added a layer of external insulation, covered with wooden planking. The windows, doors, external cladding and the small decorated loggia are all made of larch wood. The stream has recently been channeled and a storage space has been created under the vault. Almost all the external finishes have been modified. The load-bearing structure has been kept, although some modifications have been made to reinforce and stabilise its elements. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Longitudinal section; C_Axonometry of the load-bearing structure; 1_Entrance ramp (in larch); 2_Kitchen; 3_Maid’s room with bathroom; 4_Children’s room; 5_Room with fireplace; 6_Bathroom; 7_Parents’ room; 8_Stone walls (structure); 9_Concrete foundations and arch; 10_Wooden trusses; 11_Sacelit panel walls; 12_Mountain stream; 13_Terrace (larch wood); 14_Fireplace in brickwalls; 15_Spruce wood floor and floor slab; 16_Wooden staircase with iron and rope railing.

75

PL. XIII

Entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church, Bergamo, 1943-49 (I) 225

3

1 1

2

1

1

3

2

2

2 2

2

3

1

D 2 3.5 3.5

1 2

3

3.5

31

31

2 1

3

31

C

1

26.5

4 26.5

5

10.5

A 4m

76

B

Entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church, Bergamo,  1943 – 49 (I) Construction

The project for the entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church dates back to November 1943. It was probably completed in 1950, as reported in the parish records (Lazzari, 2010). The particular features of this small oak work are the infill surfaces of the four doors and the system of construction of the round vault (described in Plate XIV). Both are made of wooden panels woven together like the threads of a fabric, but with one important difference: the door infill panels (1) simply rest on the crosspieces (2), whereas in the case of the vault, both panels and crosspieces have a load-bearing function and together form a reciprocal structure. The infill panels are made of spruce covered with oak sheets, while the cross­ pieces and the door frames (3) are solid oak. All of them are 3.5 cm thick. The crosspieces are modeled with inclined surfaces alternating on the two sides of the board: this means the overall thickness of the door can be kept at 10.5 cm ( = 3 × 3.5 cm). LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan of the front part of the church; B_Vertical section of one of the side doors; C_Horizontal section of the side door; D_Axonometry of all the elements that make up the door leaf (horizontal view, as if the door were resting on the ground); 1_Spruce cladding sheet with oak slabbing; 2_Solid oak crosspiece; 3_Door leaf frame (solid oak); 4_Church portico (narthex); 5_New entrance vestibule. 77

PL. XIV

Entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church, Bergamo, 1943-49 (II)

A

3

3

4

1 4 3

3

3 4

2

B 4

3

C

4

4

3 4

5.0 26.5 cm

155 cm

D

E

3 4

3

3.5 3

31 cm

112 cm

F

G 50 cm

78

Entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church, Bergamo,  1943 – 49 (II) Structure

The vault of the vestibule of the Santa Croce Church is probably the only completed example of a roofing system with interlocking short elements, a design which Pizzigoni proposed several times in the 1940s. These include a project for a church with a similar roof construction (Pizzigoni, 1944, p.36), made of what Pizzigoni called “easy-handling” granite elements, which support and are supported at the same time. In the Santa Croce Church, as in the design of the granite church, he described the vaulted forms as “only occasional, because they are structures with no horizontal thrust”: in fact their static behaviour is similar to that of a beam, simply supported. This structure adopts the same construction system as Leonardo da Vinci’s renowned bridge with self-supporting beams (schematised in Fig. A): the transoms (Fig. D) are mainly shear stressed (Fig. E indicates the actual bearing surface of the transom) and connect the short beams (Fig. F), which instead work almost exclusively through bending. In this type of structure, the mutual supports ensure cohesion of the parts without the use of glue or nails. Nevertheless, there are wooden connecting pins on the outer curve of the vault, probably used for safety reasons during the construction phase. The enclosure walls between the vault and the doors are made of solid wood planks with crisscrossed interlocking (1 and 2). LEGEND: A_Diagram of the Da Vinci bridge with self-locking beams; B_View of the vestibule from inside the church; C_Connection between transom and short beam; D_Cross section of the vault and the transom; E_Load-bearing surface of the transom; F_Longitudinal cross section of the vault (detail); G_Load-bearing surface of the short beams; 1 and 2_Walls with solid oak inter­locking elements (3.5 cm thick); 3_Solid oak transom; 4_Spruce short beams slabbed with oak.

79

PL. XV

Double-rise staircase and mezzanine in the House for his father, Bergamo, 1945

6

D

1

C

2

D

C D

C

C 4 cm D

3

5

2 mm

C

D

D

B 4 cm

D

C

3

L= 2.366 M

4

5

A E

1m

80

Double-rise staircase and mezzanine in the House for his father, Bergamo, 1945 Stairs

This little staircase was built in wood, around 1945 inside the House for his father (1925 – 1927). After construction it became a prototype used in various other projects, including the concrete staircase of the Minima House (1946, Plate XIX). The staircase has two parallel flights shifted half a step between them, which leads to the so-called double-rise: a 36.4 cm rise for each step, rather than one of 18.2 cm. This feature makes it possible to span a height of 236.6 cm, occupying the space of a single flight (also 236.6 cm). Pizzigoni designed various double-rise staircases: this example features a special type of tongue and groove wooden construction which consists of a reciprocal structure, whereby the single elements support, and at the same time, are supported.The static scheme suggested here (Fig. B) shows a statically deter­minate structure of 25 members and 39 hinges, one of which is a sliding roller (degrees of freedom: 25 × 3 = 75; constraints: 37 × 2 + 1 = 75). Furthermore, the second supporting step of the base (3) is independent of the rest of the structure. The bending moments of the single elements are equal to those of a 236.6 cm long beam, simply supported. The hinges in the middle of each vertical element (1) prevent “slippage” and therefore also the collapse of the two flights. The parapet does not have any load-bearing function. LEGEND: A_Plan; B_Static scheme of the staircase; C_Horizontal element (40.8 × 30 × 6 cm); D_Vertical element (32.4 × 30 × 4 cm); E_Extract of the ground floor plan of the House for his father (changes made by Pizzigoni after 1945 shown in black); 1_Tongue and groove joint; 2_Parapet with no load-bearing function; 3_Additional support of the first step; 4_Bathroom; 5_Room; 6_Mezzanine. 81

PL. XVI

Ardiani Tomb, Bergamo, 1946

8

8 10 10 12

9

5 6

7

6

12

11

5

7

6

9 11 7

D

4 4 4

5 9

B 5

9

2 2 1 3 3

A

C

2.5 m

82

Ardiani Tomb, Bergamo,  1946 Construction

This burial chapel was designed a year before the Baj Tomb (Plate XVII) and is the first application of the patent which Pizzigoni filed in 1944 on the bending strength of some granites. The pillars of the first order (single pieces in San Fedelino granite), are extended by means of a sleeve connection (6) as far as the pillars of the second order. The roof, made solely in granite elements, is comprised of four mutually supporting beams (8) and six closure slabs. The four sleeve connections in granite are joined by the two reinforced concrete rings, which support the stone sarcophagi. The central part of the tomb, which includes both the sleeve connections and the two sarcophagi levels, also functions as bracing for the entire structure. The ground floor is enclosed by granite slabs and frameless windows which rest directly on the stone. The chapel has a total height of 6.87 m. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Plan of coffin level; C_Section; D_San Fedelino granite elements; 1_Access to the crypt; 2_Altar (in black marble); 3_Colombarium for the urns and the ossuaries; 4_Iron reinforcement of the concrete supporting slabs of the sarcophagi; 5_Stone sarcophagi cladded in red Gleno porphyritic rock. The stone slabs acted as stay-in-place formwork for the concrete structure. The metal studs, externally exposed on the porphyritic rock slabs, were later added to avoid any detachments; 6_Granite sleeve connections (36 × 36 × 117 cm, 4 elements); 7_Half coating C-shaped elements in granite (32 elements); 8_Roof beams (36 × 18 × 264 cm, 4 elements); 9_Windows; 10_Roof slabs (triangle: 180/240/300 cm, 4 elements); 11_First order pillars (20 × 20 × 314 cm); 12_Second order pillars (12 × 12 × 287 cm). 83

PL. XVII

Baj Tomb, Bergamo, 1947

7 8

10

5 9

6

1

11

15

7

9

4

1

2

8 10 3 8

6

5

D

12 13 14

11

A

B

C 4m

84

Baj Tomb, Bergamo,  1947 Construction

This burial chapel is composed of a crypt for the sarcophagi and a portico in two orders, open on all sides. The load-bearing structure is made solely of elements in San Fedelino granite. The elements are secured in part through dry interlocking, in part through metal pins. The bending stresses of the roof slabs and of the pillars were higher than those normally allowed within the regulations. Because of this, Pizzigoni made calculations based on resistance data acquired from experiments. A patent was filed for these calculations (mentioned in Pizzigoni 1944, p. 36), which confirmed that some types of rock, including San Fedelino granite, do not follow Hooke’s Law “Ut tensio sic vis” (“as the extension, so the force”), instead, they have an elastic behaviour similar to that of reinforced concrete as shown by the theory of Bach/Baumann. LEGEND: A_Basement plan; B_Ground floor plan; C_First level plan; D_Map of the 44 granite elements that form the portico; 1_Vertical slabs of the bracing ring between the first and second orders (thickness 4,5 cm); 2_Small pillars of the first order (section: 9 × 9 cm); 3_Main pillars of the first order (section: 12 × 12 cm); 4_Pillars of the second order (section: 9 × 9 cm); 5_Horizontal slabs of the inner ring (thickness: 4,5 cm); 6_Elements of completion over the small pillars of the first order (almost like capitals); 7_Diorite element (to latch the covering slabs), anchored to the slabs through an iron bracket with concrete filling; 8_Incision for anchoring achieved by the iron brackets; 9_Extension cubes (sleeve connections) of the first order pillars into those of the second order; 10_Covering’s slabs (108 × 324 × 6 cm); 11_Crypt entrance (repoussé bronze slab); 12_Loculus for coffin; 13_Ossuary; 14_Void; 15_Base platform (54 × 450 × 450 cm).

85

PL. XVIII

Minima House, Bergamo, 1946 (I)

13

67°

9

me

r

45°

Sum

23° ter

Win

11 10

G

8

6

7

7

5

12

4

D

E e

4

2

5 8

7

8 54°

C

7

1 7

7

B

A

54°

F

7.5 m

86

6

e

68.4°

7

3

Minima House, Bergamo, 1946 (I) Orientation

This little house was built as a row-house prototype following an ideas competition for social housing projects, part of the initiatives for post-war reconstruction. The living spaces are reduced to a minimum: 70 m² for a family of four. In fact the house has only 45 m² of habitable surface: the remaining 25 m² is occupied by shallow spaces (height: 157 cm) resulting from vertical interlocking between the two levels. These spaces (7 in Figs. A, B, E) are used as cupboards, seating niches or to place beds on the first floor. For his entry in the competition Pizzigoni used the motto: “Finestre panoramiche: nessuna!” (No windows to look outside!). Indeed, the interior of the house only receives light from three windows located between the roof pitches and secondly from non-opening glass bricks integrated into the perimeter walls. The ideal orien­ tation of the house is exactly north-south. Here, for the first time, Pizzigoni used the so-called equisolar angle to shape the orien­ tation of the walls (Figs. C and F). LEGEND: A_Ground Floor Plan; B_First floor plan; C_Plan at the level of the skylight; D_Window section; E_Section ee; F_North Arrow, with equisolar angle. The equisolar angle, which in Bergamo corresponds to 68.4°, defines the maximum inclination within which the (perimeter) walls receive at least one minute of direct sunlight on each day of the year; G_Diagram of the sunshades at 45°, to receive direct winter sunlight (23°) and indirect summer sunlight (67°); 1_Entrance; 2_Dining room; 3_Living room; 4_Kitchen; 5_Bathroom; 6_Storage; 7_Shallow spaces (height: cm); 8_Rooms; 9_Concrete slab (10  cm);  10_Shutters (material: hardboard 157  faesite); 11_Window leaf with timber framing; 12_Rod structure opening mechanism (Pizzigoni called it the “Roma type”); 13_Slate roof. 87

PL. XIX

Minima House, Bergamo, 1946 (II)

1

2

2

1

1

4

3 1

1

E

cm

36

cm

15 cm

21

5

C

D

1

e

1 1

e

1

A

2

2

B

5m

88

1

Minima House, Bergamo, 1946 (II) Windows

This house can be considered a special version of a patio house, where all the rooms are distributed by a central double-height space, lit from above. To explain the main idea in his competition entry, Pizzigoni included a sketch of the traditional Assyrian dwelling alongside the project drawings: the roof of the Minima House, like that of the Assyrian house, is modelled to capture as much sunlight as possible in winter and at the same time to protect against overheating in summer. The issue of air exchange inside the house, especially in winter, was separated from that of lighting. Pizzigoni made use of what he called a “differential horizontal ventilation” by placing special vents (1 in Figs. A, B, E and in the photograph above; Pizzigoni named these vents “Knapen”, PIZ/ B/69/a22) at three different levels in the east and west perimeter walls (at +0.30 m, +2.10 m and +4.50 m) and making some tar­geted openings in the internal partition walls (2). “All that is required”, he wrote in the technical report, “is a difference of half a degree to determine the horizontal displacement [of the air].” This ventilation system has recently been removed and replaced by small windows. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan with horizontal ventilation airflows; B_Plan at skylight level with ventilation; C_Special ventilation vents on external perimeter walls; D_Section of the “Knapen” vent; E_Cross section ee (with ventilation airflows) ; 1_“Knapen” vents, installed in the external walls (see also the axonometric view in Plate XVIII); 2_Openings in the internal partition walls; 3_Special recess in the 157 cm high niche (also present in other minimum dwelling projects of his); 4_’Double-rise staircase’ (compare Plate XV), made here of reinforced concrete (slab thickness: 6 cm); 5_Ver­ tical sliding manhole cover (interior side).

89

PL. XX

Azimonti-Fortis House, Bergamo, 1949 (I)

E

G

G

15

15

F

F

F

G

G

14

15

15

14

C

D

1

1

13

9

2 8

3

9

12

10

4

10

5 5

5

7

6 11 7

7

A

7

B

10 m

90

Azimonti-Fortis House, Bergamo, 1949 (I) Windows

The Azimonti-Fortis House, now demolished, was constructed to create two large flats (180 m2 each) on the first and second floors. The ground floor housed the garages, a cellar, a service flat and a glazed entrance hall leading to the diagonal staircase (Plate XXI). Two different types of plaster were used on the façades: a rustic “rubbing board” (G) type and a finer “double white plaster” (F), used only for the infill walls concealing the sliding window shutters. The two special wings or “ears” of the first floor veranda (also visible in the photograph) present these types of infill wall: in this case the shutters open and close outside of the mass of the building, protected by a double wall supported by concrete cantilever beams. In this part of the building the difference in colour between the rustic plaster of the concrete beams and the white marble plaster of the hollow wall is particularly evident. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_First floor plan; C_Plain window (135 × 140 cm); D_Window of the first floor veranda; both the shutters and the glazing were placed on sliding wooden frames; E_View from the north; F_“Double white” plaster; G_Rustic “rubbing board” plaster; 1_Entrance hall; 2_Entrance to service flat; 3_Main entrance to first floor flat; 4_Laundry room; 5_Bathroom; 6_Boiler room; 7_Bedroom; 8_Cellar; 9_Kitchen;  10_Workroom;  11_Garage with storage room;  12_Lounge; 13_Dining area; 14_Glazed wooden frames; 15_Sliding wooden shutters with fixed slats.

91

PL. XXI

Azimonti-Fortis House, Bergamo, 1949 (II)

14

15

D

14 11

10

8

7

9

9 8 9

8

13

8

9

7

7

9

C c

7

11

7

5

7

2

12

10

6 5

1

11 4

15

3 14

A

c 10 m

92

B

Azimonti-Fortis House, Bergamo, 1949 (II) Circulation

The great variety of elevations in Azimonti-Fortis House is mainly a consequence of the special circulation system used to connect the two flats with the entrance hall. Pizzigoni replaced the classic vertical staircase with one that crosses the building diagonally, connecting “like a road” the entrance hall (north side) with a loggia open on all sides to the attic. This solution was one he adopted on several occasions and it involved a number of technical challenges, including the positioning of the installations and the need to modify plans at every level. It is precisely because of this last issue that the building acquires a variety of different spaces, and the façades are not monotonous. This “diagonal” circulation is followed by a series of solutions that exploited cut-outs above and below the flight of stairs: fixed cabinets, storage areas (9) and passageways (8) are placed in these leftover spaces, as can be seen in the section (Fig. C). The passageways in particular give shape to a special “ring” circulation within the flats (see Fig. A and Fig. B in Plate XX). LEGEND: A_Second floor plan; B_Attic plan; C_Section cc; D_View from the South; 1_Main entrance to the second floor flat; 2_Living room; 3_Dining room; 4_Kitchen; 5_Bathroom; 6_Laundry room; 7_Bedroom; 8_Passageways; 9_Storage rooms;  10_Attic/storage room; 11_Loggia; 12_Roof pitch (Monk and Nun tiled roof); 13_Glazed entrance hall; 14_Glass staircase doorway; 15_Kitchen balcony. 93

PL. XXII

Parish Cinema-Theatre, Stezzano (Bergamo), 1950

10

9 13

8

D 10 13

8

7

7

15 2

14

9

7

6

7

C

5

3

4

2 12

1

A

B 15 m

94

Parish Cinema-Theatre, Stezzano (Bergamo),  1950 Structure

The Parish Cinema-Theatre in Stezzano, now called “Sala Eden”, is one of Pizzigoni’s most important works, and probably the one with the largest roof: the space without pillars is 29.10 m wide and 23.85 m deep. To cover the hall, which originally held about a thousand seats, Pizzigoni adopted a system of lenticular concrete trusses (8 and 9) supporting simple concrete slabs (13) with a maximum span of 7 m. Two types of these diamond-shaped beams can be seen in the longitudinal section (Fig. C): those towards the entrance façade (8) have an overhang of 4 m and rest on the second row of pillars; those between the hall and the stage tower (9), have a span of 6.5 m and are suspended in the centre from an arched beam (10) visible only from the outside. In this building, Pizzigoni uses a great variety of structural elements, each with its own form and specific function. The neon lights at the entrance and in the hall (now modified) highlighted the special concrete structure with a few elegant accents. LEGEND: A_Plan of the ground floor; B_Plan of the theatre floor; C_Longitudinal section; D_Axonometry of the reinforced concrete framework with indication of roof pitches; 1_Porch; 2_Entrance foyer with boxes; 3_Storage room; 4_Theatre; 5_Stage; 6_Stage with prompter’s pit; 7_Neon lights; 8_Façade lenticular trusses; 9_Hall lenticular trusses; 10_Arched concrete beam; 12_Projection room; 13_Roof slab;  14_Stage tower; 15_Mezzanine floor: circulation corridor around the theatre.

95

PL. XXIII

Fara Houses, Bergamo, 1949

F

22%

E

8 8 8

D

6 3

5

3 3

3 4

2

4

2

1

1

7

A

B

C 12.5 m

96

Fara Houses, Bergamo, 1949 Circulation

The so-called Fara Houses are a complex of six terraced houses, each of which contains two independent flats, one on the ground floor and one on the first floor, and a cellar with a storeroom for garden tools in the basement. In total, there are 12 social housing apartments and 6 shared cellars. All main entrances face west. The stairs directly connecting the ground floor dwellings with the shared garden (8) were not built. The perimeter walls consist of two layers: load bearing brickwork (20 cm) and limestone cladding (15 cm). The roof is made of tiles with some slate finishes. The staircases which connect the first floor flats almost shifts into the property above (Fig. F), while the stairs leading from the ground floor flat to the garden fit into the plots below (Fig. D). Similarly, the perimeter walls show slight offsets that form interlocks between neighbouring units. LEGEND: A_Basement plan; B_Ground floor plan; C_First floor plan; D_Single houses (view from west). In grey: overlapping surfaces between successive units; E_Section diagram: the slope of the roof pitches is equal to the slope of the ground (22%) and produces the difference in height (1.05 m) between two successive terraces; F_View from east (entrances); 1_Kitchen; 2_Living room; 3_Bedroom; 4_Bathroom; 5_Cellar/ tool storage; 6_Common garden (now divided into private gardens); 7_Entrance courtyard of the ground floor flats; 8_Staircase for direct access to the garden.

97

PL. XXIV

Mayer Printing Works and Apartments, Bergamo, 1953 (I)

8 2 1

E

2 1

1

7

C

D

4

5 4

8 5 4

5

B

5

4 2

5 4

4

5 5

3

8

N

4

A

12.5 m

98

Mayer Printing Works and Apartments, Bergamo, 1953 (I) Circulation

This workshop and apartment complex consists in a storage basement, a printing works on a raised floor (700 m²), six apartments on the first floor and one on the second floor. The form and orientation of the building make the two façades, northeast and northwest, form a 65° angle, which is close to the equisolar angle of Bergamo (68,4°). This feature allows both façades to receive at least one minute of natural light, even on the winter solstice on the 21st of December. The shared circulation spaces are unusually large: the common staircase leads to a short corridor that opens into a bright hall (2 in Fig. A; see also photograph above); this space, thanks to the presence of numerous internal windows, almost has the character of an outdoor courtyard. From the hall, in which there are three flat entrance doors, there is access to an outdoor terrace (3), which leads to the most westerly flat. This sequence of unheated interior spaces is conceived almost as an extension of the urban space. It can also be defined as a set of alleys, porticos and small squares. In other projects, Pizzigoni himself spoke of the “internal street” referring to the set of circulation spaces in apartment blocks. Some rooms in the flats receive air and light exclusively from the circulation space. To ensure good hygiene in these rooms, the circulation space has to be large, welllit and ventilated at all times. LEGEND: A_First floor plan; B_Second floor plan; C_Section; D_Raised floor plan; E_View from north; 1_Printing studio; 2_Communal circulation (covered “little piazza”); 3_External circulation gallery; 4_Kitchen; 5_Bathroom; 7_Storage; 8_Transverse ventilation, made possible by extensive industrial window panes, partially open.

99

PL. XXV

Mayer Printing Works and Apartments, Bergamo, 1953 (II)

C

30%

4 3 2 1 B

A 12.5 m

100

Mayer Printing Works and Apartments, Bergamo, 1953 (II) Roofs

In the decade between 1945 and 1955, Pizzigoni designed a number of buildings whose roofs were conceived as an assemblage of single-pitched roofs. The Mayer printing works and apartments are perhaps the project where this system is used in the most extensive and complex way. The design principle is simple: each module of the building’s load-bearing structure, which normally means the area between four pillars, corresponds to a single pitch roof. In addition, all pitches have the same inclination (30% = 17°). Nonetheless, the direction and starting level of the pitches vary, depen­ ding on the height of the dwellings below and on the need for light and ventilation trough openings located in the walls between the slopes. The load-bearing structure of the roof pitches consist of concrete slabs. This roofing system removes the need for dormer windows or zenithal lighting, as the roof pitches themselves can function together as large skylights. Another consequence is the character that the façades take on, especially if the outer perim­ eter is a polygon rather than a rectangle. In this case the eaves line appears segmented, with different heights and slopes. For example, the north-east elevation of the Mayer Building has a discontinuous eaves line interrupted at five points (see photo above). This is reminiscent of industrial shed roofs and, at the same time, of a rhythmic series of terraced houses. LEGEND: A_Cavalier projection of the roof, with arrows indicating the slope direction; B_South-east elevation with diagram of the constant roof slope (30%); C_Axonometry from south; 1 Storage and parking; 2_Workshop; 3 and 4_Workers’ flats.

101

PL. XXVI

Rota Apartments in Via Matris Domini, Bergamo, 1952

135°

1

3

2 135°

155°

D

E

45° N

C 12

8

11

13

6

10

6 6

5 7

12

10

6

7

7

12

7

7

11

11

6

7

4

13

14

13

13 15

14 14

9

12

10

6

14

6

A

B 12.5 m

102

14

14

14

Rota Apartments in Via Matris Domini, Bergamo,  1952 Orientation

The apartment building in Via Matris Domini represents a possible application of the so-called equisolar principle of orientation to multi-family dwellings in high-density neighbourhoods. The poly­ gonal plan is the result of the orientation of the two main ele­vations, which together form an angle of 45°, with a bisector ori­ented exactly north-south. The other sides connect the building to its context, providing the permitted urban distances and heights. The plan thus defined allocates three apartments on each level, with windows placed almost opposite each other (see Fig. D, which illustrates the angles formed between the windows of the opposite rooms inside the flats: 135°, 155°, 155°). This design provides each apartment with cross ventilation and different types of natural lighting, morning and afternoon. The primary structure consists of a reinforced concrete frame at the centre of the building and of perimeter load-bearing brick walls. The finishes are very simple; only the communal staircase presents a special window sequence, giving a certain character to the entrance façade (see photograph above). LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Standard floor plan; C_Urban plan layout; D_Diagram of the orientation of the apartments; E_Axonometry north-west side; 1_Small flat (55 m²); 2 and 3_Large flat (105 m²); 4_Porter’s flat; 5_Communal entrance; 6_Garage; 7_Cellar; 8_Boiler room; 9_Storage; 10_Flat entrance; 11_Living room; 12_Kitchen; 13_Bathroom; 14_Room; 15_Laundry room.

103

PL. XXVII

Maffioletti Tomb, Bergamo, 1951

12

10

3

4 5

10

7 9

1

6

2

8 11

D

A

B

C 2.5 m

104

Maffioletti Tomb, Bergamo,  1951 Construction

The Maffioletti burial chapel comprises a crypt and a small portico in the form of a temple or, given that it is so simple, a hut. The visible part of the tomb is constructed entirely in granite: the primary structure is made of grey San Fedelino granite and com­ prises four pillars, two trusses and two roof slabs. The tombstone which closes the crypt and the two high-reliefs at the centre of the tympana are in pink Baveno granite. The triangular sculptures inserted into the gables, made by Attilio Nani, represent a serene angel on the front side and a sad angel on the rear side. In order to provide structural stability against lateral forces (wind and earthquake), the four pillars are fixed within the concrete walls of the crypt. Each linear element, both the pillars and the parts of the small trusses, share the same 12 × 12 cm cross section. As the original executive drawings have not been preserved, it is assumed that the elements are joined by bronze pins (11). The covering slabs are probably anchored to the trusses by cemented iron brackets (12). LEGEND: A_Crypt plan; B_Section; C_Portico plan; D_The 20 granite elements that comprise the portico:  1_The two covering slabs (130  ×  230  ×  4  cm); 2_Truss rafter; 3_Ridge element of the roof; 4_Metope with the angels (tympana); 5_Rafter tie; 6_Crypt closing slabs; 7 and 8_Crypt roof slabs; 9_Granite pillars (12 × 12 × 232 cm); 10_Flower holder; 11_Bronze connecting pins; 12_Cemented iron brackets.

105

PL. XXVIII

Pedrini-Cornelli Tomb, Villa d’Almè (Bergamo), 1951-52

4

3

2

2

2

2

1

G H

D

E

F

2 2

2 1

R: 2.70 m

A

B

C 3.75 m

106

Pedrini-Cornelli Tomb, Villa d’Almè (Bergamo),  1951 – 52 Proportions

The Pedrini-Cornelli burial chapel is located a few metres outside the Villa d’Almè cemetery perimeter; this site required a special building permit. The building has a pentagonal plan and is characterised by three superposed orders, each of which consists of a peristyle of 15 columns. The five corner pillars of the third level consist of five statues, representing the Arts: the main façade has Music (to the left) and Architecture (to the right); Painting, Sculpture and Poetry are located on the rear sides. The roof in pink Zandobbio marble consist of slabs and conduits which gather the rainwater and carry it outwards via spouts. The original roof still exists, but due to infiltration, it has been covered with a second layer of copper sheet metal. The chapel is raised from the ground level through a base of three steps cladded in black Ardesio marble. The outer cladding and the columns are in red Selva marble; the interior features mosaics and white Carrara marble in front of the Ioculi. The primary structure is reinforced concrete. In harmony with the geometry of the pentagon, the proportions of the chapel follow the golden ratio: the three orders are in an increasing golden relation to each other (Fig. G), whereas in the façades the golden rectangle is found both in the relation between the parts (Figs. E and F) and in the proportioning of the whole (Fig. D). LEGEND: A_First level plan; B_Second level plan; C_Third level plan; D/E/F_Golden rectangle in the façades; G_The three architectural orders: the special mouldings are drawn by Pizzigoni; H_Section; 1_Cylindrical altar (height: 126 cm, diameter: 63 cm); 2_Loculi; 3_Statues representing the Arts; 4_Copper roof (added later to the original marble roof). 107

PL. XXIX

Traversi Tomb, Bergamo, 1950-54 (I)

4

G

4

2

6

1

3

D

E

F

3 7

3

1

8

5

9

8 8

9

A

B

C

3.125 m

108

Traversi Tomb, Bergamo, 1950 – 54 (I) Proportions

This burial chapel was designed in 1950, but its construction was interrupted and it was not completed until 1954. The delay was due to the supply of 12 m³ of pink Zandobbio marble (as reported in the documents from the archive PIZ/A/28), the material of which both the cladding and the load-bearing structure are made. As observed for the works represented in Plates V and VI, this chapel can also be divided into three superposed levels: the crypt of the ossuaries; the cell with the altar for prayer and the volume for the loculi in which the coffins are laid. Moreover, the crypt is about 1 m in height, the cell is 2 m high and the volume for the loculi is 4 m. The proportions of the other elements, for example the entry portal and the sarcophagi stone cladding, are achieved by dividing the three levels by three, both horizontally and vertically. This pro­ portional system is summarised in Fig. G, which illustrates the entrance façade and one side façade. The cornice dividing the entrance level and the volume of the loculi (4 in Fig. E) is broken three quarters along by a notch joint. This detail, the only asymmetrical element of the façade, is a consequence of the reciprocal structure comprised of four horizontal slabs with mutual supports (similar to the roof of the Ardiani Tomb, Plate XVI). LEGEND: A_Ossuary crypt level; B_Ground level; C_Loculi level; D_Crypt; E_Prayer cell; F_Sarcophagi; G_Diagram of the proportion system; 1_Olive-green marble altar in dry consruction with “perfect joints” (Pizzigoni); 2_Access slabs to the crypt, in grey “fogher” marble (59.5 × 89 × 8 cm); 3_Pillars in pink Zandobbio marble (24 × 27 × 206 cm); 4_Slabs with mutual supports (10 × 108 × 302 cm); 5_Void; 6_Drainage channels for rainwater; 7_Ground filling; 8_Loculi of the ossuaries; 9_Loculi of the coffins.

109

PL. XXX

Traversi Tomb, Bergamo, 1950-54 (II)

4

5

2

1

1

8

8

3 4

5

3

5

8

C

2

6 7

9 1

B

3

5

2

5

1 4

4

5 3

A

2m

110

2

Traversi Tomb, Bergamo, 1950 – 54 (II) Roofs

The Traversi burial chapel comprises of a rainwater collecting system similar to the one in Cubo House (Plates X and XI). Rainwater penetrates through the joints of the roofing slabs (left open) and collects in a marble channel, which discharges into other channels with a spout at the end (see photograph above). Around 1941, Pizzigoni applied for at least two patents (which may not have been filed) for burial chapels with similar construction systems to the Traversi Tomb, i.e. roof and rainwater drainage in dry construction, and the arrangements of the loculi in suspended shelf (reference in PIZ/B/109/a1). This chapel, together with the Pedrini-Comelli burial chapel (Plate XXVIII) can be considered the only built version of a series of studies and designs, made on several occasions between 1940 and 1960. The system itself is durable, as it does not require regular replacement of the sealing sheeting: however, its weakness lies in the need for maintenance (cleaning of the drainage channels). For this reason and perhaps to protect the marble roof, a copper sheet cover has recently been added, with spouts at the corners, in the same position as the original marble ones. LEGEND: A_Roof Plan; B_Section (through the entrance door); C_Diagram of the rainwater drainage system; 1_Central roof slabs (10 × 201.5 × 101.25 cm); 2_Corner roof slabs,(10 × 201.5 × 101.25 cm); 3_Lateral draining channels (14 × 18 × 90 cm); 4_Central draining channel (18 × 14 × 219 cm); 5_Spout (12 × 20 × 212 cm); 6_Altar; 7_Slabs to access the crypt (lifted via “movable screws”: see also Plate LIII, Fig. F); 8_Coffin loculi s; 9_Ossuary loculi.

111

PL. XXXI

Broletti House, Pontenossa (Bergamo), 1951

14 15

13

1

D

15

14

C N 45°

6

7 12

5

5

11

10

4

3

8

9 9

2

9

1

16 16

B

A

10 m

112

Broletti House, Pontenossa (Bergamo),  1951 Windows

Broletti house is the only built project by Pizzigoni in which the patent of a “scissored window” (by Pizzigoni himself) is employed. The polygonal plan is a result of applying the equisolar angle: the eastern and western façades combined form an angle of 45°, reducing the northern façade to a minimum. In this way, all sides of the house (except for the remaining 4 m of the northern façade) receive natural light every day of the year. On the ground floor there is an entrance porch from which the service spaces are arranged, Doctor Broletti’s surgery and the staircase to access the flat. Like Rinaldi-Ardiani House (Plate VII) and Gilberti House (Plate XXXIV), this house also has a circulation hall (10) with a one-flight staircase at its centre. The eight windows of the first floor share equal dimen­ sions (180 × 180 cm) and are divided into two horizontal sashes. Both the shutters and the glass sashes form, in open position, a horizontal plane at 185 cm above the floor. The rotation which opens the shutters is regulated by a lever installed on the inside of the fixed frame (13). The opening and closing handle of the panes is placed directly onto the movable sashes (like a nor­ mal window). The house was extended in 1961 by Pizzigoni himself (16). The house has been extensively modified and the scissored windows have been demolished. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_First floor plan; C_Façade detail; D_Scissored window; 1_Porch; 2_Garage; 3_Laundry room; 4_Medical studio (entrance hall); 5_Bathroom; 6_Boiler room; 7_Living room; 8_Kitchen; 9_Bedroom; 10_Entrance hall; 12_Fireplace;  13_Opening lever of shutter;  14_Sash windows; 11_Serving hatch;  15_Shutters; 16_Extension (1961). 113

PL. XXXII

Lubrina House, Bergamo, 1953

8

8 7

7

II

7 6

ue

le

5

an

9

Via

le

C

igno Via P

Vit

tor

io

Em

8

lo

8

8 7

7

7

Vi 5

6

9 7

a

Pe

la

br

oc

co

10

8

B

3

D

3 4

2 3

1 8m

E

A 12.5 m

114

Lubrina House, Bergamo,  1953 Windows

Lubrina House is a two-family-house arranged over two levels with a basement level for the technical and service rooms. The unusual form of the plan is a result of the position of the building within the block. The eastern side borders with pre-existing buildings, partly located on the lot boundary, whereas the western side is unboun­ ded and has a wide view of the city walls of Bergamo and the Upper Town. The servant spaces of the house, including the staircase, the bathrooms and the kitchens, are located towards the northeast and southeast façades, running parallel to the boun­ daries of the lot, following the minimum required distances: 4 m in the northeast and 8 m in the southeast. In contrast, the served spaces, including the living rooms, the dining room, the bedrooms, the terraces and the garden, are located on the west side, on which the façades, following a segmented line pattern, have been nearly doubled in length. Due to this solution, all the spaces facing west always include an external corner ofthe house, which is used  –  almost like a bow window  –  to open two windows and therefore double the views and the quality of the interior light. Every fold of the western façade also corresponds to a row of pillars of the load-bearing structure. Overall there are six rows of pillars, which divide every floor of the house in five parts. The width of these parts depends on the dimensions of the main spaces contained therein: 4.50 m for the living rooms and 3.60 m for the other rooms. LEGEND: A_Basement level plan; B_Ground floor plan ; C_First floor plan; D_Plan extract of the historical Pignolo district; E_Section; 1_Garage; 2_Boiler room; 3_Basement; 4_Laundry room; 5_Living room; 6_Kitchen; 7_Room; 8_Dining area 9_Terrace; 10_Garden.

115

PL. XXXIII

Bosis House, Tavernola Bergamasca (Bergamo), 1954

8

E

D

10

10

10

bb

aa

C

cc

2m

7 11

11 2

6

1

6

5

5 3 c

9

5

4

b

a

a

b c

5

9

9

A

B 10 m

116

Bosis House, Tavernola Bergamasca (Bergamo), 1954 Windows

Bosis House is a villa clinging to a rock wall, situated between Lake Iseo and the mountains. The steep coastline faces north-east, which is why the house receives sunlight only during the morning. These conditions allow for a continuous curtain wall along the whole building, without the risk of overheating. The panoramic window of the ground floor extends for 24 m on three sides of a generous open space (110 m²), which comprises of entrance hall, living room, dining room and kitchen. The roller shutters were origi­ nally installed almost hidden in the first floor slab, in three different positions (see the three sections in Fig. C), making it possible to close the house completely. Moreover, the window frames of the extensive glazing are fixed to six iron profiles (four T-shaped and two L-shaped, both 10 × 10 cm), which are part of the house’s load-bearing structure. The serpentine form of the glazing constantly changes the light’s angle of incidence both inside and outside, thus multiplying the light quality of the views towards the lake. In accordance with the glazing of the ground floor, three ‘oriented windows’ are located on the first level. A fourth on the south-eastern side (Fig. E) was demolished, following a later extension of the house. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_First floor plan; C_Curtain wall sections: aa, bb, cc; D_Cross section; E_Axonometry (illustrating the original design); 1_Entrance; 2_Kitchen, carved into the natural rock; 3_Dining room; 4_Living room; 5_Room; 6_Bathroom; 7_Wine cellar; 8_Basement level: here illustrated according to Pizzigoni’s original design. The basement was modified during construction, adding a porch with stone arches towards the lake. 9_Projection of the roller shutter boxes on ground floor plan; 10_Air gap; 11_Rock face.

117

PL. XXXIV

Gilberti House, Gorlago (Bergamo) 1951-56

17

16

18

17 9

17

17

19

7

18

1

4.5 m

9m

C

4.5 m 5m

12 6

5

10

10

11

11

1

7

11

10

2 3b 3c

20

3a

8 14

11 10

4

9

B

A 12.5 m

118

13

15

Gilberti House, Gorlago (Bergamo) 1951 – 56 Roofs

Gilberti House is a patio house resting upon two rows of pillars. The slabs of the first floor and the roof overhang by 4.5 m. This way, the side elevations are unobstructed and the ground floor porticos are free of pillars. The fenêtres en longeur of the first floor, although they have been altered, freely interrupt the decorative triangular frame: here the windows are represented in their original form and sequence. Moreover, the ground floor level is divided into three parts: the entrance hall with the staircase to the dwelling, the north wing with the service spaces and Doctor Gilberti’s surgery southwards. The one-flight staircase is the heart of the house: it connects the ground floor entrance hall, which is glazed towards two oppositely oriented porticos (1 and 7), to the circu­ lation hall upstairs (20), lit by the patio (8). The patio, itself quite small (4.8 × 4.8 m), is open to the south-east through a covered terrace (9) which overlooks the main side of the garden. Although the staircase has been demolished and its internal circulation modified, the original sequence of the internal spaces is still recognizable today. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_First floor plan; C_Cross section; 1_Entrance hall (to dwelling); 2_Garage; 3a_Entrance (to doctor’s surgery); 3b_Entrance hall/waiting room; 3c_Infirmary; 4_Greenhouse and tool storage; 5_Cellars and boiler room; 10_Room; 6_Service apartment; 7_South portico; 8_Patio; 9_Covered terrace;  11_Bathroom; 12_Kitchen; 13_Dining room; 14_Room; 15_Niche with fireplace; 16_Longitudinal beam, from which the third south cantilever of the roof is hung: this beam made it possible to eliminate the pillar between the living room and the patio; 17_Trans­versal concrete beams; 18_Sloping wall between the side façade and the roof: the internal structure is made of wooden joists; 19_Masonry vertical elements (also part of the load-bearing structure); 20_Saircase hall. 119

PL. XXXV

Celadina Parish Centre, Bergamo, 1955-58

8 10

J

10

D

D

G1

E

10

F 8 G

K

E

G2

H

F

H

20 m

10.34 m 4

1

3

5

7

9

8 2

2

2

1

A

2

2

2

2

1

2 2

2

B

6

C

40 m

120

Celadina Parish Centre, Bergamo,  1955 – 58 Structure

This complex is structured over two levels and consists of five parts (see the diagram in Fig. K at the centre of the plate): the caretaker’s house (D); a 360-seat theatre (E); two wings with activity rooms (F and G) and the priest’s house (H). The load-bearing concrete structure has a constant distance between the pillars (26 × 26 cm) of 1.44 m throughout the building. Such “uniformity in the detail” (Pizzigoni) is balanced by a “turmoil of the whole”: each of the five parts of the complex (D, E, F, G, H) has a specific and different static scheme, resulting from the combinations  –  each one different  –  of pillars, beams, cantilevers and concrete ties. The infill of the perimeter walls is in red brick, whereas the roof, originally slate, is now cladded with common tiles. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_First floor plan; C_First floor concrete slab of the part H of the complex (11.68 × 10.34 × 0.26 m), with placement of reinforcement bars; D_Caretaker’s house; E_Theatre; F_Part of the building with large rooms; G_Part with small rooms (G1: cross section; G2: longditudinal section); H_Priest’s house; J_Overview of the reinforced concrete structure; K_Synopsis of the concrete structural sections in the building; 1_Entrance hall; 2_Seminar room; 3_Theatre (platea); 4_Storage; 5_Caretaker’s flat; 6_Priest’s flat; 7_Theatre (gallery); 8_Connecting bridge (demolished): the load-bearing structure of this little bridge (span: 6 m) consisted of a Vierendeel truss; 9_Main entrance (portico); 10_Concrete beam to which seven reinforced concrete tie rods are fixed, supporting the first floor slab along the entire part G of the complex.

121

PL. XXXVI

Primary School, Rota d’Imagna (Bergamo), 1946-62

1

6

D

10

3

3

1 8

9

6 8

C c

1 7

5

2

5

7

7

5

7 4

3

3

3

3

3

c

6

A

B

12.5 m

122

3

5

Primary School, Rota d’Imagna (Bergamo),  1946 – 62 Orientation

This primary school for six classes is located in a village of the Imagna Valley, at an altitude of about 700 m. The building com­ prises a mixed structure: the perimeter walls are in load-bearing brickwork, cladded in local limestone; the slabs and pillars are in reinforced concrete, whilst the roof is made of wood with a slate cover. All the main elements of the building emphasise the solar orientation and its openness towards the valley and the mountain landscape: first of all, the one-pitch roof (now unfortunately replaced by a two-pitch roof), which reduces the north façade while extending the south façade; secondly, the windows, which are horizontal on the north side and vertical on the south side; finally, the two symmetrical stone staircases connect the classrooms on the second floor with the schoolyard, forming a series of terraces. These stairs also contribute to making the building look like a Greek theatre open to the nature around it. The main entrance on the first floor also allows the natural topography to work with the building, opening it up in two directions: towards the courtyard on the lower level and towards the classrooms and terrace on the second floor. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan (with the entrance); B_First floor plan; C_Section cc; D_Axonometry from the south of the load-bearing masonry “box”; 1_Public street; 2_Entrance porch; 3_Classroom; 4_Storage room; 5_Bathrooms; 6_Courtyard; 7_Room; 8_Stone-clad perimeter walls (thickness: 45 cm); 9_Cellar and playroom; 10_Single-pitch wooden roof (25% slope), with slate cladding (now replaced by a double-pitch roof).

123

PL. XXXVII

Finazzi Building, Bergamo, 1956

2 8 1

F

9

1

9

9

7

1

1

7

1

7

2

E

5 6

1

4 7

5

3

6

3

5 1

6 5

9

4

8

6

1 6 7

1

6 5

A

5

B

C 15 m

124

D

Finazzi Building, Bergamo,  1956 Circulation

The Finazzi building comprises ten flats of 95 m² each and six shops. The ground floor and the basement form a sunken courtyard, open towards the south. Above the north side of this C-shaped basement, there is a linear apartment building, 40 m long and 15 m deep. It is the only built example of a multi-family house type with diagonal staircases, proposed several times by Pizzigoni after 1945. Every apartment crosses the entire depth of the building (15 m) and is 10 m wide. The same distance of 10 m corresponds to a flight of stairs plus a landing in the diagonal staircase. The stairs “pass” through the apartments, dividing them into living areas (entrance hall and kitchen to the south) and sleeping areas (bathrooms and rooms to the north). Both sides of the house have large balconies. In addition to the diagonal stairs, the section (Fig. E) features bridged crossings (9), which connect the living area to the sleeping area, inside the flats. These crossings are connected to triangular cutouts, formed beneath the flights of stairs, which are used as storage spaces (7). In contrast to the diagonal stair in Azimonti-Fortis House (Plate XXI), the triangular cutouts above the flights are left unobstructed, without being filled by further storage: this way the linear space of the stair acquires rhythm and diversity. LEGEND: A_Ground floor; B_First floor; C_Second floor; D_Third floor; E_Section; F_View from the south; 1_Shop; 2_Garages; 3_Kitchen; 4_Living room; 5_Room; 6_Bathroom; 7_Storage room; 8_Sunken courtyard to access the garages (Level: - 2.34 m); 9_Hallway (bridged crossing).

125

Parish House, Brusaporto (Bergamo), 1957

PL. XXXVIII

orientation

E

8

5

2

7

4

1

3 6

D C 9m

N

9

9

12

8

9

11

9

9

10

6

B

A

10 m

Parish House, Brusaporto (Bergamo), 1957 Orientation

The Parish House in Brusaporto is a compact volume on a hexagonal plan, located next to the little San Martino church, in the Santa Maria compound. In a letter to the parish priest (PIZ/A192/b1), Pizzi­goni summarises the formal choices made: “First of all the entrance to the north in a non-dominant position led to the idea of reducing the façade to a minimum, since north-facing elevations, unfortunately, always appear sad and unwelcoming, and are difficult to maintain; […] secondly, a regular polygon form was chosen, because within such a noble volume, even modest masonry, unadorned with marble decoration, is suitable to convey an appropriate dignity”. The iron windows on the north side provide light to the service spaces (5 and 10) and to circulation spaces on the upper floor. All the living spaces of the house face south, where the building’s elevations develop around two terraces arranged in steps. Each of the three levels contains a perfectly hexagonal room (2.7 m on each side), facing south west: there is a laundry room in the basement, a dining room in the mezzanine and a bedroom on the first floor. The house has recently been demolished. LEGEND: A_Basement plan; B_Raised ground floor plan; C_First floor plan; D_North elevation; E_Cross section; 1_Entrance hall; 2_Living room; 3_Archive; 4_Office; 5_Kitchen; 6_Bathroom; 7_Dining room; 8_Terrace; 9_Bedroom; 10_Cellar; 11_Laundry room; 12_Rustic porch (veranda)

127

PL. XXXIX

Riva House, Bergamo, 1957

1

E

10 10

C

D

d

3 c

3

6 5

2

2

c

7

8

1

9 4

7

d

A

B

10 m

128

7

Riva House, Bergamo, 1957 Roofs

Riva House is a two-family house, with two apartments, one on top of the other, and a ground floor with servant spaces and a studio/workshop with a wide porch. The building is arranged in four volumes which extend into loggias oriented in four different directions. The house is situated on flat terrain on the outskirts of Bergamo, in a context which does not suggest any preferable orien­ tation. In addition, the only pleasant view is the one facing north, towards the Upper City of Bergamo and the pre-Alp mountains behind it. The roofing is particularly distinctive and comprises of four independent roofs, two single-pitched and two gabled. The idea of breaking the continuity of the roof into more independent elements was used by Pizzigoni on several occasions (e.g. the Mayer working and dwelling compound of 1953, described in the Plate XXV). An interesting characteristic of this roofing system is that it highlights the complexity of the plan, which would otherwise appear “flattened”. Pizzigoni describes this and other similar roofs through a practical and apparently simple concept: “a roof with no ridges and no valleys”. In this case, only the second of the two conditions was met. Another interesting element are the skylights, which are placed in the triangular closing walls between the pitches, as in the case of the window, which brings light to the staircase (10). LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Standard floor plan; C_Section cc, west-east; D_Section dd, south-north; E_View from the north-east; 1_Entrance; 2_Garage; 3_Cellar; 4_Study/Workshop; 5_Porch; 6_Living room; 7_Room; 8_Kitchen; 9_Bathroom; 10_Window between roof pitches.

129

PL. XL

INA Social Housing, Trescore Balneario (Bergamo), 1957-59

C

7.5 m

2 2 2

2

2

8

7

2

5 3

c

1

A

B

15 m

130

6

7 4

c

INA Social Housing, Trescore Balneario (Bergamo),  1957 – 59 Circulation

Pizzigoni designed some buildings in the province of Bergamo as part of the second INA Housing Programme, in Albano Sant’Alessandro, Cenate Sotto, Cologno al Serio, Costa Monticelli, Trescore Balneario and Zandobbio. Although they have a number of differences, these buildings use the same circulation system: this comprises staircases which distribute flats at each half-floor or, more precisely, at each single flight of stairs. The building in Trescore Balneario differs from the others in that each landing of the staircase leads to two apartments and not just to one as in all the other projects. Here, a staircase of only 3 levels with no corridors provides access to 12 apartments of about 70 m² each, with windows oriented in 3 different directions, 2 of which are opposite each other. Each of the four volumes of which the building is composed is rotated 9° from the axis of the staircase. This rotation produces a series of functional advantages: the entrance courtyard giving access to the staircase (1) is brighter and more welcoming; similary, the entrance hall of the apartments (3), is larger and better articulated with the corridor which gives access to all the rooms; the north-west and south-east elevations  –  those with the balconies  –  gain a certain plasticity thanks to the central folding at 162° and finally, each apartment has a different orientation, thus avoiding monotony. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Standard floor plan; C_Section cc; 1_Entrance courtyard; 2_Cellars and technical spaces; 3_Apartment entrance hall; 4_Living room; 5_Kitchen; 6_Bathroom; 7_Cellar; 8_Storage and technical spaces.

131

PL. XLI

Billi Tomb, Bergamo, 1957

3

4

6 5

E 2

D

6

F

6

1

2

A

B

C 3.33 m

132

Billi Tomb, Bergamo, 1957 Construction

The Billi Tomb comprises four identical quarters. Each quarter consists of 4 hyperbolic paraboloids; there are thus a total of 16 shells, 12 of which sit directly on the square base of 4.5 m per side, while the remaining 4 form the closing dome (Fig. E). The height of the chapel is in a golden ratio to the base (7.2 : 4.5 = 1.6), which means that the elevations and sections (Figs. D and F) are always inscribed within golden rectangles. The tomb contains ten loculi: three above the entrance door, six shelved on the back wall and one located in a prominent position on the floor (2). This sarcophagus is dedicated to the client’s young wife, who died prematurely. Built in her memory, the shape of the whole burial chapel was to, in Pizzigoni’s words, “look like a nuptial veil”. During these years, Pizzigoni designed a number of sacred buildings, including a church for Bergamo Cemetery with walls and roof composed of a series of interconnected paraboloids. The Church of the Immaco­lata (1963) employs the same design concept, although at a larger scale. The external cladding of the Billi Tomb is made of white Carrara marble battens (cross section: 5 × 10 cm, lengths: variable) whilst the interior is cladded in white mosaic glass tiles (2 × 2 cm): Both of these claddings fit the curvature of paraboloids, which are also called ruled surfaces, as they are generated by the displacement in space of a straight line. LEGEND: A_Plan (level 0.0 m); B_Plan (level +4.5 m); C_Roof plan; D_Section through the entrance door; E_Detail of the roof dome; F_Elevation; 1_Altar; 2_ Sarcophagus of Angiola Maria Billi; 3_Iron tie rod; 4_Concrete shell (hyperbolic para­ boloid); 5_Battens of ‘P-white’ Carrara marble; 6_Edge beam of the paraboloid.

133

PL. XLII

Comana Marble Works, Seriate (Bergamo), 1957

11

8

8 7

8

8

10

9

9

9

C

7

7

3 2

9

9

10

1

4

12

B

5 7

7 1

7

7

2 6

A

12.5 m

134

Comana Marble Works, Seriate (Bergamo), 1957 Structure

The concrete shells built for the Comana Marble Works represent the first official application of hyperbolic paraboloids in reinforced concrete by Pizzigoni, following the construction experiments carried out on the Gabbione site a year earlier. In this case there are 14 identical paraboloids, each covering an area of 8 × 8 m, resting on 4 pillars and with a rise of 1.8 m. The reinforcement bars within the membranes (11) are arranged in the direction of the diagonals and they transfer only normal stresses to the four edge beams. As the compression in the edge beams is highest at the lowest points and lowest at the highest points, the shape of these beams is sloped, thicker at the base and thinner at the top (8). Moreover, the horizontal thrust generated by the shells are absorbed by tie rods (7) located between the lower vertexes. From 1960, Pizzigoni radically changed his way of building and dimensioning concrete paraboloids, eliminating the tie rods and increasing the cross section of the edge beams. The front part of the building, where the entrance is located, is higher and consists of three levels containing storage, offices and, on the top, the Comana family’s flat. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Longitudinal section; C_Structural module consisting of four hypars; 1_Workshop; 2_Offices; 3_Flat; 4_Storage and changing rooms; 5_Vehicle access; 6_Pedestrian entrance; 7_Concrete tie rods (20 × 20 cm); 8_Edge beams (width: 30 cm; height: from 10 to 30 cm); 9_Concrete pillars (25 × 25 cm); 10_Pillars (35 × 35 cm) with integrated downpipe (diameter 10 cm); 11_Shell reinforcement: the iron bars, arranged in diagonal direction, form concave parabolas (tensioned) and convex parabolas (compressed); 12_Original ground level.

135

PL. XLIII

Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957 (I)

21

21

21 21

21 21

21

21

E

19

8

8

15

17

19

20

18

16 8

19 18

18 19

8

N

D

18

C

°

60

2

6 13

1

4

3

8

9

3

7 10

1

11

12

1 5 14

A

B

12.5 m

136

Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957 (I) Orientation

Colombo House is the largest single-family house designed by Pizzigoni: there are around 600 m² distributed over four levels, plus the caretaker’s dwelling (not illustrated here), which is connected to the house through a corridor in the basement level (5). The original building has been significantly modified, especially as regards its interior circulation. The renovation included the demolition of two central elements of the house: the staircase (15) and the fireplace (11), which the next two plates show. The house develops a hexagonal geometry around the central staircase, lit by a large north-facing window. The form and the function of each room follows the equisolar orientation premises, often employed by Pizzigoni from 1946 onwards. In this case, similarly to the design of Nani House in 1964, the plan of the house is contained within a 60° angle (Fig. B). The complex roofing system entails the second application of Pizzigoni’s reinforced concrete shells. The hyperbolic paraboloids he built between 1955 and 1959 are fitted with tie rods (see also the overview of Pizzigoni’s concrete shells on Plate LIV). LEGEND: A_Basement floor plan; B_Ground floor plan; C_First floor plan; D_Second floor plan; E_View from south; 1_Cellar; 2_Boiler room; 3_Garage; 4_Laundry room; 5_Corridor connecting to the caretaker’s flat; 6_Main entrance; 7_Entrance hall with staircase; 8_Bathroom; 9_Kitchen; 10_Dining room; 11_Living room with fireplace; 12_Library; 13_Study; 14_Path towards the garden; 15_Stairwell; 16_Cloakroom; 18_Bedroom;  19_Terrace; 20_Children’s playroom; 21_Concrete 17_Maid’s room;  hyper­bolic paraboloid (slate cladding).

137

PL. XLIV

Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957 (II) 12 5

5 6

12

6

5

4

3

12

2

1

A

6.25 m

10

10 7

7

11

C

9

D 10

8

7 11 9

E

1.5 m

138

B

Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957 (II) Construction

The cross section of Colombo House shows the three main elements of construction: the suspended stone staircase, the concrete shells of the roof and the fireplace of the ground floor. The fireplace, now demolished, consisted of an irregular prism with integrated firebox aperture (Fig. E) and a sculptural volume enclosed between four hyperbolic paraboloids (Fig. D). The fireplace illustrated in Plate XLIV relates to the one designed by Pizzi­ goni (PIZ/B/39/a24), which differs in certain details to the one which was actually built (see photograph). The volume was cladded with red mosaic tiles. The fireplace-shaft also contains one of the concrete pillars of the load-bearing structure (7). LEGEND: A_Cross section; B_Plan and elevations of the fireplace; C_Geometric construction of the fireplace (the coordinates of the points lie in a regular prism whose minimum unit is a cube with a side of 9 cm); D_Sculptoral volume formed by four hypars; E_Part of the fireplace lined with flat surfaces; 1_Fireplace; 2_Suspended staircase; 3_Reinforced concrete beam from which the staircase is hung; 4_Children’s playroom; 5_Concrete shells (hypars); 6_Concrete tie rods; 7_Concrete pillar; 8_Flue; 9_Firebox; 10_Plan of fireplace (at ceiling level); 11_Plan of fireplace (at floor level); 12_Edge beam of the concrete shells.

139

PL. XLV

Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957 (III)

C

D

E

6 8 7

5

2

5

3

4

2

2

D 1

1

C

E

B

3

9

3

5

1

1 5

5 b

b

A 1.5 m

140

Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957 (III) Structure

The main element of the Colombo House is the staircase. It was built from three large blocks of Antigorio Serizzo stone. This metamorphic rock has a similar composition to San Fedelino granite, which Pizzigoni used several times due to its extraordinary resistance to bending stress. The two blocks used for the flights weigh about three tonnes each, while the central landing block weighs a tonne. The load-bearing structure of the staircase uses three steel cables (2) to suspend the central block (Fig. C) from a thick reinforced concrete beam (3) located in the upper floor. This beam rests on two large cantilevers (5) that transfer the weight of the staircase to the two hexagonal pillars (1) in the entrance hall. Stone blocks are connected with dry mortise-tenon joints. The floor of the entrance hall is in pink Garda marble. Similar to the staircase, steel parapets are suspended between the tie rods and the floor. Today the villa is divided into several flats and the staircase has been demolished. According to the current owners, the three stone blocks have been taken down but kept intact. LEGEND: A_Plan; B_Section bb; C_Central block; D_Second flight (9 steps); E_First flight (10 steps); 1_Hexagonal pillars; 2_Steel tie rods (diameter: 26 mm); 3_Concrete beam (125 × 25 cm); 4_Concrete brackets for anchoring the tie rods; 5_Concrete beams (165 × 35 cm); 6_Sloped edge beams of the hyperbolic paraboloids; 7_Concrete tie rods (used to counteract the horizontal thrust of the hypars); 8_Concrete shell (thickness: 5 cm), slate cladding; 9_External walls cladding (partially in bricks and partially in clinker).

141

PL. XLVI

Bordogna House, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1958 (I)

14

14

14

14

10

13

13 13 11

11 12

E

2

3 4 3

10 1 3

A

B

6 12

8

9 7 11

5

C

D 2,5 m

142

5

Bordogna House, Zandobbio (Bergamo),  1958 (I) Structure

The special roof of Bordogna House is formed by four hyperbolic paraboloids, with a side length of 6 × 6 m and a rise of 1.7 m. Each of these shells are 5 cm thick, and rests on three pillars: two in the middle of the perimeter walls and one in the centre of the house. The horizontal thrusts of the paraboloids are absorbed by two reinforced concrete tie rods (10), which cross over at the central pillar. Pizzigoni had been building paraboloids without ties since 1960, and felt confident that these structures had no horizontal thrust, a conviction which partially contradicted scientific literature, but was supported by his own practical experience. The horizontal structure of the first floor is formed by four slabs, which on one side rest on concrete beams (13) and on the other side are supported in their middle by four extra-thick beams (11). These inter­ mediate supports allow the part of the floor facing outwards to be suspended with overhangs of up to 3 m. This concatenated and reciprocal structural system generates the shape of the hooked cross  –  itself reciprocal  –  in the foundations (Fig. D): Pizzi­ goni considered the geometric and structural features of this form more important than its symbolic meaning. LEGEND: A_Plan of the attic; B_Plan of the first floor; C_Plan of the ground floor; D_Plan of the foundations; E_Axonometry of the load-bearing structure (in this drawing, the geometry of the concrete shells has been simplified to a surface, without edge beams); 1_Living room; 2_Kitchen; 3_Bedroom; 4_Bathroom; 5_Entrance and work area; 6_Kitchen and dining area; 7_Rest and relaxation area; 8_Garage; 10_Tie rods in reinforced concrete (24  ×  24  cm);  11_Extra-high beams 9_Cellar;  (24 × 100 cm); 12_Foundation beams (30 × 50 cm); 13_Concrete beams (65 × 344 cm); 14_Hypar ( 6 × 6 m, rise: 1.8 m).

143

PL. XLVII

Bordogna House, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1958 (II)

1 4

2

4

5

3

8 9

D

3.75 m

A

6

B

C d

3 7

3

3

7

E 3

d

7.5 m

144

Bordogna House, Zandobbio (Bergamo),  1958 (II) Circulation

Bordogna House is composed of three different parts, each with distinct constructions, materials and forms: the concrete structure (Fig. A), the brick house on the first floor (Fig. B) and the glass pavilion on the ground floor (Fig. C). The two residential units embody two different ways of living: upstairs, the house is divided into separate rooms, which correspond to different living functions; downstairs there is a continuous space, where the functions can flow into each other: entering, cleaning, changing, heating, working, cooking, eating, relaxing and sleeping. The original owners still live in their house, which is close to its original state. In winter the family lives on the upper floor, while from May to September they move to the lower floor, described by Mrs Plebani Bordogna “as a kind of lodge open to the garden”. LEGEND: A_Load-bearing structure of the house; B_Main apartment (first floor); C_Ground floor apartment: “the lodge”; D_Section dd; E_Roof plan with arrows indicating the rainwater drainage system; 1_Sloped edge beams of the paraboloids: the variable section corresponds to increasing axial compression stress; 2_Reinforced concrete tie rods 3_Downpipes; 4_Ventilation of the attic through a continuous gap of about 4 cm between the shells and the brick walls; 5_Perimeter walls: internal layer of load-bearing masonry (8 cm), cavity (4 cm), solid brickwork cladding (12 cm); 6_Iron frame glazing; 7_Chimney pot; 8_Concrete beam (65 × 24 cm); 9_Extra-thick concrete beam (24 × 100 cm).

145

PL. XLVIII

Mayer House, Bergamo, 1959

F

13

14

E

D 11

4m

2

10 6

12 5

1 2

7

4

5

7

2

9

8

7 7

3

7

7

A

B

C 12.5 m

146

Mayer House, Bergamo, 1959 Roofs

Mayer House combines a pre-existing two-storey building (Fig. F) with a three-storey extension. The entire structure, old and new, is cladded in Ceppo di Brembate stone, landscape format slabs 70 × 28 cm. In a note found among his sketches (PIZ/A/184) Pizzi­ goni explained this choice was made “to avoid too much contrast between new and old”. Originally, the ground floor was used as offices for the Mayer printing company, whose buildings were partly designed by Pizzigoni (see Plates XXXV and XXXVI). The Mayer family flat was on the first floor, while the second floor consisted only of a 60 m² veranda, which Pizzigoni called the “roof garden”, and a loggia of about 50 m², overlooking Bergamo’s old town. The building has recently been modified: the second floor, originally used as a substitute for the garden which the house did not have, has been almost completely walled and now contains a second flat. The roof of Pizzigoni’s extension consists of four hyperbolic paraboloids. Between the two shells covering the loggia there was originally a triangular skylight (13), which provided light to both the loggia and the veranda. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_First floor plan; C_Second floor plan; D_Section dd; E_View from south; F_Pre-existing building and extension; 1_Entrance to the offices; 2_Offices; 3_Workshop; 4_Entrance to the house; 5_Bathroom; 6_Living room; 7_Bedroom; 8_Kitchen; 9_Glazed veranda; 10_Loggia; 11_Street; 12_Property boundary: the town planning regulations of 1959 stipulated that the extension of Mayer House should be at a distance of 4 m from the boundary; 13_Steel framed glass skylight; 14_Vertical steel supports (the rest of the load-bearing structure is in reinforced concrete).

147

PL. XLIX

Paleocapa Technical High School, Bergamo, 1958 and 1965

7

D

7 10 8b

8

11 9

B 12

6 10

6 9

C

6

2.5 m

4

2 4

4

1

3

5

A 25 m

148

5

5

5

Paleocapa Technical High School, Bergamo,  1958 and 1965 Windows

The Paleocapa Technical High Scool, also called Esperia, is Pizzi­goni’s largest building. The two wings, 125 m and 80 m long, are arranged in an L-shape around an existing industrial complex. A constant distance of 3.51 m between the pillars lends rhythm to the load-­ bearing structure and the two façades facing the street. On the other hand, the inter-floor height of the two main levels is 4.68 m, which means that each front frame of the raised ground floor and first floor has a width/height proportion of 3:4 (Fig. D). In 1965, Pizzigoni added an assembly hall (7) of about 600 m² on the top of the building. The roof of this addition consists of a sequence of 20 hyperbolic paraboloids lit by 6 rectangular windows on the north-west side and another 6 trapezoidal ones on the south-east side. The window detail (Fig. C), repeated 234 times throughout the building, shows that the horizontal cornices (10) are placed at the level of the parapets and not at the level of the slabs (9). This gives the building the appearance of a series of stacked loggias. On each floor, the cornices extend 6 cm from the pillars below: this device produces a play of shadows that emphasise the continuity of the horizontal lines and thus the idea that the building is composed of four superimposed orders, the first of which does not rest on the ground but emerges from it, half sunk. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Section; C_Window detail; D_Proportional scheme. The window corresponds to a square with sides of 2.97 m; 1_Main entrance; 2_Courtyard; 3_Library; 5_Classrooms; 6_Laboratories; 7_Assembly hall; 8_Concrete pillar (27 × 49,5 cm); 8b_Non-load-bearing pillars (filled with downpipes or brickworks); 9_Concrete beam; 10_Cornice (thickness: 18 cm); 11_Ceppo di Brembate cladding (thickness: 3 cm); 12_Original wooden windows (now replaced with aluminium frames).

149

PL. L

Extension of the Donizetti Theatre, Bergamo, 1959

10

7

7

7

9

7 7

10

7 7

6

9

8 7

D

E

F

1 2

3

4

5

B

A

C 25 m

150

Extension of the Donizetti Theatre, Bergamo,  1959 Proportions

The Donizetti Theatre was enlarged by Pizzigoni by adding two new wings, both located along the sides of the existing structure, with a maximum depth of 9 m. The interventions included a number of public spaces such as lobbies and a side-foyer, rehearsal rooms, offices and various technical areas. The two new façades serve as backdrops to two public gardens. As the extension was required to fit into the existing neoclassical building, both façades are divided into two orders. The lower order features large sculptural glazing with iron frames, which give light to the side entran­ces and the new interior spaces. The upper order, on the other hand, is characterised by pink Zandobbio marble pillars, suspended from reinforced concrete brackets (7) at a distance of about 30 cm from the outer walls. The pillars, made of large stone blocks with dry joints, work structurally, partially compensating the bending moments of the new floor slabs. All elements of the façades  –  doors, pillars, glazing, windows, window partitions, and landings  –  are proportioned through the square (1:1) and the golden rectangle (1:1.618...). Unfortunately, Pizzigoni’s interventions and in particular the two finely detailed façades are no longer recognisable due to later renovations. LEGEND: A_Standard floor plan; B_West elevation (toward Porta Nuova Gardens); C_East elevation (toward Donizetti Monument Gardens); D_West façade detail; E_East façade detail; F_Axonometry of suspended pillars on west façade; 1_Theatre (extant); 2_New foyer (Italian: ridotto); 3_Rehearsal room; 4/5_Offices and technical areas; 6_Concrete beam of the large glass window (termed “Vierendeel beam” by Pizzigoni); 7_Reinforced concrete anchor brackets; 8_Lower marble stone (length: 1.5 m); 9_Marble pillar (length: 3 m); 10_Marble capital.

151

PL. LI

Pipia Tomb, Bergamo, 1959 (I)

2

1 3

5

F

G

4 3, 4, 5

B

A

A

5, 12,13

B

7, 24, 25

C

C

E

D

2.5 m

152

Pipia Tomb, Bergamo,  1959 (I) Proportions

This was the last burial chapel built by Pizzigoni. Although it is rather small and has no crypt, it contains 14 loculi for the coffins. The stone slabs with the names of the dead are positioned on the walls of a small polygonal prayer space: there are 12 on the 2 back walls and 2 on the front wall, above the entrance door (see them in transparency in Fig. F). The shape of the chapel is achieved by the intertwining of five volumes: a pentagonal prayer space (3), a small niche lit from the side (4), two shelves with six loculi each (1 and 5) and a slightly protruding prism above the entrance door (2). Pizzigoni’s drawings show that each of these volumes is proportioned according to a different Pythagorean triple (= a right-­ angled triangle whose sides are in whole number ratios to each other: 3-4-5, 5-12-13, 7-24-25, ...). The formal result is a set of different shapes, like a chimera with the body, head and legs of three dif­ferent animals. The exterior cladding is in Ceppo Poltragno stone, while the interior is cladded with pink Zandobbio marble. The height of the loculi (70 cm) corresponds to the dimensions of the cladding slabs and constitutes the basic module of the chapel. The entrance façade, in particular, is 5.25 m high, corresponding to 7.5 modules. LEGEND: A_Pythagorean triple 3-4-5 (cm: 96-128-160); B_Pythagorean triple 5-12-13 (cm: 75-180-195); C_Pythagorean triple 7-24-25 (cm: 56-192-200); D_Geometry scheme showing how Pythagorean triples fit into the plan; E_Proportions diagram of the entrance façade (the stone slab with the family name and the door frame have recently been modified); F_Side elevation; G_Front façade; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5_Volumes that make up the chapel, each recognisable separately from the outside.

153

PL. LII

Pipia Tomb, Bergamo, 1959 (II)

5

1

E 6

4

4

4

3 5

5

7 4

D

C

3 4

4

7

2

B

A 2.5 m

154

Pipia Tomb, Bergamo,  1959 (II) Structure

The concrete structure of this burial chapel consists of six pillars (20 × 20 cm) and a number of horizontal elements that give stability to the whole: these are the foundation beams (30 × 60 cm), the slabs holding the loculi (5 cm thick) and two small walls, which connect the entrance portal with the rear part (5). The structural framework is not visible from the outside  –  it is only by analysing the plans that one can see how it was hidden in the closed volumes containing the coffins, which is to say the two loculi shelves at the rear and the volume above the entrance door. The design principle guiding the shape of this chapel is to use the sarcophagi containing the coffins as the basic elements of the construction, almost as if they were large bricks. The resulting form is thus generated by the way in which the sarcophagi are assembled. Some of the preliminary studies (PIZ/A/182) include, among others, a simple wall/shelving for 12 coffins, a wall where a cross-shaped opening is created by sliding the central sarcophagi a little towards the sides, and finally a chapel, where the volumes are arranged in various directions, making a shape similar to a quartz crystal. At the end of this design process, the chapel takes on the appearance of a zoomorphic being, a kind of pagan divinity with a big head, a single eye and two short wings. LEGEND: A_Plan of the foundations; B_Plan of ground level; C_Plan of the upper part; D_Section through the entrance door; E_Bottom view of the load-bearing structure; 1_Foundations; 2_Interior space; 3_Niche with cross; 4_Loculi for the coffins; 5_Stiffening concrete wall beams; 6_Empty space for air circulation; 7_Kneeler (non-extant). 155

PL. LIII

Nani Tomb, Bergamo, 1959 Pizzigoni Tomb, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1959 5 5 3

12 cm

2

2

3

F E 8 4 7

1

6

3

2 4 1

210

276

C

D

5

7 3

9

5

8

2

5

6

A

B 1m

156

Nani Tomb, Bergamo,  1959; Pizzigoni Tomb, Zandobbio (Bergamo),  1959 Construction

Pizzigoni designed the tomb for the sculptor Attilio Nani in stone (Figs. B and D). As mentioned in one of the drawings (PIZ/A/243/ a4), the outer part was later “built in bronze and copper by Nani’s sons”. Its typolo­gical concept, as well as the construction system to access to the crypt, are similar to the tomb built for his own family in the same year (Figs. A, C, E, F). The artistic significance of these two funerary monuments coincides with the practical purpose of making a flat-lying door portal. Perhaps the most interesting feature of these “doors” is the opening mechanism: both tombs have two closing slabs; the upper slab (2 in Pizzigoni Tomb and 7 in Nani Tomb) is raised using four threaded metal pins, with a fixed bolt that is not too tight in order to allow enough movement to provide the anchorage points which are necessary (Fig. F). The second slab (4), on the other hand, is opened by tilting it to the side. In the Pizzigoni Tomb, both slabs are made of monoliths of pink Zandobbio marble. The four stones of the upper perimeter (3 in Fig. E) are mutually interlocked, as in a reciprocal structure, and each is connected with mortise and tenon joints. These interlocks ensure that the aperture where the tombstone is positioned is rigid enough to maintain the appropriate dimensions. In order to ventilate the crypt, the lower stone slab (4) is shaped with 16 spacer nuts (height: 4 cm) and a hole in the centre for the passage of air. LEGEND: A/C/E/F_Pizzigoni Tomb; B/D_Nani Tomb; 1_Reinforced concrete crypt walls; 2_Upper stone slab (Pizzigoni Tomb); 3_Perimeter stones; 4_Lower stone slab; 5_Metal pins; 6_Marble base in Ceppo di Brembate stone; 7_Copper and bronze cladding (Nani Tomb); 8_Little statue (sculptor: Attilio Nani); 9_Crypt for coffins arranged on a double shelf on one side (6 loculi). 157

Overview of the most noteworthy hyperbolic paraboloids built by Pizzigoni between 1956 and 1964

30 m

158

PL. LIV

Overview of the most noteworthy hyperbolic paraboloids built by Pizzigoni between  1956 and 1964 Structure

In 1955, Pizzigoni built a number of concrete hyperbolic paraboloids on land he owned in Gabbione near Bergamo. Following on from this experience, he introduced this kind of structure into vari­ous other projects. His most important paraboloids built bet­ween 1956 and 1967 are shown in Plate LIV, all represented at the same scale. There is a simplified plan for each one, indicating the horizontal dimensions of the shells and an axonometric view with the height measurements for the four vertexes of every hypar. In order to ensure a membrane static behaviour, the thickness of the concrete shells is always 5 cm, both in the smaller shells (6 × 6 m)and in the larger ones (approx. 15 × 20 m). The double reverse curved surfaces are built by simply putting straight lines between the edge beams: this characteristic means normal wooden boards could be used to make the concrete formwork, without having to bend or break them into shorter segments. Pizzigoni made use of reinforced concrete tie rods in his shells built until 1959: these were placed between the low vertexes of the shells (in Plate LIV tie rods are indicated with dotted lines). From 1960, his hyperbolic paraboloids no longer used ties or buttresses to absorb horizontal thrust. For Pizzigoni, in fact, these structures are “a rigid, non-thrust whole, with straight edges which only support axial forces: in other words, the surrounding borders (= edge beams) function just the same as struts or tie rods  –  no more and no less” (quote from the technical report of the Church of the Immacolata, 1966). The value indicated by “F” stands for the rise of the paraboloid: this parameter is directly proportional to the stresses which act on the structure. 159

PL. LV

Cheesemaker’s house, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo), 1960-62

a= 6 cm²/ml

9

8

A

c= 54 cm

10 b= 13 cm²

9

a= 6 cm²/ml 8

c= 54 cm

C

D

7

6

3

6

2

1

6 5

4

2

E

F

6.25 m

160

Cheesemaker’s house, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo),  1960 – 62 Structure

The cheesemaker’s house in Torre Pallavicina is a small square building of 9 m per side. The ground floor has changing rooms and a garage; the cheesemaker’s family home is on the first floor. The house is situated at the entrance to a complex, which comprises a cheese factory, a piggery, fodder stores and the houses for the cheesemaker and pig farmer. All the buildings in the complex are roofed with concrete hyperbolic paraboloids; there are 35 shells altogether, 33 of which still exist today. Pizzigoni described these structures as follows: “the shells are only 5 to 6 cm thick and do not transmit any thrust to the pillars; the pillars need only to bear the rather light dead loads, and the action of the wind [...] The walls are designed in order to partially relieve the pillars, taking the wind into account. [...] For the same reason [wind load], the pillars are fixed at their base with the concrete beams of the foundation.” For practical reasons, in the original executive drawings (e.g., PIZ/B/12) the edge beams of the shells are represented with tri­ angles and the actual shells are indicated with simple bold lines. For every shell Pizzigoni provides only three important data: the reinforcement iron of the membrane (indicated here with “a” in Figs. A and D); the reinforcement iron of the edge beams (“b” in Fig. D) and the dimensions of the edge beams (“c” in Fig. D). LEGEND: A_Concrete load-bearing structure; C_Section; D_Edge beam detail; E_First floor plan; F_Ground floor plan; 1_Garage; 2_Workers’ changing room; 3_Storage room; 4_Kitchen; 5_Living room; 6_Bedroom; 7_Bathroom; 8_Inverted beam of the foundation; 9_ First floor slab beam (B × H, 25 × 100 cm); 10_Roof construction: Outer gravel and cement plastering (2 cm), tar sheeting, glass wool (3 cm), reinforced concrete membrane (5 cm), insulation panels (3 cm), Plaster.

161

PL. LVI

Cheese factory, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo), 1960-62

11 12

10

B

2

A B

9

8b

8c

8a

8c

8c

D

C

4

14

5

E

5

5

5

6

13

3

1

3

2

F 12.5 m

162

7

Cheese factory, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo),  1960 – 62 Windows

The cheese factory is the largest building in the Torre Pallavicina industrial complex. All the spaces are distributed on the ground floor, except for the office area (7), which also contains a mezzanine floor. The roofs are made of hyperbolic paraboloids of various dimensions, which are all statically independent despite being placed side by side. Only the pillars are shared by more than one shell. The hypars 11 and 12 (Fig. A) have been demolished. One of the features of this complex is the special glazing, defined by Pizzigoni himself as “windows without glazing putty, which let condensation out“. The system developed to make windows which would allow the humidity produced by boiling cheese in the kitchens to flow directly outside. In fact, it is supposed to work like this: steam (8a) condenses on the cold glass panes (8b), which are slightly inclined outwards and overlap each other, causing the drops of condensation water to slide onto the outer side of the glass below, and then into drip trays (8c) and finally outside through drainage channels (8d). Some of these windows have been demolished and replaced by forced ventilation systems. LEGEND: A_View of the cheese factory; B_Special “condensation extraction” glazing; C_Detail of the glazing seen from the inside; D_Section of the glazing; E_Elevation of the glazing; F_Plan of the ground floor; 1_Entrance; 2_Milk delivery room; 3_Kitchens; 4_Salting room; 5_Storage/maturing room; 6_Smokehouse; 7_Offices; 8a/8b/8c/8d_Moisture path from inside to outside; 9_Glass panes, sustained without putty; 10_Concrete shell above the kitchen; 11/12_Demolished shells; 13_Boiler room;  14_Butter manufacturing room.

163

PL. LVII

Pig barns, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo), 1960-62

1

A

4 3

6

5

6

1

2

3

5

7

2

1

6

B 12.5 m

164

Pig barns, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo),  1960 – 62 Circulation

In addition to the cheese production facilities, the Torre Pallavicina industrial complex includes two large buildings with a total of 40 pig barns. At that time, it was common to use cheese production waste to fatten the animals. Each unit has a covered area of 6.6 × 3.5 m and an external courtyard of 5.5 × 3.5 m. The roof consists of 20 identical hyperbolic paraboloids, measuring 15.15 × 3.5 m with a 4.5 m rise (difference between high and low vertexes). Each shell covers two barns opposite each other with inverted distri­ bution, in order to follow the special curvature of the roofs. Each paraboloid rests its lowest points on reinforced concrete pillars with dimensions of 20 × 20 × 90 cm. All pillars in the complex are connected to four inverted foundation beams, which stiffen the structure against horizontal wind loads. The stables are provided with an internal pathway, elevated 1 m above the sewage disposal channel, to control the pigs from the inside (3) and with external paths to directly access the barn courtyards (6). The pig barns at Torre Pallavicina can be considerd a special type of row house, where neighbouring units are connected to each other by the triangular gable façades and back-to-back units are connected to each other by hyperboloic paraboloid roofs. LEGEND: A_View from southeast; B_Plan and section; 1_Pig barn: exterior courtyard with drinking trough; 2_Pig barn: interior with trough; 3_Interior monitoring path; 4_Straw holder on wire mesh (secondary function: filtered aeration); 5_Sewage collection and disposal channel; 6_External pathway; 7_Inverted beams of the foundation. 165

PL. LVIII

Sanguinetti Padoa House, Rome, 1961

19

Tiber River

South

Hill landscape St Peter’s Basilica

19 18

E 2

3 6

5 4

1

5

8

11

6 9

7

10

B

13

5

8

C

15.14 m

12 15 6

16

4m 15.1

17

18°

18

14.40 m

A

D

10 m

166

14.40 m

14

Sanguinetti Padoa House, Rome,  1961 Orientation

The Sanguinetti Padoa House is Pizzigoni’s only architectural work built outside the province of Bergamo. The main feature is a large living room of 120 m², covered by a hyperbolic paraboloid meas­ uring 14.40 × 15.14 m. On the main level, in addition to the living room, there is a service area with a kitchen and office to the west (3, 4) and a bedroom suite (6, 7) for the single woman who commissioned the house. Above this bedroom, in the eastern part of the house, there is a library on two levels, the first of which opens out as a gallery towards the hall. In the basement, as well as the technical and storage spaces, there is a large garage, rooms for domestic staff and a guest room. The structural axes and external walls in the north-south direction are tilted by 18°. This inclination means the porch and terrace have a panorama that stretches from the Tiber River in the east as far as the hills in the northwest, with the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the middle, in an almost southerly direction. The house is cladded in brick. The corner bricks are left whole, forming vertical “seams” on the outer edges at 72° and at 108°. Half of the lower floor rests on the ground, which fosters a flue effect in summer, bringing fresh air from the basement to the hall (and the library) via the staircase which is left open. LEGEND: A_Basement plan; B_Ground floor plan; C_Mezzanine; D_Diagram of the concrete shell plan; E_Cross section; 1_Entrance; 2_Hall; 3_Kitchen; 4_Office; 5_Storage room; 6_Bathroom; 7_Room; 8_Stairwell; 9_Covered terrace; 10_Open terrace; 11_Library; 12_Garage; 13_Boiler; 14_Laundry room; 15_Domestic room; 16_Guest room; 17_Cellar; 18_Backfill; 19_Paraboloid edge beams (reinforced concrete, 65 × 65 cm).

167

PL. LIX

Nursery school, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1960-63

E 14 14 14

13 14

7

1

2

C

D 12

12

10

11 13

12 12

13

12

13

B c

11

2

10

9

4

1

10

5

5

6 7 5

5

3

8

A c 10 m

5

Nursery school, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1960 – 63 Roofs

The kindergarten in Zandobbio is a one-storey building whose structural grid has square modules of 7.92 m per side. The central part has a mezzanine floor, where the nuns, who originally lived and taught in the kindergarten, had their rooms. Next to the main entrance, which has recently been modified, is a round chapel (2), which is accessed through a circular corridor. This corridor con­ tinues to a staircase in pink Zandobbio marble that leads to the mezzanine floor. Two circumferences define the geometry of the chapel (Fig. D): the inscribed circle and the circle circumscribed by the square that defines the basic module of the whole building. Each square module is covered by a hyperbolic paraboloid with a 2.70 m rise (14 in Fig. E). The paraboloids are visible only from the inside, since on the outside they are protected by a second layer, formed by three and a half pyramidal roofs (13 in Fig. B). The pillars along the perimeter of the building consist of C-shaped concrete walls. The glazing between these walls are 4.5 m long and are set back 1 m from the roof edge. This protects the classrooms from sunlight and provides a covered area between the interior and the garden. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Roof and mezzanine plan; C_Section cc; D_Geometrical scheme of the plan; E_North-west axonometry; 1_Entrance hall; 2_Chapel; 3_Kitchen; 4_Canteen; 5_Classroom; 6_Assembly hall; 7_Teachers’ staffroom; 8_Management office; 9_Nursery; 10_Toilet; 11_Nuns’ apartment; 12_Room; 13_Pavilion roof; 14_Hyperbolic paraboloid; 15_Boiler.  169

PL. LX

Celadina Nursery School, Bergamo, 1963

14

13

15

12

16

8

16

3

7

D

C 20.55 m

11

11

17 17 17

9

11.84 m

9 8

10

5

9

4

3.4 m

B

4

2

3

5

1

6 6

6

7

7

7

7

5

5

A

10 m

170

Celadina Nursery School, Bergamo, 1963 Windows

Celadina Nursery School consists of four classrooms distributed through a spacious entrance hall, also used as a gathering space and for various acti­ vities. Originally, the nuns who lived and worked in the nursery had an apartment on the mezzanine level. The building has been renovated and converted into a centre for disabled people: on this occasion the hyperbolic paraboloid roof was demolished. This roof consists of two concrete shells, among the largest designed by Pizzigoni and certainly those which had to withstand the highest stresses. Each of these shells is 20.55 × 12.84 m with a rise of only 3.40 m. The section of all the edge beams is 55 × 55 cm: according to the instructions provided in the executive drawings, beams 12 and 13 are subjected to pure tension, whereas beams 14 and 15 are only compressed. Edge beam 12 (20.55 m long) has the greatest amount of iron reinforcement (200 cm²). The other beams vary as follows: the 13 had 113 cm², the 14 had 56 cm² and the 15 had 31 cm². Although hypars are double-curved surfaces, the interior walls parallel to the edge beams (in this case all of them) end in height with a straight line, which corresponds exactly to one of the paraboloid’s generators. This geometrical feature is exploited to fit simple trapezoidal glazing (16) in between the interior walls and the shells of the roof. LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan; B_Mezzanine; C_Geometry of the horizontal section of the hypar (= hyperbola); D_Cross section; 1_Main Entrance; 2_Porter’s lodge; 3_Multifunctional hall; 4_Kitchen; 5_Bathroom; 6_Ante-bathroom; 7_Classroom; 8_Dormitory (nuns’ apartment); 9_Double height; 10_Hall; 11_Downpipe; 12 and 13_Edge beams subjected to tension; 14 and 15_Edge beams subjected to compression; 16_Trapezoidal interior glazing; 17_Hyperbolas (= horizontal sections of the hypars).

171

PL. LXI

C.E.P. Nursery Schools, Bergamo, 1965

13

15

11

14

12 18

B 15

14

12

12 18

11 13 17

A 16

16 17 7

7

9

7 10

7

6

8

8

18

2 16

16

3 4

5

18 8

8

1 17 16

16

7.5 m

172

C.E.P. Nursery Schools, Bergamo, 1965 Construction

Pizzigoni made use of this nursery school project to build two identical buildings in the Monterosso neighbourhood of Bergamo. He described the main feature of this design as follows (PIZ/B/131/ b2): “Between the edge beams and the membrane, there is, unfor­ tunately, such structural discontinuity that  –  within reinforced concrete structures  –  cracks occur precisely at the points of transition from the beams to the shells. These inconveniences will become greater when the difference between moment of inertia of beams and shells is greater, and consequently, the bigger the distance between the supports, the larger the beam section will be. The system here described has the characteristic of com­prising an almost infinite number of supports, thus significantly reducing the thickness of the edge beams, which still require testing against buckling”. After the structural works were finished, a number of “static corrections” were added: these included additional pillars, which were later demolished, and tie rods between the lower vertexes of the shells (18). These interventions were required by the structural inspectors, although Pizzigoni con­sidered them unnecessary. LEGEND: A_Ground floor and longitudinal section; B_Axonometric view of load-­ bearing structure; 1_Porch; 2_Entrance; 3_Porter’s lodge; 4_Kitchen; 5_Canteen; 6_Ante-­bathroom: six sets of taps with four sinks each; 7_Toilet; 8_Classrooms; 9_Sickbay; 10_Teachers’ rooms; 11_Concrete edge beams of the outer perimeter of the building (40 × 40 cm); 12_Internal concrete edge beams (40 × 60 cm); 13_IPE Steel profiles (60 × 100 mm): one vertical and one inclined by 11°; 14_Large T-shaped concrete beam (this “replaces” the steel supports along the transversal symmetry axis); 15_Concrete shell (thickness: 5 cm); 16_Downpipe; 17_Concrete wall to stiffen the steel vertical supports; 18_Steel tie rods (considered “useless” by Pizzigoni).

173

PL. LXII

Town hall, Zandobbio, 1962-65

5 cm

45

45

15

3

2

E 4

1

16

15

F

15

C

D

8 6

6

7

6

11

8

11

11

7 10

5

6

6 8

14

13

9 16

A

B 10 m

174

12

Town hall, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1962 – 65 Structure

This building was originally planned to contain the town hall on the first floor and a medical centre on the ground floor. Pizzigoni himself provided the land the building was erected on. Regardless of its limited floor area, around 350 m², the building has all the traditional features of historical Italian municipalities: the entrance portico, the balcony facing the piazza and an external monumental staircase. The load-bearing structure consists of two symmetrical and statically independent halves. Each half has three vertical support points, two of which are pairs of pillars, while the third has only one, but is alongside the single pillar of the second half and thus effectively constitutes another pair of pillars. The roof of each half consists of a hyperbolic paraboloid (9.45 × 12.60 m). The edge beams of the paraboloids (Fig. E) have a constant cross section of 45 × 45 cm: according to Pizzigoni’s annotations (PIZ/B/34/a3), they are calculated as simple tie (beams 1 and 2) and struts (beams 3 and 4). The sculptural shape of the corner pillars lends plasticity to the entire building and also has the static function of containing the horizontal thrust of the concrete struts (15) which support the two arcaded façades (north and west elevations). LEGEND: A_Ground floor plan (medical clinic); B_First floor plan (municipal administration); C_North façade (towards the town hall square); D_East façade; E_Detail of the paraboloid edge beam; F_Axonometry of the load-bearing structure; 1  and 2_Tension tie edges; 3 and 4_Compressed edges; 5_Clinic entrance; 6_Medical ward; 7_Medicine storage; 8_Bathrooms; 9_Porch; 10_Town hall entrance; 11_Offices;  12_Mayor’s office; 13_Balcony room; 14_Archives; 15_Concrete struts; 16_Balcony.

175

PL. LXIII

Pezzoli House, Leffe (Bergamo), 1964

8

9

12

12

10

8 13

13

9

11

11 12 11 12

D

4

E

d

5 9

3

6

4 7

2

1

e 9

7

7 11

12 12

A

B

C 12.5 m

176

Pezzoli House, Leffe (Bergamo),  1964 Structure

Pezzoli House is a multi-storey building designed for the butcher Andrea Pezzoli in the historical centre of Leffe, right next to the church and the market square. The three lower floors (basement, ground and mezzanine) were originally purposed for the business undertakings of the owner: they include a shop, a spacious warehouse and a floor for offices. The upper part of the house has four apartments (one on each floor). In order to render the shop area independent from the dwelling floors above in terms of distri­ bution, the east and south perimeter walls of the upper part, as well as the slabs of the second, third, fourth and fifth floor, are hung from four concrete ties (9 and 12). These ties carry the loads up to the roof level, where they are transferred via two inverted T-shaped concrete cantilevers (13 in Fig. D) to the four pillars at the centre of the house (see arrows in the sections, indicating how loads are driven within the building). The main feature of the front façade is a special diagonal Vierendeel truss (10) in which three loggias and three balconies are located. This truss is also hung from the two concrete ties visible from the outside (9). The complex load-bearing structure of Pezzoli House, built entirely in re­ inforced concrete, is perhaps reminiscent of the hanging storage system employed in a butcher’s cold room. LEGEND: A_Fifth floor plan; B_Third floor plan; C_Ground floor plan; D_Section 1_Shop; 2_Apartment without interior partitions (uncertain); dd; E_Section ee;  3_Entrance; 4_Bathroom; 5_Kitchen; 6_Hall; 7_Room; 8_Altana/roof terrace; 9_Concrete ties (36 × 36 cm); 10_Vierendeel truss; 11_Extra-high beam; 12_Concrete ties (18 × 18 cm); 13_Inverted T-shaped cantilevers. 177

PL. LXIV

Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960-65 (I)

11 10 11 13

12

F

9

E

9 8

8

9

7

9

7 8

8 7

7

8

8

7 8

8

8

D

C

14 1

3

1

8

9 7

8

2 6

4 5

B

A 15 m

178

Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960 – 65 (I) Structure

The Pagoda Apartments in Viale Vittorio Emanuele, known as ‘La Pagoda’, is the only prestigious multi-family housing complex Pizzi­ goni designed. The building has seven floors  –  each comprising a terrace  –  and one basement level. The interior circulation of the apartments has been altered several times. The original project (here illustrated) consists of 12 apartments: there are 5 very spacious flats, 3 smaller ones and 4 penthouses. A distinctive feature of this building is the load-bearing structure. Reinforced concrete Vierendeel trusses are employed to support two-storey cantilevered volumes at different levels. The most impressive of these trusses (Fig. E) extends throughout the entire street façade on the east side. The overhang to the right is approximately 9 m. A few years after construction, steel pillars (painted red) were added at various points of the structure. This was due to significant long term deformations in concrete elements (creep behaviour). LEGEND: A_Basement floor plan; B_Ground floor plan; C_First floor plan; D_Second floor plan; E_Vierendeel truss of the east elevation; F_View from the south-east, with location of the Vierendeel truss represented in Fig. E; 1_Basement access ramp; 2_Garage circulation; 3_Cellars; 4_Porch; 5_Main entrance; 6_Porter’s lodge; 7_Kitchen; 8_Bathroom; 9_Living room; 10_Some of the openings in the Viereendel truss have hexagonal geometries. In the early design stages, the bow windows positioned on the hexagonal fields also followed the shape of the structure. Later they were simplified; 11_Balcony slabs position; 12_Foundation beam (cross section: 1.8 × 2 m); 13_Reinforced concrete pillars (72 × 72 cm); 14_Pedestrian access to the building. 179

PL. LXV

Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960-65 (II)

9

9 8

E

7 7 9

9

3

9

3

2

4 5

5

6

5

6

5 6

6

6

6

2

4

6

7

6

D

C 9

9

9

7 7 3 3

4

6 1

2

5 5

6

2

6 2

5

3

6

1

6

2

4

8

9

5

3

5

7

6

6

B

15 m

180

5

6

6

7

A

Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960 – 65 (II) Stairs

The Pagoda Apartments are located on the east side of one of Ber­ gamo’s central hills. The apartment block features numerous terraces; this was in order to protect the historical context and the natural landscape as much as possible, while at the same time achieving the maximum building volume within the planning regulations of the time. For this reason, the parking level, the ground floor and part of the first floor were kept below the natural ground level (Fig. E). The communal staircase is located at the centre of the building, and receives natural light: for the first five floors the light comes from the large portico facing north; the two top floors are lit from the skylights positioned in the roof. Seen from a distance, the building looks like a stepped pyramid leaning into the hill. Careful attention was paid to building materials in relation to the natural context: slate cladding was chosen for the roofing and the spacious terraces were used as gardens. LEGEND: A_Third floor plan; B_Fourth floor plan; C_Fifth floor plan; D_Sixth floor plan; E_Section through the staircase; 1_Entrance hall to the apartment; 2_Kitchen; 3_Living room; 4_Office; 5_Bathroom; 6_Room; 7_Terrace; 8_Structural consolidation works: steel pillars (painted red) at various points of the structure; 9_Vierendeel two-storey trusses. 181

PL. LXVI

Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960-65 (III)

1

2

E

4

3

4

9

9 8

8

D

C

8

4

108

13 5

5

4

81 3

6 7

B

A

1.25 m

182

Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960 – 65 (III) Windows

The early design sketches for the Pagoda Apartments (PIZ/A/208; see also Fig. 42, p. 35) clearly show that three volumes define the building. Each of these is distributed over two floors: the first volume, on the first and second floors, faces the street; the second, on the third and fourth floors, is recessed and almost concealed; the third, on the fifth and sixth floors, could be considered the top of the pyramid formed by the east-facing terraces with panoramic views towards Bergamo’s Upper City. The access to the entrance hall (1) and to the staircase is located on the north side of the building. Here, between the three volumes, an extensive portico of variable height is formed. The shaded and plastic appearance of this space recalls the cliffs of a gorge, like many in the Bergamo pre-Alps, where they are referred to as orrido  –  an Italian word with connotations of Romanticism. A sense of unity is provided by the slate roofs and wooden bow windows. The roofing bands which envelop the building at each level always have the same section, which originates in the Pythagorean triple 3-4-5 (the actual dimensions are: 81, 108, 135 cm). Pizzigoni made at least four standard details through which the roofing bands could be adapted to the different elements. LEGEND: A_Detail: roof to exterior wall; B_Detail: roof to terrace; C_Detail: roof to french door; D_Detail; roof to window; E_View from north east; 1_Main entrance; 2_Access ramp to basement parking; 3_“Branzi” slate slabs (45 × 54 cm); 4_Cornice in Black Nuvolato Ardesio marble (18 × 12 cm); 5_Iron parapet (supports every 1.08 m); 6_Steel profile C-cross section (25 × 15 mm); 7_Concrete structure; 8_Finishing plaster with Red Verona marble powder; 9_Douglas wooden window frames.

183

PL. LXVII

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964 (I)

10

7 5

E

3

3

10

8 6

8

9

8

8

6

D

6

C

3

3 1 4

2

7 5

B

A

7.5 m

184

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo),  1964 (I) Orientation

Nani House is the last single-family house that Pizzigoni built; a home with an artist’s studio for the sculptor Claudio Nani  – Attilio Nani’s son  –  who still uses the house as a holiday retreat. It covers an area of about 200 m², over four levels. The house is located on a south-facing slope near the village of Parre in Val Seriana. Conspicuous from the outside because of their panoramic windows, the main rooms are arranged around the central core, where the staircase is located: the dining room and the lounge on the first floor and the artist’s atelier on the third. Nowadays the studio has been moved to the ground floor, where an entrance portico 5.3 m high was originally planned. The load-bearing structure is oriented exactly in north-south direction. This orientation creates a front facing towards the south, cladded in white plaster and characterised by the three panoramic windows and a back facing towards the north, cladded with rough local stone and fitted with only mini­ mal openings. The drawings in Plate LXVIII (next page) show how the geometry of the house is related to the issue of orientation. The basic figure of the plan is in fact an equilateral triangle, one vertex of which points northwards: moreover, the 60° angle of this form is actually similar to the equisolar angle of Bergamo’s latitude (68.4°), which constitutes a design principle of solar orientation, extensively used by Pizzigoni from 1940 (see e.g. the propo­sals for a mountain lodge in Zambla Alta: PIZ/A/83 and PIZ/B/21). LEGEND : A_Ground floor plan; B_First floor plan; C_Second floor plan; D_Third floor plan; E_View from south-east; 1_Entrance porch (current artist’s studio); 2_Cellar/storage room; 3_Bathroom; 4_Kitchen; 5_Dining room; 6_Double height; 7_Living room; 8_Bedroom; 9_Skylight (providing light to the corridor on the second floor); 10_Original artist’s studio. 185

PL. LXVIII

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964 (II)

250

H

250 945

250

150

E 1091.2

N

A

B

C

D

315 31

5

G 45°

315 30° 30°

30° 30°

H

30° 30°

30°

30°

30° 30°

45°

5.6

315 54

315

F

315 * √3 = 545.6 31

5

545.6

545.6

5m

186

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964 (II) Proportions

The structural grid and thus the basic geometry of Nani House is based on the equilateral triangle. As described in the archival documents (e.g. PIZ/B/36/a4), the position of the seven reinforced concrete pillars fits into a grid consisting of six rectangles (Fig. A). The proportional ratio between the sides of these rectangles is 545.6 : 315 = √3, which corresponds to half of an equilateral tri­angle. Most of the perimeter walls are in fact inclined at 30° (Fig. B) or 60° (Fig. C). However, the dining room on the first floor is an exception. There, the tilted wall and the depth of the cantilevered volume are defined by two 45° axes (Fig. D): the first passes through the centre of the staircase (G), while the second starts exactly at the point of convergence of the lines of both the front façade and the floor plan (H). Despite this exception, the width of the panoramic window of the dining room is exactly the same as the other two panoramic windows (315 cm). The overall dimensions of the south façade (height: 945 cm and width: 1091.2 cm) show that the ele­va­ tion of the building was also proportioned according to an equi­ lateral triangle (Fig. E). The “vanishing point” of most edges both in plan and in elevation (point H) is related to Pizzigoni’s studies on perspective drawing and in particular to his theory and practice of punti misuratori (measuring points) that he taught for more than 30 years at the Carrara Academy of Fine Arts in Ber­gamo (Pizzi­ goni’s booklets on perspective were published in 1932, 1951, 1954 and 1966; see references in the bibliography). All the figures represented in Plate LXVIII bear a striking resemblance to a natural form which Pizzigoni loved: the spider’s web. 187

PL. LXIX

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964 (III)

4

3

2

1 2

D 3.75 m

5

5

d

B

C 6 7

7 8 6

6

8

7 6

7

7 d

A 7.5 m

188

Nani House, Parre (Bergamo),  1964 (III) Structure

The load-bearing structure of Nani House consists of a complex framework of reinforced concrete beams, pillars and slabs (Fig. C). The two cantilevered volumes on the first floor are supported by four stepped beams (5 in Fig. C). The stepped shape allows the brick walls supporting the roof to be laid directly on top of the concrete beams. The rough local stone walls have no load-­ bearing function and constitute a sort of protective hull (Fig. B). The wooden staircase is located within a concrete shaft whose walls are 10 cm thick. This rigid concrete block also has the structural task of supporting the bending moments, which come from two of the cantilevered beams (5) of the first floor. The roof, made of eight different pitches (see also Fig. E in Plate LXVII), is covered with slates. Rainwater (8) drains into gutters (6) and then directly away from the building through spouts (7). LEGEND: A_Plan of the roof with rainwater drainage system; B_Axonometry of the perimeter walls cladded in rough local stone; C_Axonometry of the load-bearing structure in reinforced concrete; D_Section dd; 1_Brickwork (20 cm); 2_Cladding layer in local stone (approximately 35 cm); 3_Special interior-to-interior window from the bedroom on the second floor to the living room on the first floor; 4_Skylight to give natural light to the corridor on the second floor (see photograph above); 5_Extra-high concrete beams, stepped to provide horizontal laying surface to the brickwork, which bears the roof slab; 6_Eaves channel; 7_Spouts; 8_Slope direction.

189

PL. LXX

Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo, 1961-65 (I)

6

1 2

E

7

D

7

5

5

1

6

2

B

C

6 3

4

2

2

5

1

A 12.5 m

190

Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo, 1961– 65 (I) Proportions

Although Pizzigoni designed at least ten churches, this is the only one he managed to have built. The peculiarity of this work lies in its construction. Each of the main elements is made of concrete hyperbolic paraboloids: the saddle-shaped entrance portal, the perimeter walls, the apse and of course the roof. By way of expla­ nation, Pizzigoni asked, “if Brunelleschi or Bramante were to return to life, would they not take advantage of the notions of thin, non-thrusting shells? The very men who had posed the problem of setting the vault of St  Peter’s 42 m above ground?” (PIZ/A/210/b14). Though ostensibly anti-classical, the layout of this work is actually consistent with Christian tradition. This explains, at least from a typological point of view, the reference to Bramante and St  Peter’s Basilica. The entire church consists of 24 paraboloids. Each para­ boloid forms the closing surface of four non-coplanar nodes and their connecting beams. To define the position in space of each node Pizzigoni used a Cartesian system (Fig. F) with a square base measuring 28.80 m and 18 m in height, divided into cubic modules with 3.6 m sides. It follows that the four elevations, including the front and the side façade (Figs. B and C), are contained in golden rectangles (8 × 5 modules). LEGEND: A_Plan; B_North elevation (front façade); C_West elevation; D_Cartesian spatial system (whose idea can be found, among others, in design studies PIZ/A/210/ a296 and PIZ/A/210/a322); E_Axonometry from the north west; 1_Entrance portal: a saddle-shaped paraboloid, independent from the rest of the structure; 2_Side entrances; 3_Access to the church from the sacristy; 4_Altar; 5_Skylights for the lower spaces; 6_Apse (see also photograph above); 7_Skylights to light up the roof shells.

191

PL. LXXI

Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo, 1961-65 (II)

K

J

5

3

6 4 7 2

1 9

8

A

B

C

D

E 5

3

6 4 7

1

F

G

H 16.8 m

192

Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo,  1961 – 65 (II) Construction

In the Church of the Immacolata, the space at the centre is surrounded by four identical quarters which are structurally independent. Each quarter consists of a statically determinate structural frame, composed of 9 nodes and 21 members (on this subject see: Crippa and Pizzigoni 1966; Deregibus and Pugnale 2010). Eight of the nodes (1 – 8) are connected by twelve members, which constitute the edge beams of four paraboloids (Figs. B, C, D, E). The surfaces of these four paraboloids taken together correspond to the topological set known as the Moebius strip (Fig. F), i.e. a closed band with an internal twist of 180° (Fig. K). In order to close the “eye” in the middle of the Moebius strip, three more surfaces have been added (Fig. G): a fifth paraboloid between the nodes 1-3-6-7 and two triangles, one in concrete (4-5-7) and one glazed (5-6-7). The original stained glass windows with transparent glass and iron frames have been replaced by coloured glass mosaics: this has reduced the brightness inside the church considerably. Complete closure of the interior space is achieved by two addi­ tional paraboloids placed along the central axis (the entrance portal and the apse: see Plate LXX) and a segmented wall located between the shells and the foundation slab. LEGEND: A_Nodes and members of one of the quarters of the church; B/C/D/E_Hyper­ bolic paraboloids forming a Moebius strip; F_Schematic representation of one of the four Moebius strips of the church; G_Fifth paraboloid and the two additional closing triangles, one in concrete and one glazed; H_Schematic overall representation of a quarter of the church; J_Axonometry of the concrete beams web of a church’s quarter; K_Simplified diagram of a Moebius strip; 1 – 9_Nodes of the structural grid.

193

PL. LXXII

Brandolisio Tomb, Bergamo, 1966 Bruni Tomb, Bergamo, 1966 1

6

F 2

1

7

H

G

3

E

5

5

1 7

A

4

4

4

B

C 2.5 m

194

4

B

Brandolisio Tomb, Bergamo,  1966; Bruni Tomb, Bergamo,  1966 Construction

These two tombs are Pizzigoni’s last works. Although some doubt remains, the Bruni Tomb is attributable to Pizzigoni on the basis of the preparatory drawings for the Brandolisio Tomb (see sketches included in PIZ/A/231): some of the design studies for the Brando­ lisio Tomb, particularly those dated 25 April 1966, correspond very closely to the existing Bruni Tomb. Both tombs consist of San Fede­lino granite elements with dry joints. The stone of the Bruni Tomb has a polished finish, while in the Brandolisio Tomb it is bush-hammered. The shape and proportions of both are related to the geometric figure of the spiral, which Pizzigoni describes in his sketches in the words of the mathematician Jakob Bernoulli (1654 – 1705): “Eadem mutata resurgo” (Although changed, I arise the same). In the Brandolisio Tomb the spiral is almost hidden in the opening mechanism of the four stone blocks (see Fig. F, which shows the tomb from below). It is likely that in the Brandolisio Tomb, three of the four stones are joined by granite pins (2 in Fig. G), while the last one (1 in Fig. G) was simply slid into its final position. LEGEND: A_Plan of the Bruni Tomb; B_Plan of the crypt (likely the same in both tombs); C_Plan of the Brandolisio Tomb; E_Elevations; G_Brandolisio Tomb; F_Bottom view of the four stones with indication of opening rotation mechanism; H_Bruni Tomb; 1_Closing stone (probably) of the four composing Brandolisio Tomb; 2_Locking pin; 3_Planter; 4_Coffin niches; 5_Crypt; 6_Gravestone (210 × 74 × 5 cm); 7_Concrete finish.

195

Chronology of Pizzigoni’s Built Works

Note on Methodology The following 99 files provide essential information on the built architectural works by Giuseppe Pizzigoni between 1925 and 1967. Other architectural works by Pizzigoni, not classified here, may have existed or still exist. In addition to buildings, this list also includes tombs and monuments, while urban plans and furnishings, both fixed and movable, are not included. For each work the following information has been collected: 1) The year of the start of the project and of its completion. 2) The name of the work. 3) The authors who collaborated with Pizzigoni. 4) The address where the work is/was located. 5) The sources from the Pizzigoni Archive concerning the work. The archive folders are divided into two types according to their size: folders marked with the code ‘PIZ/A’ are 30 × 40 cm; folders marked with the code ‘PIZ/B’ are 70 × 100 cm. The documents contained in the folders, both PIZ/A and PIZ/B, are in turn divided into three categories: “a” for drawings, “b” for writings and “c” for photographs. 6) Notes on archive sources. In some cases notes have been ­added concerning errors of attribution or of archiving. In other cases, further archival information has been included. 7) Existing publications which show at least one image of the work alongside the description or quotation in the text. 8) The current state of conservation, assessed through the follow­ ing five categories: A_Demolished: the work has been demolished or modified to such an extent that it is no longer recognisable. B_Poor: the work has been extensively altered, but some orig­ inal architectural features are still recognisable. C_Reasonable: the work has been modified, but most of the original architectural features are still recognisable. D_Good: the work has been restored and partially modified, but all the main architectural features remain recognisable. This category also includes original works that are in a state of decay and/or abandonment. 197

E_Excellent: both the original architectural features and con­ struction materials have been maintained. The state of mainte­ nance is at least reasonable. 9) Other information on the history of the work and of its design process. 10) Plates on the work that can be found in Part 2 of the book ­(Atlas of Pizzigoni’s Built Work). 

198

1925–27

1930–33

1930

House for his father

Beratto House (with Michele Invernizzi)

Workers’ housing in Clementina (with Michele Invernizzi)

Via Monte Ortigara, 5, Bergamo

Via Leone Tolstoj, 3 and 9, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/282 (Drawings: 12; Texts: 3)

Pizzigoni Archive: – not found –

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011.

Publications: Brebenni 2014; Pizzigoni 1982; Ronchi 1931.

Viale Vittorio Emanuele II, 70, Bergamo Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/43 (Drawings: 14; Texts: 2; Photographs: 26) PIZ/B/173 (Drawings: 4; Photographs: 1) Publications: Bassanelli 2016; Van den Bergh 2011; Cornoldi 2001; Belloni 1998; Irace 1997; Bertelli 1994; Barbero 1985, Mosca 1985; Pizzigoni 1982; Patetta 1976; Piz­ zigoni 1971; Pizzigoni 1970; Edilizia Moderna 1963; Muzio 1931; Belloni 1928; Buzzi 1928; Reggiori 1927. State of conservation: good. Despite some internal modifications, the building and its original elements, such as window frames, have largely been preserved. In the garden there is a small rustic building (an ex-stable) with a trap­ ezoidal plan. Pizzigoni conserved this building and restored it, adding a façade in the style of the house. The sculptor Giacomo Manzù had his studio in this outbuilding around 1930. In 1944, the main house was requisitioned by the German army and used as a billet for the Gestapo garrison in Bergamo for a few months. During this period, a number of military control posts were added on the roof of the house and in the garden: they still exist today.

State of conservation: reasonable. From the outside, the building appears almost the same as it did when it was built. It originally consisted of two residential units with two separate entrances. In the photograph shown here these entrances correspond to the two arched openings on the mezzanine floor. The part of the façade set back from the street shows proportions of the elements almost identical to those of the main façade of the House for his father (1925–27).

Plate I, p. 52 Plate II, p. 54

199

State of conservation: poor. There are currently four two-storey buildings that correspond to the original volumes. However, it is not clear whether they are renovations or new construc­ tions. It is certain that the reinforced concrete balconies that connected the first floors and were the distinguishing feature of the original building no longer exist. Pizzigoni-Invernizzi’s interventions were partly new constructions (photograph above) and partly renovations of existing three-storey buildings. Regarding the lat­ ter, from Ronchi 1931, p. 559: “Rickety old balconies are replaced by audacious, airy staircases”.

1930–31

1930–31

1930

School building (with Michele Invernizzi)

School building (with Michele Invernizzi)

Traversi House (with M. Invernizzi)

Via Fratelli Calvi, 3, Bergamo

Via Luigi Cadorna, 1, Bergamo

Via Borgo Palazzo, 3, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: – not found –

Pizzigoni Archive: – not found –

Publications: Ronchi 1931.

Publications: Ronchi 1931.

State of conservation: reasonable.

State of conservation: reasonable.

A second floor was added to the original building (photograph). The half-columns and entablature framing the main entrance have been retained. The build­ ing is now called ‘Scuola Primaria Calvi’ (Calvi Primary School). This building and the one built around the same time in Via Cadorna were mentioned in Ronchi 1931, p. 560:

The building is now called ‘Scuola Pri­ maria Diaz’ (Diaz Primary School). The Pizzigoni Archive has no drawings of this school or of its counterpart in Via Fratelli Calvi; the same applies to the houses in Clementina (1930). It is possible that some documents may be in the archive of engineer Michele Invernizzi, who col­ laborated with Pizzigoni for these works.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/298 (Drawings: 17; Photographs: 4) PIZ/A/299* (Drawings: 5) PIZ/B/18 (Drawings: 35) *Note: This is an extension made by Pizzigoni in 1940–42.

“... two (school) buildings, to which Pizzi­ goni, an intelligent young architect and fellow-citizen who combines a practical knowledge of the rationality of modern architecture with his own personal artis­ tic interpretation, has given a severe majesty of line, ...”. “... the architect Pizzigoni, with his robust ingenuity, crystalline honesty and youthful enthusiasm, was able to com­ pletely transform the neighbourhood”.

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pellegrini 2003; Belloni 1998; Bertelli 1994; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970; Architettura 1930. State of conservation: reasonable. The building has recently been restored. The balconies were extended along the low building inside the courtyard and an external lift was added. The roof has been rebuilt. The cornices of the main façade, originally in exposed concrete, are now plastered like the rest of the masonry. Quotation from the magazine Architettura 1930, p. 298: “The most appealing side of the building is on the front facing the courtyard; interest is added by the composition used in the concrete stairs and balconies, moulded in a very modern and characteristic way.” Plate III, p. 56

200

1931

1931

1931–33

Monument to Lawyers Fallen in World War I

Invernizzi Tomb

Monument to the Calvi Brothers

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Piazza Matteotti, Bergamo

Palazzo di Giustizia, Piazza Dante Alighieri, 2, Bergamo Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/B/77 (Drawings: 28)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/375 (Photographs: 1) PIZ/B/111 (Drawings: 2)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/270 (Drawings: 67; Texts: 48; Photographs: 15) PIZ/B/90 (Drawings: 15)

Publications: Reggiori 1931, pp. 343–344.

Publications: Aloi 1941, p. 235.

Publications: Pagnoncelli 2000.

State of conservation: excellent.

State of conservation: good.

State of conservation: good.

The monument is still in its original form. There is also a second monument designed by Pizzigoni in the foyer of the Palazzo di Giustizia (Court of Justice): a large bas-relief plaque which represents an altar of peace. Reggiori described the monument as follows: “The composi­ tion, deliberately almost fragmentary, is reminiscent of some classical tomb­ stones, and is of real, somewhat pictur­ esque, interest. It is, in short, pleasant and good-natured: so much so that some of its imperfections almost become elements of greater value. The monument is entirely in Musso marble.”

The headstone in pink marble from Zan­ dobbio has been restored several times as it is prone to rapid deterioration. Modifications have been made to the tombstone, which gives access to the crypt, and to the marble plaque: its upper part was originally engraved with the name “Mauro Invernizzi” but today it simply reads “Invernizzi”.

The original flag-raising system with a chain has been removed. The monument is now surrounded by a flowerbed that separates it from the rest of the square. The original project for this monument, which was awarded first prize in the competition, was reduced and modified several times due to cost. It was to con­ sist of a single prism 5.38 m high with a decagonal base, with the same layout as the base (height: 0.78 m) of the com­ pleted monument. On each side of this large prism, scenes from the lives of the Calvi Brothers were to be placed in 20 large panels (1 x 1.65 m each). Plans for bas-reliefs by sculptor Giacomo Manzù, were eventually reduced to a frieze of five sides (1 x 0.25 m each), in the mid­ dle of a pentagonal flagpole pillar.

Plate V, p. 60

Plate V, p. 60

Plate IX, p. 68

201

1931

1932

1933–35

Locatelli House

Rinaldi-Ardiani House

Cubo House

Via Orsarola, 45, Bergamo

Corso Monte Rosa, 17, Selvino (Bergamo)

Via Monte Ortigara, 20, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/45 (Drawings: 12; Texts: 1; Photo­ graphs: 8) PIZ/B/178 (Drawings: 6) Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Bertelli 1994; Architettura 1930, p. 298–302; Neue Bauwelt 1952, p. 68; Pizzigoni 1970; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: poor. The house still exists, but has been extensively renovated. The number, position and size of all windows have been altered. The original roof has been modified. The only element of the house that has retained its original form and materials is the double-curved internal staircase. Twenty years after its con­ struction, it appeared in the German magazine Neue Bauwelt, and was described as follows: “This studio house, which was one of the architect’s first works, possesses at the same time a stimulating cubistic character and the classical aspect of certain outdated Italian art”.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/41 (Drawings: 19; Texts: 18; Photographs: 8) PIZ/B/89 (Drawings: 35) Publications: Gelmini 2015; Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Bertelli 1994; Domus 1933, p. 4; Schabel 1988, Chapter “Gli affreschi di Villa Ardiani” (The frescoes of Villa Ardiani); Patetta 1976; Pizzigoni 1970; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: demolished. Some rooms in the house had frescoes by Giacomo Manzù. These encaustic paintings were “torn off” in 1982 (short­ ly before the building was demolished) and transferred onto canvas. Today they are in the Ardiani Collection in Milan. See Schabel 1988 on this subject. Plate VII, p. 64

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/21 (Drawings: 47; Texts: 2; Photo­ graphs: 11) PIZ/B/75 (Drawings: 11) Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pellegrini 2003; Belloni 1998, p. 17; Irace 1997; Bertelli 1994; Barbero 1985; Domus 1938; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1971. State of conservation: reasonable. Although the original volumes of the building are almost unchanged, practi­ cally all elements, the internal partition walls and even the load-bearing struc­ ture have been modified. The roof – whose original construction is described in Plates X and XI – was also demol­ ished and replaced with a garden roof. These interventions weakened the house’s geometric purism, which never­ theless still remains one of its main architectural features. Plate X, p. 70 Plate XI, p. 72

Plate IV, p. 58

202

1932

1934

1934

Rooms C and D at the Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution (with Achille Funi)

Facchinetti Tomb

Ghezzi Tomb

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/318 (Drawings: 4; Photographs: 2)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/318 (Drawings: 4; Photographs: 2)

Publications: Aloi 1941, p. 230.

Publications: Aloi 1941, p. 236.

State of conservation: unknown.

State of conservation: excellent.

This memorial is dedicated to the boxer Teresio Facchinetti. It was not possible to find the exact location inside the Ber­ gamo Cemetery. The terracotta head­ stone may have deteriorated and been replaced.

This tomb has been preserved almost perfectly thanks to the compact nature of Musso marble. This is the same marble as that used for the ancient Roman columns of the basilica of San Lorenzo in Milan, which are still well preserved today.

Via Nazionale, 194, Rome Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/296* (Texts: 3; Photographs: 6) PIZ/B/28 (Drawings: 4) *Note: This archive folder erroneously reports “Monza, Villa Reale, IV Esposizione Internazionale delle Arti Decorative e Industriali Moderne, 1930”, where Pizzigoni participated – together with Achille Funi – in the layout of an exhibition room. There is no doubt that document PIZ/A/296/b3 refers to the project of layout for Rooms C and D at the 1932 Fascist Revolution Exhibition in Rome, for which Libera and De Renzi acted as general directors.

Plate V, p. 60

Plate VI, p. 62

Publications: Alfieri 1933, p. 93–114; Sarfatti 1933. State of conservation: demolished. Domenico Rambelli’s sculpture ‘Soldier King’ can be seen at the back of the picture shown here. Four columns, two triangular and two semi-circular, supported the velarium at the centre of Room C, as described by Alfieri: “The second room is enclosed by two columns and two pillars, on which a red velarium rests; these elements have been restored to their classical function ... This is a room with a majestic appear­ ance, like a temple or a shrine”. Plate VIII, p. 66

203

1937

1938

1941

Pedrinelli House

Alemanni House

Pianone Restaurant

Via Dante, 17, Dalmine (Bergamo)

Via Monte Branchino, 4, Roncobello (Bergamo)

Via al Pianone, 21, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/117 (Drawings: 27; Texts: 2) PIZ/B/150 (Drawings: 10) Conservation status: poor. Little information has been found about this building. It probably consisted of two floors with a flat roof made of prefabricated elements, similar to the one built two years earlier for the Cubo House (1935). According to archive sketches (e.g. PIZ/A/117/a6-a7), various possible water drainage geometries were studied, including one along a dia­gonal and another one from the centre outwards, like a flattened pyra­ midal roof. This experimental roof construction was probably demolished when the second floor was added.  As the plan of the building is a square with 11.60 m sides, this roof worked as an exemplification of Pizzigoni’s patent for this type of roofing. Another interest­ ing feature was the load-bearing struc­ ture which consisted of two concrete slabs with bidirectional reinforcement, supported only by the perimeter walls.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/268 (Drawings: 33; Texts: 2; Photographs: 4) PIZ/B/24 (Drawings: 6) Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982; Cereghini 1950. State of conservation: reasonable. The stream over which the house is located has been channeled and the space underneath the arch is now closed off and is used as a cellar. Static consolidation was carried out on the reinforced concrete arch. The external wooden cladding and the small loggia were also modified. A porch was added on the north side. The interior, on the other hand, has been preserved quite well and its original layout is mostly intact. The photograph above shows the house around 1970. Plate XII, p. 74

204

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/107 (Drawings: 22; Texts: 1; Photographs: 5) PIZ/B/156 (Drawings: 1) Publications: Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: poor. The restaurant still exists, but it has been extensively modified. Some interior rooms have maintained some of the original decorations.

1941–43

1942–1951

1943

Villa Carozzi (extension)

Cima House (extension)

High altar of the Santa Croce Church

Corso Mazzini, 271, San Remo

Piazzale degli Alpini, 7, San Giovanni Bianco (Bergamo)

Via San Giovanni Bosco, 25, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/104 (Drawings: 59; Texts: 23) PIZ/B/71 (Drawings: 3)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/89 (Drawings: 31; Texts: 1; Photographs:) PIZ/A/373 (Photographs: 2)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/273 (Drawings: 55; Texts: 2) PIZ/B/17 (Drawings: 8) State of conservation: demolished. Villa Carozzi in Sanremo consisted of a renovation and extension of an exist­ ing building. According to executive drawings (PIZ/B/17/a1) the extension comprised of a two-storey circular tower with a roof terrace. On the roof, there was an additional one-storey open tower. The entire structure was made of load-bearing masonry. The horizontal thrust of the low vaulted ceilings was contained by buttresses. The roof was probably an application of the roofing patent, used and developed for the Cubo House (= drainage system for flat roofing in prefabricated concrete ele­ ments without bituminous sealing layer). Today, there are two buildings on the same plot: a six-storey building and a four-storey building. It was not possible to find original photographs.

State of conservation: reasonable. Pizzigoni’s extension of Cima House has been modified several times, but it still retains some of its original features: the external staircase connecting the garden; part of the double south-facing window (near the staircase and visible in the photograph above) and the parti­ cular three-lobed fireplace with built-in seating. Various pieces of furniture have also been preserved, including the mas­ ter bedroom for Francesco Cima (the client).

205

State of conservation: good. The altar is composed of two large blocks of pink Zandobbio marble, with engravings and embossed figures by Attilio Nani. To support the overhang of the horizontal stone slab, Pizzigoni had three grooves cut into the under­ side, where iron reinforcements were incorporated.

1944–45

1941 (first project*) and 1957

1945–46

Belotti House

Crespi Tomb

Mutti Tomb

Via Cherio, 4, Zandobbio (Bergamo)

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Trescore Balneario Cemetery, Viale Rimembranza, 22, Trescore Balneario (Bergamo)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/36 (Drawings: 51; Texts: 1) PIZ/A/115 (Drawings: 22) State of conservation: reasonable. The house has a square plan, with load-bearing perimeter walls and four large pillars in the middle. Pizzigoni used this structural scheme several times. Other examples include the ArdianiRinaldi House in Selvino (1932, PL. VII) and the Pezzoli house in Leffe (1964,  PL. LXIII). Belotti House is probably the only one built in a series of projects for single-family rural houses in the Rivi neighbourhood of Zandobbio. The land in this area was owned by the family of Pizzigoni’s mother, Maria Patirani, and was sold by Pizzigoni himself together with preliminary projects that were never or only partially realised (see, among others: PIZ/A/320, PIZ/A/324, PIZ/A/109, PIZ/A/9, PIZ/A/328, PIZ/A/36, PIZ/A/303).

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/127* (Drawings: 30) PIZ/A/354 (Photographs: 1) PIZ/B/109 (Drawings: 6) *Note: In archive folder PIZ/A/127, entitled ‘Almè, Cimitero. Studio per una cappella funeraria, committente ignoto’ (Almè, Cemetery. Study for a burial chapel, client unknown), there is an envelope which Pizzigoni marked ‘Cappella’ (Chapel). This envelope con­ tains some drawings that seem attri­b­ utable to a first project for the Crespi Tomb. Publications: Pellegrini 2003; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: good. The project drawings attributable to the Crespi Tomb (contained in PIZ/A/127), show a small niche in the lower part of the monument. This niche was never built. Plate VI , p. 62

206

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/32 (Drawings: 38; Texts: 3) State of conservation: good. A number of interventions were made in an existing burial chapel: the stone altar, the niches in pink Zandobbio marble with frames in red Selva marble and the metal door (an iron structure with 50 brass discs). A few years before these interventions, around 1940, Pizzigoni had designed a monumental mastaba chapel for the Mutti family: the execu­ tive project is preserved in archive fold­ ers PIZ/A/32 and PIZ/B/109. The second folder erroneously contains indications for a chapel in Almè. This project (not realised) was one of Pizzigoni’s first studies on dry stone construction, from which the projects for the burial chapels for the families Ardiani (1946), Baj  (1947), Maffioletti (1951) and Traversi (1954) were to be developed.

1946–48

1945–1956

1943–49

Minima House

Stairs and Mezzanines in the House for his father

Entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church

Viale Vittorio Emanuele II, 70, Bergamo

Via San Giovanni Bosco, 25, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/43 (Drawings: 14; Texts: 2; Photographs: 26) PIZ/A/340 (Drawings: 18; Photo­ graphs: 3) PIZ/B/173 (Drawings: 4; Photographs: 1)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/B/158 (Drawings: 1)

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982.

The executive drawing for this project (PIZ/B/158/a1) is dated 17-11-1943. A similar vaulting system made with reciprocal short elements was used by Pizzigoni in other unbuilt projects: a proposal for a granite church (Pizzigoni, 1944, p. 36); the competition project for the church of the QT8 district in Milan (1947), a church in Cicola near Bergamo (1947). See the following archive refer­ ences for these projects: PIZ/A/27, PIZ/B/98 and PIZ/A/356. Quotation from Lazzari 2010, p. 103: “This vestibule, which is still perfectly functional, was made to a highly original design by our fellow-citizen, the architect Pino Pizzigoni, and built with wood from Slavonia.”

Piazzale Lodovico Goisis, 5, Bergamo Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/95 (Drawings: 16; Texts: 15) PIZ/A/225/a7 PIZ/A/360/c1, c2 PIZ/B/69 (Drawings: 25) Publications: Gelmini 2016; Gelmini 2015; Marini 2015; Feiersinger 2012; Van den Bergh 2011; Van den Bergh 2005; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970; Neue Bauwelt 1952; Giornale del Popolo 1946. State of conservation: good. Minima House was a prototype for a neighbourhood of row houses. The original iron window frames have been replaced. The square window on the entrance side (see photograph above) was added later. The vents for cross-­ ventilation have been removed. Most of the interior materials have been replaced. The exterior volumes and interior subdivisions correspond to the original ones. A quote from the maga­ zine Neue Bauwelt (1952) read: “Its unusual form derives from the desire to make full use of the available heights, in this way also expressing an artistic joy in composing these courageous intersections.”

State of conservation: reasonable. After 1945, the House for his father became the residence of Giuseppe Pizzigoni’s family. He decided to use the considerable height of the rooms on the ground floor by inserting three mezza­ nines: one built with steel structure and two in wood. The double-rise staircase, shown here in the photograph, connects one of the wooden mezzanines to the south hall on the ground floor. This stair­ case has undergone static consolidation, but still maintains its original structure. The parapet on the right side was added after construction for safety reasons. This element was one of the causes of the current state of deterioration, as it unbalanced the structure by overstiffen­ ing the steps on the right. Plate XV, p. 80

Plate XVIII, p. 86 Plate XIX, p. 88

207

Publications: Lazzari 2010, p. 103. State of conservation: excellent.

Plate XIII, p. 76 Plate XIV, p. 78

1946–47

1947

Ardiani Tomb

Baj Tomb

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/75 (Drawings: 67; Texts: 27; Photographs: 5) PIZ/B/ 120 (Drawings: 11)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/277 (Drawings: 67; Texts: 1; Photographs: 8) PIZ/B/115 (Drawings: 10)

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Bertelli 1994; Pizzigoni 1982; Aloi 1948.

Publications: Motta 2020; Van den Bergh 2011; Pellegrini 2003; Gili 1999; Belloni 1998; Bertelli 1994; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1971; Pizzigoni 1970; Muzio 1967; Moretti 1952, p. 72; Aloi 1948.

State of conservation: good. Restoration work has been carried out on the glass panes that enclose the prayer space. There has been some repair and consolidation work on the red Gleno marble slabs that cover the suspended sarcophagi. The metal studs which anchor the slabs are not present in the very first photographs of the work. It must therefore be assumed that they were inserted, perhaps by Pizzigoni himself, to prevent cracks and detachments in the stone cladding. Plate XVI, p. 82

State of conservation: excellent. The roof was covered with copper sheeting, probably after Pizzigoni’s death. Quotation from Aloi 1948, p. 184: “Basically it is an open portico covering a hole in the flooring through which access is gained to the colombariums arranged underground”. Quotation from the magazine Spazio (Luigi Moretti 1952, p. 72): “Among the rare modern works that have taken on an extraordinary commitment to sober and tacit monu­ mentality without compromise or vanity, we could cite many examples in German and Scandinavian countries; there are fewer in Latin countries, where more often the exuberance of the imagination and indulgence in sentiment end up evading the severity of the commitment. However, we could also indicate one of our own: Pizzigoni’s Baj Tomb in Bergamo”. In 1967 Giovanni Muzio remarked on the Baj Tomb: “This is best work of Pizzigoni: aerial, pure

208

in its spatial play and in the musical articulation of its proportions... perfect, abstract, cerebral, simple and intuitive.” In a letter to Giuseppe Viganò in 1953 (conserved in PIZ/A/277), Pizzigoni wrote: “The Baj chapel at the Bergamo Cemetery is the result of studies that I had carried out on the static behaviour of granite, which, unlike marble, can be subjected to bending stress. The pillars supporting the roof slabs are in fact only 9 x 9 cm in section and are extended by means of a sleeve to a height of 5.40 m. ... For those interested in a more de­ tailed calculation ...., it should be noted that granites do not follow Hooke’s law (Young’s modulus = constant), but Bach-Baumann’s law (elastic behaviour similar to reinforced concrete). “ Plate XVII, p. 84

1949

1949

1949

New roof and refurbishment of the Council Chamber in Palazzo Frizzoni (Artists: Achille Funi and students of the Academy of Fine Arts of Bergamo)

Pedrini House

Azimonti-Fortis House

Via Taramelli 50, Bergamo

Via Monte Ortigara, 16, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/337 (Drawings: 56; Photographs: 9) PIZ/B/114 (Drawings: 22)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/212 (Drawings: 113; Photographs: 3) PIZ/A/258 (Drawings: 25) PIZ/B/29 (Drawings: 19)

Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, 3, Bergamo Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/58 (Drawings: 12; Texts: 2) State of conservation: good. In 1949 Pizzigoni was asked to rebuild the roof of the Council Chamber of Palazzo Frizzoni (Bergamo Town Hall). The new wall decorations were carried out by Pizzigoni’s students at the Acca­ demia Carrara in Bergamo (Academy of Fine Arts), among them Luigi Monti. The fresco on the back wall, depicting Saint Alexander on horseback, was painted by Achille Funi, who was then director of the Academy. Pizzigoni’s proposal was to make use of a special geometric construction, known as the Cassini oval (or Cassinian curves), for both the new concrete structure of the roof and the conception of Funi’s fresco (see archive document PIZ/A/58/a7). In the photograph shown here, the Cassinian curves have been added in white.

State of conservation: demolished. Pedrini House was a two-storey building with shops on the ground floor and liv­ ing space on the first floor. The archive only has photographs of the interior. The only image of the exterior was found on the website https://www.bergamodas­ coprire.it/category/valle-brembana/ (last visited on 24-10-2021). This photograph from 1957 shows the concrete shelters of the Bergamo Bus Station, and in the background, behind the trees in Piazzale degli Alpini, the white volume with flat roof of the Pedrini House can be seen. After demolition, a seven-storey apart­ ment block was built.

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: demolished. This building was demolished around 1965. In 1964, commissioned by Mrs Azimonti Pia, Pizzigoni made a project for a storey addition: he intended to replace the loggias and storage spaces on the third floor with a new apartment. The project (PIZ/A/258) included a series of large inverted-arch windows and a new roof formed by two saddle-shaped hyperbolic paraboloids. The project was later abandoned. Plate XX , p. 90 Plate XXI, p. 92

209

1951

1948–50

1952

Broletti House

Parish Cinema-Theatre

Parish Cinema

Via Roma, 50, Ponte Nossa (Bergamo)

Via Bergamo, 9, Stezzano (Bergamo)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/132 (Drawings: 35; Texts: 13; Photographs: 3) PIZ/A/133 (Drawings: 19; Texts: 10) PIZ/B/13 (Drawings: 9)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/24 (Drawings: 148; Texts: 11; Photographs: 4) PIZ/B/ (Drawings: 26)

Piazza Umberto 8, Adrara San Marino (Bergamo)

Note: The patented “scissored” window, whose detailed description can be found in Plate XXXI, was also planned for (at least) the following projects: 1949, INA Housing in Campo di Marte (PIZ/A/16, PIZ/B/2); 1950–52, Rota Zaverio Apart­ ments (PIZ/A/51, PIZ/A/52, PIZ/B/62, PIZ/B/66); 1951–54, Rota Apartments (PIZ/A/96, PIZ/A/13, PIZ/A/14, PIZ/B/23, PIZ/B/187); 1951, Monti House (PIZ/A/257); 1951, Loda House (PIZ/A/108, PIZ/B/168). However, there are only two known built examples of the scissored window: the prototype made for the patent (demolished) and the windows of Broletti House (demol­ ished). Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: poor. The house still exists but has been extensively modified. The scissored windows have been removed.

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Bauen+Wohnen 1951, pp. 24–26. State of conservation: reasonable. The load-bearing structure has been maintained, although it has undergone localised consolidation works. Every­ thing else has been modified. In particu­ lar, external aerial routes were added to increase the number of escape routes. Quotation from Bauen+Wohnen (1951, p. 24): “In spite of its proximity to a building context of another era, the language of this work does not fall into false traditionalism: instead, it makes honest use of the elementary means of our times. And this should not be under­ estimated with regard to the problem of incorporating rural populations in the spirit of the modern world”. The building is still used today as a cinema-theatre. Plate XXII, p. 94

Plate XXXI, p. 112

210

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/72 (Drawings: 25; Texts: 1) PIZ/B/164 (Drawings: 17) State of conservation: poor. The building has recently been reno­ vated. The exterior has been modified. In the cinema hall, the reinforced concrete Vierendeel beams are still recognisable. Originally, large overhang­ ing concrete trusses covered a loggia on the mezzanine floor of the front façade. The loggia was connected by an external staircase. No photographs of the original project could be found.

1951

1951–52

1950–54

Maffioletti Tomb

Pedrini-Cornelli Tomb

Traversi Tomb

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Almè Cemetery, Via Maresciallo Luigi Bernardo, 6, Villa d’Almè (Bergamo)

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/372 (Photographs: 1)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/199 (Drawings: 126; Texts: 9; Photographs: 9) PIZ/B/172 (Drawings: 17)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/28 (Drawings: 98; Texts: 4; Photographs: 6) PIZ/B/113 (Drawings: 9)

State of conservation: good.

Publications: Motta 2020; Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982.

Publications: Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: good. It is likely that the tomb no longer belongs to the Maffioletti family and for that reason the name has been changed. Plate XXVII, p. 104

According to documents preserved in PIZ/A/199/b1-9 there was a legal contro­ versy between Pizzigoni and the Pedrini family concerning the functionality of the roof and the premature deterioration of the Zandobbio marble tiles and chan­ nels. The chapel used a roofing system similar to the one patented for the Cubo House (1935). At least two alternative projects, planned down to the executive details, are to be found in PIZ/B/172. Maybe the most interesting shows a funerary chapel with a decagonal base and pyramidal roof in stone dry construc­tion, described in documents PIZ/B/172/a5-a6-a7-a8. Plate XXVIII, p. 106

211

State of conservation: good. The roof with slabs and drainage chan­ nels in pink Zandobbio marble has been covered with copper sheeting. The exec­ utive drawings of at least three other burial chapels are conserved in the archive folders attributed to Traversi Tomb. These projects are inspired by the children’s game ‘Hell and Heaven’, a fortune teller finger game which uses a sheet of paper folded to form four pockets where you insert your fingers. Plate XXIX, p. 108 Plate XXX, p. 110

1952

1953

1952

Riglietta House (extension)

Monument to the Fallen (Sculptor: L. Monti, known as “Monte”)

Tadini Shop

Viale Vittorio Emanuele II, 72, Bergamo Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/76 (Drawings: 23; Texts: 13; Photographs: 3) State of conservation: reasonable. The storey addition of Riglietta House, served by an independent staircase, transformed the previous single-family house into a villa with a rental flat on the second floor. This was the same typo­ logical combination as the neighbouring House for his father (1927), which proba­ bly was the reference to proportion the new front façade by means of a cornice on two thirds of the whole height.

Via XXV Aprile, 4, Stezzano (Bergamo) Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/121 (Drawings: 18) PIZ/B/46 (Drawings: 1) State of conservation: excellent. This monument consists mainly of a sculpture made by Luigi Monti, an artist known as “Monte” and former pupil of Pizzigoni at the Accademia Carrara. Pizzigoni’s contributions include the positioning within the courtyard of Palazzo Grumelli, the general propor­ tions of the partly suspended stone block and part of the artistic subject represented. On the occasion of an exhibition of Monti’s drawings (Monti 1972), these few words by Pizzigoni, probably from a private letter, were used as a preface: “You know the modules of Polyclitus, your drawing is clearly perfect, the form is made essential, ecstatic, detached; ... and yet art has its raison d’être only insofar as it is the personal expression of an aspect of the perceived truth ... ; how is it that your heart of a man of today, so full of wisdom and experience, does not finally melt away, does not leave the trenches to try to discover itself, does not throw its rich robe to the poor and set out on its journey, and why do you not rather try to stir up the slime inside the heart of man, where truth dwells? ... this is the message from the teacher you had at the Academy when you were young.”

212

Largo Nicolò Rezzara, 12, Bergamo Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/55 (Drawings: 15; Texts: 1) PIZ/A/170 (Drawings: 49; Texts: 4; Photographs: 2) PIZ/B/57 (Drawings: 4) PIZ/B/58 (Designs: 4) Publications: Domus 1953, p. 38–39 State of conservation: demolished. From the drawings and the (few) photo­ graphs in the archives, it can be argued that this work was full of interesting and finely detailed elements, such as the lights, the showcases and even the signs with the name of the shop. The main element of the project, however, would have been the reinforced con­ crete staircase in the double-height entrance hall. The steps of this staircase were so low and rounded that they were probably perceived as a ramp. This made for a continuous transition between the ground floor and the mezzanine, and the visit to the shop felt like an architectural walkway.

1952–1953

1952

1952

Fara Houses (First INA Housing Programme)

Social housing (First INA Housing Programme)

Social housing (First INA Housing Programme)

Via della Fara, 3a, Bergamo

Via Ponte Vecchio, 20, San Giovanni Bianco (Bergamo)

Viale Secco Suardo, 14, Lurano (Bergamo)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/302 (Drawings: 20)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/326 (Drawings: 10)

State of conservation: reasonable.

State of conservation: reasonable.

This complex is an application and adap­ tation of the pilot project developed for the Fara Houses in Bergamo. It consists of five two-family row houses and one detached house. In this case the roofs are covered with Eternit, the façades are plastered white and the wooden window and shutters are (today) painted blue.

This project, like the previous one in San Giovanni Bianco, is an adaptation of the Fara Houses of Bergamo. Here there are only two row houses, with two flats each. Unlike the other sister-projects, the roof is single-pitch. The layout is also different here, as the two units are backto-back and not side-by-side.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/48 (Drawings: 16; Texts: 1; Photographs: 2) PIZ/B/64 (Drawings: 34; Photographs: 1) Publications: Comoglio 2020; Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Bertelli 1994; Barbero 1985; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: good. The first project for the Fara Houses dates from 1949: this involved seven two-family units, accessed from a cen­ tral diagonal staircase. This special circu­ lation was used by Pizzigoni in various unbuilt projects for social housing. It was only in 1956 that Pizzigoni suc­ ceeded in realising a complex of ten flats which used a series of diagonal staircases parallel to each other: the Finazzi House in the Celadina district of Bergamo (see Plate XLVII). The final project for the Fara Houses, dated 1952, was used for two further works of the same year: the INA Housing in Lurano and in San Giovanni Bianco. Plate XXIII, p. 96

213

1950–52

1951–54

1953–55

Rota Zaverio/Facchinetti Apartments

Rota Apartments

Via Sant’Antonino 1, Bergamo

Via Matris Domini, 21, Bergamo

Mayer Printing Works and Apartments, Bergamo, 1953.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/51 (Drawings: 73; Texts: 1) PIZ/B/62 (drawings: 41) PIZ/B/66 (Drawings: 2)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/13 (Drawings: 108; Texts: 8) PIZ/A/14 (Drawings: 35; Texts: 12; Photographs: 2) PIZ/B/23 (drawings: 30) PIZ/B/187 (Drawings: 5)

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: reasonable. This apartment block is characterised by three bands of balconies, as well as a roof which protrudes by about 1 m. A practical reason for all these overhang­ ing elements was to protect the special scissored windows (see also the appli­ cation in Broletti House, Plate XXXI), which were foreseen here in the pre­ liminary drawings (PIZ/A/51). The pivot­ ing opening of these windows works in such a way that when shutters and panes are in the open position, they protrude by half the overall height of the opening. Despite several attempts, Pizzigoni never succeeded in building an apartment block that adopted his patent for scissored windows.

State of conservation: reasonable. Between 1951 and 1952, Pizzigoni designed two six-storey buildings only 8 m apart from each other, in a very dense urban context in Bergamo. Although the building shown here (on Via Matris Domini) corresponds almost entirely to the original project, the one at n.10 Via Zambianchi had so many discrepancies from the original plans that Pizzigoni refused to acknowledge its authorship (see the letters and documents in PIZ/A/14). Plate XXVI, p. 102

Via Andrea da Bergamo, 8, Bergamo Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/183 (Drawings: 74; Texts: 15) PIZ/A/184* (drawings: 239; texts: 5) PIZ/B/87 (drawings: 38) *Note: Archive folder PIZ/A/184 mainly contains material on the Mayer House. State of conservation: reasonable. This building is part of a series of build­ ings partly built and partly renovated by Pizzigoni for the Mayer lithography company. A more in-depth study would be necessary to determine which other buildings adjacent to the one shown here were actually Pizzigoni’s. In addi­ tion to the projects for this area in Ber­ gamo, in 1962 Pizzigoni made the exec­ utive drawings for a Mayer lithography factory in Azzano San Paolo, planning a fascinating and very particular use of hyperbolic paraboloids illuminated by vertical windows placed between the shells. This project, a description of which can be found in archive folders PIZ/A/261 and PIZ/B/88, was not built. Plate XXIV, p. 98 Plate XXV, p. 100

214

1953–54

1954

1954–56

Lubrina House

Bosis House

Gilberti House

Viale Vittorio Emanuele II, 73, Bergamo

Via Sarnico,11, Tavernola Bergamasca (Bergamo)

Via Roma, 79, Gorlago (Bergamo)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/96* (Drawings: 67; Texts: 5) PIZ/A/97 (Drawings: 101; Texts: 10; Photographs: 5) PIZ/B/166 (Drawings: 21; Photographs: 1) *Note: Archive folder PIZ/A /96 refers to a project for the same plot commis­ sioned by Francesco Cima in 1952. Note: Archive folder PIZ/A/184, which refers to the Mayer House, erroneously contains some drawings for Lubrina House. Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: good. Modifications have probably been made to the interior spaces. The staircase that gives access to the two apartments and the window frames have been pre­ served. The drawings of this house pub­ lished in Pizzigoni 1982, p. 116, show a version of the project in which the roofing was formed by a sequence of single-pitch roofs built on the geometry of the Pythagorean triple 7/24/25 (see the photomontages in archive PIZ/A/97). In the end Pizzigoni decided to make a simpler roof and perhaps pay more attention to some other features such as the special double windows at each corner of the west side.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/150 (Drawings: 31; Texts: 1; Photographs: 2) PIZ/B/5 (Drawings: 3) Publications: Motta 2021; Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: reasonable. Some of the original ground floor win­ dows and shutters have been removed, and some have been replaced. It has not been possible to fully reconstruct the history of the building, the modifi­ cations and the subsequent extensions. The archive contains only a few sketches concerning the stone masonry basement. These interventions were probably decided directly during the construction phases. Plate XXXIII, p. 116

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/152 (Drawings: 248; Texts: 4; Photographs: 1) PIZ/B/118 (Drawings: 39) Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: reasonable. Curiously, the archival document PIZ/A/152/a30 contains a sketch of the interior of the house, with a note by Pizzigoni: “It looks like a restaurant”. Today, the ground floor has been turned into a restaurant! The first sketches for Gilberti House date from 1950 (a one-storey courtyard house). The project was completed in 1954. One of the last design steps was the inver­ sion of the roof beams. This decision gives the house an unusual, almost bizarre appearance, but is also more consistent with the special structural system used here. The original drawing published in Pizzigoni 1982, p. 111, still shows a house made of two pitched roofs side by side, perhaps a more “gentle” image than the disquieting one that was actu­ally built and, precisely because of its oddness, is so much more “Pizzigonian”. Plate XXXIV, p. 118

Plate XXXII, p. 114

215

1956

1962

1957

The “Ombrello” (Umbrella)

The “Sella” (Saddle)

Comana Marble Works

Gabbione, Gorlago (Bergamo)

Gabbione, Gorlago (Bergamo)

Via Cerioli, 56, Seriate (Bergamo)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/142 (Drawings: 63; Texts: 1; Photographs: 13) PIZ/A/256 (Drawings: 15)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/142 (Drawings: 63; Texts: 1; Photographs: 13) PIZ/A/256 (Drawings: 15)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ A 172 (Drawings: 33; Texts: 1; Photographs: 13) PIZ B 106 (Drawings: 10)

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011.

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970.

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982.

State of conservation: demolished. The “Ombrello” is the first building by Pizzigoni which makes use of a hyper­ bolic paraboloid roof in reinforced con­ crete. After many years of decay and neglect, this mushroom-shaped struc­ ture formed by four hyperbolic para­ boloids gradually buckled. In addition to the “Sella” and the “Ombrello”, a third concrete shell structure was built by Pizzigoni at Gabbione. This also collapsed and today only the concrete supports are visible on the east side of the old farmhouse.

State of conservation: good. The “Sella” was built around 1962, pro­bably as a test for the subsequent construction of the entrance portal of the Immacolata Church in Longuelo. Pizzigoni studied the theory of these structures, but before applying them in built projects, he conducted experi­ ments on their construction on a piece of land he owned. He enlisted the help of just one worker and used makeshift tools (see the spectacular photographs preserved in PIZ/A/142). His first attempt collapsed shortly after it was completed. The second attempt, which still exists today, contains a small house and a barn.

216

State of conservation: good. The building appears largely as it was originally built. The Comana family worked with Pizzigoni for many years, particularly on the construction of the burial chapels, and they still own the marble workshop. The concrete shells, which were the first to be built by Pizzigoni after the Gabbione experi­ ments, were built by Santo Leggeri’s construction company. Plate XLII, p. 134

1946–62

1955–58

1956–57

Primary School

Celadina Parish Centre

Finazzi Building

Via Giovanni Pascoli, Rota D’Imagna, Bergamo

Via Pizzo Scais, 20, Bergamo

Via Pizzo di Redorta, 4, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/188 (Drawings: 165; Texts: 6; Photographs: 9) PIZ/A/189 (Drawings: 7) PIZ/B/ 121 (Drawings: 20; Photographs: 1)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/ 222 (Drawings: 25) PIZ/B/50 (Drawings: 2)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/226 (Drawings: 25; Texts: 3; Photographs: 5) PIZ/A/ 227 (Drawings: 54; Texts: 3) PIZ/B/ 54 (Drawings: 5) PIZ/B/145 (Drawings: 1) Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: reasonable. The building has been extensively reno­ vated. The most important change con­ cerns the roof, which has been trans­ formed from single-pitch to double-pitch. The first drawings for this building date from 1946. Building began in 1956. In this case, the single-pitch roof reduces the height of the north side, while increasing the south façade. The roof of the Minima House from the same year (1946) was also designed to opti­ mise the architectural form in relation to sunlight.

Publications: Motta 2017; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: reasonable. The interior of the complex has been extensively modified. A mezzanine storage area connected to an external lift has been inserted in the theatre. To install the lift, the bridge connection between the two wings of the complex was removed. See Motta 2017, pp.14−20, on the history of this building and in particular for the detailed descrip­ tion of its load-bearing structure. Plate XXXV, p. 120

State of conservation: good. The Finazzi building, published here for the first time, is the only built example of an apartment building by Pizzigoni with diagonal staircase circulation. Some of the projects in which Pizzigoni intended to adopt this circulation system are summarised here: the first INA Housing Programme, 1948 (PIZ/A/15, PIZ/A/16); the competition for the area of the former Bergamo Hospital, 1949 (PIZ/A/129, PIZ/A/293); the Interdiocesan House for spiritual exercises, 1949 (PIZ/A/88); the first project for Fara Houses, 1949 (PIZ/A/48, PIZ/B/64); the second INA Housing Programme, 1955 (PIZ/A/176). Plate XXXVII, p. 124

Plate XXXVI, p. 122

217

1957

1957

1954–58

Riva House

Parish House

Via Alberto da Pezzate, 28, Bergamo

Via Damiano Chiesa, 11, Brusaporto (Bergamo)

Paleocapa Technical High School (also known as ‘Esperia’)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/156 (Drawings: 6) PIZ/A/305 (Drawings: 3) Note: The only photograph of this house in the Pizzigoni Archive was erroneously placed in folder PIZ/A/197 (Parish House, Brusaporto, 1957); this photograph is also incorrectly mirrored. This same photograph, mirrored horizontally, is published in Pizzigoni 1982, p.128 and once again wrongly attributed to “Casa parrocchiale a Brusaporto”. State of conservation: good Although the ground floor has been partially modified, the rest of the house appears similar to the original. It was built by the construction company of Pietro Riva, the client. This building belongs to the group of Pizzigoni’s projects that develop from a central core containing the staircase. Perhaps the most interesting projects belonging to this typology were Zappettini House from 1955 (PIZ/A/143 and PIZ/B/170) and Vitali House of 1954 (PIZ/A/8 and PIZ/A/314). Unfortunately, these two projects were never built.

Via Gavazzeni, 29, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/197 (Drawings: 19; Texts: 1; Photo­ graphs: 4) PIZ/B/7 (Drawings: 3)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/134 (Drawings: 268; Texts: 49; Photographs: 14) PIZ/B/92 (Drawings: 62)

Publications: Pizzigoni 1982.

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970.

State of conservation: demolished. The building was demolished recently and replaced by a new one which main­ tained the same hexagonal plan. It has not been possible to verify whether this is due to partial reuse of the original load-bearing structure. Among the pre­ liminary sketches prior to the final proj­ ect, the archive contains two interesting projects for atrium houses with poly­ gonal geometry (one pentagonal and the other octagonal). Plate XXXVIII, p. 126

State of conservation: good. Here, Pizzigoni sought the structural order most suitable for the functions required, as in the project for the Cela­ dina Parish Centre which was built in the same period. The façades, cladded in Ceppo di Brembate marble, bring out the characteristics of the building’s load-bearing structure. In 1965 Pizzigoni built a large classroom of about 600 m2 on the roof, in correspondence to the main entrance, roofed with 20 hyper­ bolic paraboloids. Plate XLIX, p. 148

Plate XXXIX, p. 128

218

1955–64

1957–59

1957–59

Renovation and extension of the Doni­ zetti Theatre.

Social housing (Second INA Housing Programme)

Social housing (Second INA Housing Programme)

Piazza Cavour, 15, Bergamo

Via Biava, 6, Cenate Sotto (Bergamo)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/265 (Drawings: 17; Texts: 3; Photo­ graphs: 19) PIZ/B/80 (Drawings: 12)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/175 (Drawings: 44; Texts: 11) PIZ/B/6 (Drawings: 28)

Via Donizetti, 5, Costa di Mezzate (Bergamo)

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Ber­ telli 1994; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: poor. The task of renovating and extending the Donizetti Theatre began with a competition Pizzigoni won during the years of Fascism. This made him very proud, as he had always been a staunch opponent of the regime. The project was resumed and modified around 1956, and built in 1959. Recently the building has been completely renovated. Although Pizzigoni’s interventions have been demolished, some formal motifs have been taken up and adapted to the new intervention.

State of conservation: reasonable. Between 1957 and 1959, as part of the second INA Housing Programme, Pizzi­ goni built a series of houses in various towns in the province of Bergamo. All these buildings are adaptations of a pilot project based on central stairwells where each flight of stairs, correspond­ ing to a height difference of half a floor, gives access to one or two apartments. The Cenate Sotto building contains one staircase and six flats.

Plate L, p. 150

219

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/175 (Drawings: 44; Texts: 11) PIZ/B/6 (Drawings: 28) State of conservation: reasonable. The social housing building in Costa di Mezzate is almost identical to the one in Cenate Sotto (see previous project).

1957–59

1957–59

1957–59

Social housing (Second INA Housing Programme)

Social housing (Second INA Housing Programme)

Social housing (Second INA Housing Programme)

Via San Francesco d’Assisi, 3, Albano Sant’Alessandro (Bergamo)

Via Rivi, 1, Zandobbio (Bergamo)

Via Tasso, 3, Cologno al Serio (Bergamo)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/175 (Drawings: 44; Texts: 11) PIZ/B/6 (Drawings: 28)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/175 (Drawings: 44; Texts: 11) PIZ/B/6 (Drawings: 28)

State of conservation: reasonable

State of conservation: reasonable.

The social housing building in Zandobbio is almost identical to the one in Cenate Sotto (see previous page).

The social housing building in Albano Sant’Alessandro is almost identical to the one in Cenate Sotto (see previous page). The only difference is that in this case 2 blocks of flats are arranged end to end: this means there are 2 stairwells and 12 flat.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/175 (Drawings: 44; Texts: 11) PIZ/B/6 (Drawings: 28) State of conservation: good. The social housing building in Albano Sant’Alessandro is almost identical to the one in Cenate Sotto (see previous page).

220

1957–59

1957–59

1958

Social housing (Second INA Housing Programme)

Colombo House

Bordogna House

Via Masone, 24, Bergamo

Via dei Rivi, 69, Zandobbio (Bergamo)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/224 (Drawings: 205; Texts: 1; Pho­ tographs: 4) PIZ/A/291 (Drawings: 5; Photographs: 10)* PIZ/B/39 (Drawings: 37) *Note: The drawings in this folder, titled “1935. Casa Colombo in Via Masone”, refers to an unbuilt project of 1935. Nevertheless, the photographs con­ tained here certainly refer to the villa built in 1957.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/B/136 (Drawings: 1)

Via Papa Giovanni XXIII, 3, Trescore Balneario (Bergamo) Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/174 (Drawings: 36; Texts: 1) PIZ/B/6 (Drawings: 28) State of conservation: good. The last building in the series of condo­ miniums built as part of the second INA Housing Programme is also the most interesting. A 3-storey staircase dis­ tributes 12 flats, 2 on each half floor. The butterfly floor plan allows for ideal sunlight and ventilation of the rooms. With a few subtle adaptations (see Plate XL) the building acquires both function­ ality and architectural character. A pilot project of great interest. Plate XL, p. 130

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011, Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Aloi 1960; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: reasonable. The interiors have been completely altered. According to the present own­ ers, the three large granite blocks that made up the stairs are kept in a shed building in San Paolo d’Argon (Bergamo). A rich collection of original photographs accompanies the article in Aloi 1960, pp. 65 and 290−296. Quote from this article (from the English summary at the end of the chapter): “The emphasised triangle shape of the plan allows a large variety in premises owing to the win­ dows being differently orientated”. Plate XLIII, p. 136 Plate XLIV, p. 138 Plate XLV, p. 140

221

State of conservation: excellent. The house has been kept almost in its original state. The original purchasers still live there. There is an important difference between the built structure and the only drawing conserved in the archive: the fact that the roof, formed by four hyperbolic paraboloids, is raised above a slab that functions as an attic. Since the thin shells and the outer walls of the house have different thermal ex­ pansions, it was necessary to leave a gap of about 4 cm between them. In the case of Bordogna House this gap is clev­ erly exploited to ventilate the attic, thus making the building climatically efficient. Plate XLVI, p. 142 Plate XLVII, p. 144

1959

1956–57

1959

Mayer House

Billi Tomb

Pipia Tomb

Via Baioni, 19, Bergamo

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/B/110 (Drawings: 3; Photographs: 4)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/182 (Drawings: 89; Texts: 2) PIZ/B/ (Drawings: 6)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/184 (Drawings: 230; Texts: 5) PIZ/B/87 (Drawings: 38) State of conservation: reasonable. Although the house has only been par­ tially altered, the character of the build­ ing has definitely changed since the large loggia on the second floor has been almost completely closed off. The concrete load-bearing structure and the four hyperbolic paraboloids of the roof have been maintained. During the pre­ liminary design phases, which lasted six years from 1953 to 1959, Pizzigoni com­ pleted a series of very different projects, including two six-storey apartment blocks (see PIZ/A/184). Plate XLVIII, p. 146

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970.

Publications: Motta 2020; Muzio 1967.

State of conservation: good.

State of conservation: good.

Despite the current state of deteriora­ tion of both the external marble battens and the internal mosaic tiling, the burial chapel is preserved in its original form. Unfortunately, the glass listels that closed the thin vertical openings be­ tween the side paraboloids and which can also be seen in the historical photo­ graph above have been replaced by ano­ dised aluminium window frames. This chapel was the first of Pizzigoni’s series of projects for sacred spaces entirely enclosed by hyperbolic paraboloids, which was to culminate with the Church of the Immacolata (1965). Other unbuilt projects in this series are: ‘Studies for a chapel in Clusone, 1957’ (PIZ/A/179) and ‘Competition for a church in Bergamo Cemetery, 1959’ (PIZ/A/221).

Some interventions have been made to the main façade which are evident from the use of slightly different clad­ ding stone compared to the original. The “Pipia” inscription slab has been replaced by one with a cross engraving and lower down by another slab with the words “Famiglia Pipia” (Pipia Family); the entrance door, which was probably made of a simple iron gate with no glass, is now a two-leaf ano­ dised aluminium door. The niche inside has been modified. The burial chapel was built for Ippolito Pipia, who was president of the Accademia Carrara Art Gallery in Bergamo and of the Circolo Artistico Bergamasco (Art Club Bergamo). He was a friend and the per­ sonal doctor of Pizzigoni, who ironically quipped: “I wouldn’t even have my toenails cut by him!”.

Plate XLI, p. 132

Plate LI, p. 152 Plate LII, p. 154

222

1959

1959

1959

New roof of the Aula Curia Vescovile (Entrance to the Bishop’s Residence)

Nani Tomb

Pizzigoni Tomb

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Zandobbio Cemetery

Piazza Duomo, Bergamo Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/190 (Drawings: 6; Texts: 1)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/244 (Drawings: 7)

State of conservation: good.

Publications: Motta 2020.

The two shells of the Aula Curia Vescovile are among the largest made by Pizzigoni. They are clearly visible from Piazza Vecchia and from the stairs of Palazzo della Ragione right at the centre of Bergamo’s Upper Town. This light non-thrusting concrete structure covers an area of 14 x 13 m, creating a large open space on top of a medieval building. Quote from Pizzigoni’s expla­ natory note (PIZ/A/170/b1): “Such a shell would distribute an overload of less than half a kilogram per square centimetre on the two walls to the north and south, with no horizontal thrust. In addition, the stone arch on the ground floor would be lightened by the weight of the existing roof.”

State of conservation: excellent.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/312 (Drawings: 6; Texts: 1) Publications: Motta 2020. State of conservation: good.

The tomb was designed to be entirely in stone, but was built in copper and bronze, by Attilio Nani’s sons. From the archive drawings it is evident that the female statuette which decorates the tomb in a central position existed before the design. It is therefore reasonable to imagine that the simple sarcophagus tomb type, which follows ancient mod­ els, was chosen by Pizzigoni because it was well-suited as a monumental base for this precious sculpture.

The tomb of the Pizzigoni family, where Giuseppe Pizzigoni and his wife Giuseppina Gallina are buried, is located on the paving along the entrance path of the cemetery. The unusual position of this tomb is due to the special request to place the tomb in direct proximity to the Patirani burial chapel where Pizzigoni’s mother, Maria Patirani, is buried. She died in 1904 of compli­ cations after the birth of her third child. The eastern side of the Parirani tomb is visible in the photograph.

Plate LIII, p. 156

Plate LIII, p. 156

223

1960–64

1960

1960

Gualini House and Shop

Romelli/Gervasoni House

Villa Signorelli (extension)

Via Nazionale, 96, Trescore Balneario (Bergamo)

Piazza del Paradiso, 4, Clusone (Bergamo)

Via Torni, 10, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/239 (Drawings: 22; Texts: 3; Photographs: 1) PIZ/B/139 (Drawings: 4)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/204* (Drawings: 95; Texts: 1) PIZ/B/99* (Drawings: 23)

State of conservation: reasonable. The building is currently abandoned, however it remains quite similar to the state in which it was originally built. Three interventions were made in paral­ lel – two extensions and one renovation. From the few drawings which still remain, it would seem that Pizzigoni was only commissioned to undertake the static consolidation of the existing building and the concrete load-bearing structure of the extension.

*Note: In addition to the drawings for the house in Piazza Paradiso dated 1960, the archival folders contain drawings for a renovation and extension of the Romelli House in Via Cifrondi 12 (today 14–16) in Clusone, dated 1954–56. This intervention also seems very interest­ ing. Unfortunately, most of the archival documentations concerning the works carried out by Pizzigoni in the munici­ pality of Clusone are incomplete and in rather an untidy state. State of conservation: poor The bay window is a typical element of Nordic cities and appears in Clusone in several late medieval buildings. The special corner bow window made for the Romelli House, which was probably the most interesting and characteristic element of the building, has recently been altered and is now open as in a normal balcony.

224

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/165 (Drawings: 21; Texts: 2; Photographs: 1) State of conservation: demolished. In addition to interior interventions, Pizzigoni’s work on Villa Signorelli con­ sisted of the construction of a new loggia towards the northwest. According to some unverified information, the loggia was covered by a hyperbolic paraboloid, which was demolished following a change of ownership. It has not been possible to find photographs showing Pizzigoni’s extension and the concrete shell for the roof.

1960–62

1960–62

1960–62

Cheese factory

Cheesemaker’s house

Pig Barns

Via Sante Giulie, 24, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo)

Via Sante Giulie, 24, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo)

Via Sante Giulie, 24, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/131 (Drawings: 203; Texts: 26; Photographs: 10) PIZ/B/12 (Drawings: 34)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/131 (Drawings: 203; Texts: 26; Photographs: 10) PIZ/B/12 (Drawings: 34)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/131 (Drawings: 203; Texts: 26; Photographs: 10) PIZ/B/12 (Drawings: 34)

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970.

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970.

State of conservation: good.

State of conservation: good.

Publications: Feiersinger 2016; Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970.

The cheese factory is the largest build­ ing in the Torre Pallavicina complex. The building has been modified several times: some parts have been demol­ ished and others extended and reno­ vated. However, only 2 of the original 12 concrete shells are no longer extant. Many of Pizzigoni’s design studies were focussed on a special paraboloid which would characterise the entrance façade. This shell served as an entrance canopy and at the same time to cover the load­ ing platform for goods. It was later replaced by a simple concrete slab.

The cheesemaker’s house is a simple building with a single concrete shell roof. The pig farmer’s house is attached to the room for cooking pig feed, in turn connected to four silos for storing corn. The reason for the proximity of the dairy and the pig farm was the fact that the waste from cheese processing was also recycled for fattening the pigs. Plate LV, p. 160

Plate LVI, p. 162

State of conservation: good. The complex of 40 barns for fattening pigs, each with an external yard, is organised according to principles of efficiency and automation. Both feed dis­tribution and slurry collection are connected to two central distribution channels, above which are two walk­ ways for checking on the animals. The paraboloids on the roof were originally used to drain rainwater directly into the concrete tanks placed in the external yard, where the pigs could cool down. The pig barns are no longer in use. However, all the original features are still clearly recognisable. Plate LVII, p. 164

225

1960

1961

1960–65

Bagattini House

Sanguinetti Padoa House

C.E.P. Nursery School (1)

Via Pozzi, 7, Zandobbio (Bergamo)

Via di Quarto Peperino, 3, Saxa-Rubra, Rome

Via Giulio Cesare, 54, Monterosso, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/135 (Drawings: 71; Texts: 27; Photographs: 4) PIZ/B/ 83 (Drawings: 8)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/130* (Drawings: 153; Texts: 27; Photographs: 30) PIZ/B/31** (Drawings: 22) * Note: The documents PIZ/A/130/b19 and PIZ/A/130/b20 are (probably) corre­ spondence between Pizzigoni and the architects Figini and Pollini. ** Note: Folder PIZ/B/131 contains mate­ rial on the Torre Pallavicina’s complex; however, it also has two sheets of notes on the structure of the Monte­rosso kindergartens (PIZ/A/13e/b2).

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A /137 (Drawings: 25) PIZ/B/135 (Drawings: 2) State of conservation: reasonable. The building comprises 12 flats, 4 per floor, plus a basement for entrances and cellars. The circulation is by a central staircase lit from above. Each flat has windows on three sides, two of which are opposite each other. This means all the flats have transverse ventilation, two from east to west and two from north to south. Among the sketches kept in the archive there is also an inter­ esting study for a building with three “Leonardesque” stairs (i.e. each stair­ case has an independent distribution from the ground floor) around a square courtyard (PIZ/A/137/a5-6-7-8-9).

Publications: Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: reasonable. From the aerial photographs available it appears that the paraboloid roof is still in place. It is also clear that the villa has been enlarged and modified several times. The commission to build a villa in the hills near Rome was made possible thanks to the intercession of Pizzigoni’s friend Geo Renato Crippa. Ronchi, in his article on Pizzigoni’s death (Ronchi 1967) remarked that this villa: “is praised as a jewel of modern build­ ing architecture”. Unfortunately, we could not visit the villa and therefore it was not possible to see its 110 m² lounge with a variety of open spaces all around it. Plate LVIII, p. 166

Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: reasonable. This project was used twice in two simi­ lar plots 300 m apart. The first of the two nursery schools is still in use today. The roof is covered with sealing sheet­ ing, while the other one of the twin buildings, located at n.9 Via Leonardo da Vinci, is covered with corrugated sheet metal. The only vertical elements of the load-bearing structure are located on the outer perimeter. This building is essentially made up of a 40 x 20 m open space, covered by 8 non-thrusting hyper­ bolic paraboloids, supported by 60 pairs of IPE 100 steel profiles. Plate LXI, p. 172

226

1960–65

1963

1963

C.E.P. Nursery School (2)

Nursery school

Celadina Nursery School

Via Leonardo Da Vinci 9, Monterosso, Bergamo

Via Orti 25, Zandobbio (Bergamo)

Via Pizzo Scais, Celadina, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/136 (Drawings: 30; Texts: 2; Photographs: 3) PIZ/A/161 (Drawings: 32; Texts: 1) PIZ/B/133 (Drawings: 8)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/188* (Drawings: 165; Texts: 6; Photographs: 9) *Note: Most of this folder contains material on the Celadina Parish Centre (built a few dozen metres away from the nursery in 1955–58).

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/130 (Drawings: 153; Texts: 27; Photographs: 30) PIZ/B/31 (Drawings: 22) Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: reasonable. This building now houses the headquar­ ters of the UILDM (Italian Union against Muscular Dystrophy). Against Pizzigoni’s advice, the structural inspectors asked for two pillars to be placed at the two intersections of the paraboloids. Some photographs in the archive show that these pillars were built (PIZ/A/130). However, they were subsequently demolished. On the contrary, the tie rods placed between the low vertexes of each paraboloid, also against Pizzi­ goni’s advice, are still there today. According to Pizzigoni, these tie rods never really carried tensile loads and therefore hung loosely.

State of conservation: good. In PIZ/B/133 and PIZ/A/161 there is a preliminary project for a nursery school in Zandobbio, dated 1956. This project (not built) shows a two-storey courtyard building, with an impluvium towards a little square patio measuring 6 × 6 m. The classrooms on the ground floor face only outwards (to the garden), while the nuns’ quarters on the first floor face only onto the courtyard. The effect is of a building with an interesting combi­ nation of two inverted circulations, with an internal corridor below and an external corridor above. This gives the façades a monumental appearance, because they are glazed on the ground floor and completely closed on the first floor. Plate LIX, p. 168

Plate LXI, p. 172

Publications: Motta 2017; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: poor. The former nursery school in Celadina has recently been completely renovated. The two hyperbolic paraboloids (hypars) of the roof – about 250 m² each, the largest Pizzigoni ever built – have been demolished. Satellite photographs taken prior to 2015 show that the shells, already significantly lowered, were so deformed that rainwater could no longer drain off properly. According to the classification by Issenman and Pilarski, these shells were first-category hypars (= hypars with three vertexes on the same horizontal plane), which means twice as much stress as there is in second-category hypars (= hypars with two high and two low vertexes). Plate LX, p. 170

227

1960–65

1961–63

1960–65

Town hall

Facchinetti House

Pagoda Apartments

Piazza Monumento, 16, Zandobbio (Bergamo)

Via Monte Grappa, 28, Zandobbio (Bergamo)

Viale Vittorio Emanuele II, 46, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/259 (Drawings: 66; Texts: 2; Photographs: 15) PIZ/B/34 (Drawings: 28; Photos: 1) PIZ/B/61 (Drawings: 1)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/203 (Drawings: 1; Texts: 2) PIZ/A/205 (Drawings: 9) PIZ/B/137 (Drawings: 3)

Publications: Feiersinger 2016; Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: good. The building is well preserved. The exte­ rior has been maintained in its original state, apart from a few elements, such as the entrance which has been moved from the side to the front façade, and the colour of the plaster. The official designer of the project was engineer Ezio Motta (the author’s paternal grand­ father). The reason for such an official assignment is not certain. Originally, the building contained a medical clinic on the ground floor and the town hall on the first floor. Pizzigoni’s design process involved a level of progressive abstraction with respect to the classical features of town halls. He modified and innovated traditional elements such as the staircase, the porch, the balcony and the tower according to his new type of construction.

State of conservation: reasonable The archive only has a few drawings regarding this building. The original proj­ ect envisaged two floors: a blacksmith’s workshop on the ground floor and a house on the first floor. Pizzigoni was probably only involved in the design and calculation of the load-bearing structure. The client, Giuseppe Facchinetti, had worked for Pizzigoni and was in fact the only worker involved in the construction of a test hyperbolic paraboloid made at Gabbione around 1962 (see the remark­ able photographic documentation of the Gabbione construction site in PIZ/A/142, showing the young Giuseppe Facchinetti at work. He was nick-named “Tuta”, because he always wore a mechanic’s uniform, tuta in Italian).

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/208 (Drawings: 390; Texts: 31; Photographs: 10) PIZ/B/138 (Drawings: 138) Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Vitali 2010; Belloni 1998; Irace 1997; Bertelli 1994; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: good. This building is better known by the name Pagoda. The video “La Pagoda – Pino Pizzigoni”, by the photographer Nicola Lucini, is still available at the fol­ lowing link: https://vimeo.com/12431329. It provides a good description of the complex space outside the building. A few years after construction, static con­ solidation works were carried out: verti­ cal steel supports were installed to stop deformations and cracks (which Pizzi­ goni considered natural and necessary phenomena in reinforced concrete structures). Plate LXIV, p. 178 Plate LXV, p. 180 Plate LXVI, p. 182

Plate LXII, p. 174

228

1964

1964

1964–66

Pezzoli House

Nani House

Paleocapa Technical High School

Piazza Libertà, 17, Leffe (Bergamo)

Via Grumella, Sant’Alberto, Parre (Bergamo)

Via Gavazzeni 29, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/262 (Drawings: 63; Texts: 3) PIZ/B/ 88 (Drawings: 13) State of conservation: good. Pezzoli House has several similarities with the Pagoda apartment building in Bergamo. Both are structured from a central block from which secondary volumes hang; both use Vierendeel beams visible from the outside. The rectangular concrete modules typical of Vierendeel beams are a dominant motif on the façade overlooking the cen­ tral square in the village of Leffe, next to San Michele Church. For this reason, the Monument Protection Authority requested that these elements be replaced with traditional loggias (PIZ/A/262/b3). However, Pizzigoni did not comply with this request. Plate LXIII, p. 176

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/B/36 (Drawings: 6; Photographs: 6) Publications: Feiersinger 2016; Gelmini 2016; Gelmini 2015; Van den Bergh 2011 Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982; Pizzigoni 1970. State of conservation: good. Despite some modifications, the house is still close to its original state. The artist Claudio Nani – Attilio Nani’s son and Pizzigoni’s pupil at the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo – commissioned the house and still owns it. While proudly showing me around the house, he remarked: “Your grandfather came here, sat on the slope and said that the house should look like this: like a man sitting and looking at the valley and the moun­ tains”. In a nutshell, Nani expressed an idea which runs through this entire study: that Pizzigoni’s architectures are like living organisms, often they are almost “portraits” of their clients, other times they look like animals that inhabit a place. For example, it is said that Pizzigoni once described the Immacolata Church as a frog coming out of the swamp, probably referring in that case to the nature of the marshy ground of the site (from a memoir by Antonia Pizzigoni). Plate LXVII, p. 184 Plate LXVIII, p. 186 Plate LXIX, p. 188

229

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/134 (Drawings: 268; Texts: 49; Photographs: 14) PIZ/B/92 (Drawings: 62) Publications: Van den Bergh 2011; Belloni 1998; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: reasonable. The former assembly hall of the ‘Esperia’ is now made into divided rooms accessed through a corridor. For this reason, the wave-shaped roof made of 20 concrete shells and lit from both the south and the north, is hardly recog­ nisable from the inside. It would be interesting to assess the acoustic func­ tionality of this hall, which is similar in shape and proportions (but not in mate­ rials) to the famous one designed by Alvar Aalto for the Viipuri Library Audi­ torium in 1935. In 1965 Pizzigoni also added a canopy on the ground floor, to protect the entrance staircase. Several proposals can be found in the archives for this element, including one in steel with a glass stepped roof (PIZ/B/92/a44). Plate XLIX, p. 148

1961–65

1966

1966

Church of the Immacolata

Monument to Military Health Corps

Bruni Tomb

Via Guglielmo Mattioli 57, Bergamo

Parco delle Rimembranze, Via alla Rocca, 16, Bergamo

Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/236 (Drawings: 7; Photographs:1) PIZ/B/49 (Drawings: 2)

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/292 (Drawings: 11) PIZ/A/231* (Drawings: 18; Photos: 3) *Note: Folder PIZ/A/231 relates to the Brandolisio Tomb (1966). There are a number of unfinished versions for the Brandolisio Tomb, and one of these has many similarities to the Bruni Tomb of which only sketches from 1936 can be found in the archive. This means we can attribute the Bruni Tomb to Pizzigoni and date it at the same time as the Brandolisio Tomb.

Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/210 (Drawings: 474; Texts: 81; Photographs: 109) PIZ/B/117 (Drawings: 79; Photos: 1) Publications: Coppola 2018; Berera 2016; Feiersinger 2012; Scarrocchia 2011; Van den Bergh 2011; Deregibus 2010; Scarrocchia 2002; Gennaro 2001; Belloni 1998; Bertelli 1994; Pizzigoni 1982; Crippa 1966; De Santis 1967; Pizzigoni 1970; Ravanelli 1966. State of conservation: good. The reinforced concrete structure has recently been carefully restored: see Coppola 2018. At the end of one of the many debates on this work, Pizzigoni was happy to cite the opinion of the bricklayers who worked on the church building site: “Noter an capia negot quando l’era dré a fala so, ma adess invece m’ha capit tot” (a phrase in Bergamo dialect meaning: while we were doing it we understood nothing but now everything is clear). Later, at the end of the same article (Ravanelli, 1966), Pizzigoni remarked: “I really don’t care what architects say or think. Is that clear?”.

State of conservation: good. One of the preliminary drawings for this monument shows a series of 15 stylised figures on squared paper. These figures seem to represent 15 different states of mind, in a similar approach to that of the built monument. The states of mind – anger, strength, wisdom, fear and so on – are expressed simply by changing the length and arrangement of the ‘limbs’. The monument seems to repre­ sent peace, with legs standing firmly and arms wide and raised. It is typical of Pizzigoni to build around an idea, a “vocabulary” of possible variations. Plate VI, p. 62

Plate LXX, p. 190 Plate LXXI, p. 192

Publications: Motta 2020. State of conservation: excellent. The preliminary studies for a tomb for the Bruni family date from 1936. These studies are for an enclosed tomb: some are in low stone walls, others in iron fencing. Attribution of this work to Pizzigoni, probably dating from 1966, came about by chance while walking along the cemetery paths: I simply noticed a tomb which featured the kind of dry stone joints typical of Pizzigoni. The Bruni Tomb, like the Brandolisio Tomb, is based on the division of the burial stone into smaller blocks which are easier to manage when the crypt has to be opened. Plate LXXII, p. 194

230

1966 Brandolisio Tomb Bergamo Cemetery, Piazzale del Cimitero, 21, Bergamo Pizzigoni Archive: PIZ/A/231 (Drawings: 18; Photographs: 3) Publications: Motta 2020; Pizzigoni 1982. State of conservation: excellent. As in the case of the Bruni Tomb, the project for the Brandolisio Tomb stems from the principle of dividing the tomb­ stone into blocks that, by means of an opening mechanism, give access to the crypt. For a detailed description see Motta 2020, pp. 33−40. The title of this article, “Eadem mutate resurgo”, comes from a note by Pizzigoni found next to the sketches for this project (PIZ/A/231/a1); the phrase is in turn taken from Bernoulli, who used this expression to describe both the geo­ metric form of the spiral and by exten­ sion the meaning of life. Plate LXXII, p. 194

231

Collection of Recent Photographs

1  House for his father, Bergamo, 1925–27

232

2  House for his father, Bergamo, 1925–27

233

3 Traversi House, Bergamo, 1930

234

4 Traversi House, Bergamo, 1930

235

5  Monument to Lawyers Fallen in World War I, Bergamo, 1930

236

6  Invernizzi Tomb, Bergamo, 1931

237

7  Cubo House, Bergamo, 1933–35

238

8  Alemanni House, Roncobello (Bergamo), 1938

239

9  Entrance vestibule of the Santa Croce Church, Bergamo, 1943–49

240

10  High altar of the Santa Croce Church, Bergamo, 1943

241

11  Minima House, Bergamo, 1946

242

12  Minima House, Bergamo, 1946

243

13  Ardiani Tomb, Bergamo, 1946

244

14  Baj Tomb, Bergamo, 1947

245

15  Pedrini-Cornelli Tomb, Villa d’Almè (Bergamo), 1951–52

246

16 Traversi Tomb, Bergamo, 1950–54

247

17  Ardiani Tomb, Bergamo, 1946

248

18  Pedrini-Cornelli Tomb, Villa d’Almè (Bergamo), 1951–52

249

19  Fara Houses, Bergamo, 1949

250

20  Fara Houses, Bergamo, 1949

251

21  Gilberti House, Gorlago (Bergamo) 1951–56

252

22  Lubrina House, Bergamo, 1953

253

23  Bosis House, Tavernola Bergamasca (Bergamo), 1954

254

24  Bosis House, Tavernola Bergamasca (Bergamo), 1954

255

25  INA Social Housing, Trescore Balneario (Bergamo), 1957–59

256

26  INA Social Housing, Trescore Balneario (Bergamo), 1957–59

257

27  Celadina Parish Centre, Bergamo, 1955–58

258

28  Mayer Printing Works and Apartments, Bergamo, 1953

259

29 The “Sella” at Gabbione, Gorlago (Bergamo), around 1962

260

30 The “Ombrello” at Gabbione, Gorlago (Bergamo), 1956

261

31  Comana Marble Works, Seriate (Bergamo), 1957

262

32  Comana Marble Works, Seriate (Bergamo), 1957

263

33  Billi Tomb, Bergamo, 1957

264

34  Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957

265

35  Colombo House, Bergamo, 1957

266

36  Bordogna House, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1958

267

37  Mayer House, Bergamo, 1959

268

38  Pipia Tomb, Bergamo, 1959

269

39  Paleocapa Technical High School, Bergamo, 1958

270

40  Paleocapa Technical High School, Bergamo, 1958

271

41  Pig barns, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo), 1960–62

272

42  Pig barns, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo), 1960–62

273

43  C.E.P. Nursery Schools, Bergamo, 1965

274

44  C.E.P. Nursery Schools, Bergamo, 1965

275

45 Town hall, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1962–65

276

46  Cheesemaker’s house, Torre Pallavicina (Bergamo), 1960–62

277

47  Pezzoli House, Leffe (Bergamo), 1964

278

48  Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960–65

279

49  Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo, 1960–65

280

50  Nursery school, Zandobbio (Bergamo), 1960–63

281

51  Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964

282

52  Nani House, Parre (Bergamo), 1964

283

53  Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo, 1961–65

284

54  Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo, 1961–65

285

55  Brandolisio Tomb, Bergamo, 1966

286

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1982, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Bergamo e il disegno urbano (15.03.1965)’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architetture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni. Milan: Electa. 1982, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Cinque ­lezioni di composizione architettonica all’Accademia Carrara: I. Introduzione. II. La piazza. III. La struttura. IV. Le proporzioni e i materiali. V. Gli interni e la casa. (1951)’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architet­ ture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni. Milan: Electa. 1982, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘La casa per tutti (1946)’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architetture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni. Milan: Electa. 1982, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘L’insegna­ mento artistico (04.04.1966)’. In ­Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architetture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni. Milan: Electa. 1982, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘L’urbanistica (24.04.1960)’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architetture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni. Milan: Electa. 1982, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Tumulto nell’insieme’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architetture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni. Milan: Electa. 1982, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Una politica della città (1947)’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architetture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni, p. 162. Milan: Electa. 1982, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Una politica della città (1947)’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architetture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni. Milan: Electa. 1982, Spagnolo, Roberto. ‘La ricerca ­tipologica per la costruzione della ­città’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architetture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni, pp. 68–70. Milan: Electa. 1982, Tosi, Andrea. ‘Pino Pizzigoni e ­l’urbanistica’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architetture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni, pp. 80–81. Milan: Electa. 1982, Viviani, Giuliano. ‘Gli asili al quartiere Monterosso’. In Pizzigoni. Invito allo spazio: progetti e architet­

ture, 1923–1967, edited by Attilio Pizzigoni, p. 132. Milan: Electa. 1981, De Seta, Cesare. L’architettura del Novecento. Torino: UTET. 1980. ‘A giusta ambizione’. Gran Bazaar (7, Marzo–Aprile). 1980, Hultén, Pontus (ed.). Les Réa­ lismes 1919–1939. Entre Révolution et ­Réaction. Paris: Centre George Pompidou. 1979, Giuliani, Antonio. Villa d’Almè e Bruntino: tempi, vicende, costumi. Bergamo: Tipo-Lito Capelli. 1976, Patetta, Luciano, and Silvia Danesi (eds.). Il razionalismo e l’architettura in Italia durante il fascismo. Venice: La Biennale di Venezia. 1972, Grafica Monti & F. (ed.). L. Monte, Tavole/Disegni: Prefazione di Giu­ seppe Pizzigoni. Bergamo: Zinco­ grafia Bianchi. 1971, Pizzigoni, Attilio. ‘Pino Pizzigoni, Il Novecento milanese e i rapporti con il Movimento Moderno’. Berga­ mo Arte (6): pp. 19–30. 1971, Pizzigoni, Attilio. ‘Pino Pizzigoni, un contributo all’architettura italiana del dopoguerra’. Bergamo Arte (7): pp. 25–37. 1970, Milano 70/70 : un secolo d’arte. Milan: Editrice Edi. 1968, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Causa dell’attuale crisi delle arti. La pros­ pettiva e i problemi della visualità. Il Palazzo della Ragione e la valletta di Zandobbio’. La rivista di Bergamo (4): pp. 5–8, 19. 1968, Zanella, Vanni. ‘Comme­morazione dell’Arch. Giuseppe ­Pizzigoni’. Atti dell’Ateneo Scienze Lettere ed Arti di Bergamo (XXXIV): p. 591. 1967, Ronchi, Umberto. ‘L’arch. Pizzigoni stroncato da infarto mentre stava lavorano a un progetto’. L’Eco di Bergamo. 1967, Crippa, Geo Renato. Pino Pizzi­ goni, architetto e pittore geniale. ­Bergamo, Rome: Il povero bibliofilo Editore. 1967, De Santis, Mario. ‘La chiesa dell’Immacolata a Longuelo (Berga­ mo)’. L’industria italiana del cemento (Ottobre). 1967, Muzio, Giovanni. ‘Omaggio a Pino Pizzigoni’. La rivista di Bergamo (Luglio). 1966, Ravanelli, Renato, and Fran­cesco Barbieri. ‘Cosa ne dite della Chiesa 289

di Longuelo?: Una tavola rotonda sulla più discussa costruzione reli­ giosa a Bergamo’. Supplemento: La Domenica del Giornale di Bergamo: pp. 1–5. 1966, Crippa, Geo Renato, and Giuseppe Pizzigoni. Della Chiesa di Maria ­Santissina Immacolata in Longuelo. Con la “Relazione Tecnica” di Giu­seppe Pizzigoni. Bergamo: Industrie Grafiche Cattaneo. 1966, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. La Pros­ pettiva. Metodo pratico per pittori, scenografi, architetti, cineasti. Milan: Guido Miano Editore. 1966, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. Lettere all’ateneo di scienze, lettere, arti. Maggio. 1963, Gregotti, Vittorio, and Guido Canella. ‘Il Novecento e l’architettura’. Edilizia Moderna (81). 1961, Zanella, Vanni. ‘Cento anni di ­Bergamo città (1860–1960)’. Ber­gamo Economica (8–9). 1960, Zanella, Vanni. ‘Dialoghi con gli architetti: Pino Pizzigoni’. L’Eco di Bergamo. 1960, Aloi, Roberto. Ville in Italia. Milan: Hoepli Editore. 1954, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Dell’influ­ enza della prospettiva nell’evoluzione delle arti plastiche. Teorema di Mene­ lao’. La rivista di Bergamo (4): pp. 19–21. 1954, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. Scritto sulle case ultrapopolari. in Archivio Pizzigoni, Biblioteca Angelo Mai ­Bergamo, (PIZ/A/364). 1953. ‘Pubblicità Serramenti Negozio Tadini’. Domus (283): pp. 38–39. 1953, Veronesi, Giulia. Difficoltà ­politiche dell’architettura in Italia, 1920–1940. Milan. 1952. ‘Zwei italienische Landhäuser. ­Architekt: G. Pizzigoni, Bergamo’. Neue Bauwelt 7 (16): p. 68. 1952, Moretti, Luigi. ‘Edicole tra i ­cipressi. Architetture di Angolodo­ menico Pica e Giuseppe Pizzigoni’. Spazio (7): p. 72. 1951, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Neorea­ lismo’. Giornale del Popolo. 1951, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Gli ­architetti e l’Ente Regione’. Giornale del Popolo. 1951, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Riordina­ mento dei servizi tecnici e ­problemi dell’avvenire’. Giornale del Popolo. 1951. ‘Oberitalienische Landtheater:

Theater in Stezzano bei Bergamo’. Bauen+Wohnen 1–5 (11): pp. 24–26. 1951, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. Prospettiva ­Illustrata per pittori architetti sceno­ grafi e cineasti. Bergamo: Edizioni Della Rotonda. 1950, Cereghini, Mario. Costruire in mon­ tagna. Milan: Edizione del Milione. 1949, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Gli ­architetti sbagliano’. Giornale del ­Popolo. 1949, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘In materia di programmi e di piani’. Giornale del Popolo. 1949, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘In materia di programmi e di piani’. Giornale del Popolo. 1949, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Venezia e l’architettura moderna’. La rivista di Bergamo (3–4): p. 31. 1948, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Ripresa edilizia’. Giornale del Popolo. 1948, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Il giardino Suardi’. Giornale del Popolo. 1948, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Il problema edilizio’. Giornale del ­Popolo. 1948, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Aria e luce per le case popolari’. Giornale del Popolo. 1948, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ­‘Doppia aria nei nuovi appartamenti’. L’Eco di Ber­ gamo. 1948, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘P.R.G. della Lombardia’. Giornale del Popolo. 1948, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘La torre del Galgario’. Giornale del Popolo. 1948, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Parallelo d’architettura: Italia 1942 – Inghilterra 1947’. Giornale del Popolo. 1948, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Evolvono i costumi, ma l’architettura non sempre’. Giornale del Popolo. 1948, Aloi, Roberto. Architettura ­funeraria moderna. Milan: U. Hoepli. 1947, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘La casa plurifamigliare a blocco’. Giornale del Popolo. 1947, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Regolamenti edilizi e piani regolatori’. Giornale del Popolo. 1947, G.U.R. ‘Un esempio di armonia spaziale’. La Cittadella, politica e ­cultura (15–16): p. 3. 1947, Peresutti, Enrico. ‘Concorso per la sistemazione del Piazzale della Sta­ zione di Bergamo’. Metron (23–24): pp. 2–11. 1946, ‘Un originale tipo di casa uni­ familiare al Concorso del Collegio  

Costruttori’. Giornale del Popolo. 1946, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘La costruzione di un lotto di case popolari’. Giornale del Popolo. 1946, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Il P.R. e la Stazione ferroviaria’. Giornale del Popolo. 1946, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Studi per la riforma edilizia’. Giornale del Popolo. 1946, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ­‘Urbanistica cittadina’. Giornale del Popolo. 1946, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘La ­riforma edilizia’. Giornale del Popolo. 1946, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Commento al P.R. del nostro ­comune’. Giornale del Popolo. 1946, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Per una nuova edilizia cittadina’. Giornale del Popolo. 1946, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Costruzione in granito’. La Cittadella, politica e ­cultura (19): p. 5. 1944, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Una nuova costruzione lapidea per la costruzione delle chiese’. Stile (12, Supplemento): p. 36. 1941, Aloi, Roberto. Architettura fune­ raria moderna. Milan: Hoepli. 1939, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. Lettera in data 1 aprile 1939 a R.Townshende – Kern. 1938, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘­Problemi d’arte: e il giudizio del ­popolo?’. L’Eco di Bergamo. 1938. ‘Piccola casa a Bergamo’. Domus (130): p. 17. 1936, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Note d’arte. Tumulto nell’insieme’. La rivista di Bergamo 15 (12): p. 450. 1935, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Acustica dei Teatri’. La rivista di Bergamo (3): pp. 138–140. 1935, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Di una ­urbanistica bergamasca’. La rivista di Bergamo (Dicembre). 1935, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Finestre’. Cronache, mensile di lettere, arte e costumi (28): pp. 1–4. 1935, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Muri’. ­Cronache, mensile di lettere, arte e costumi (30). 1934, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Punti di vista artistici’. La Voce di Bergamo. 1934, ‘Il nuovo palazzo degli uffici ­governativi in Bergamo’. La rivista di Bergamo (3): p. 106. 1934, ‘Introduzione alla sesta Triennale’. Domus (78): p. 28. 290

1934, Moretti, Bruno. Ville. Milan: Hoepli. 1933. Catalogo ufficiale della V Triennale di Milano. Milano. 1933. ‘Originali concetti in una casa di montagna architettata da Giuseppe Pizzigoni’. Domus (61): p. 4. 1933, Alfieri, Dino, Luigi Freddi. Mostra della rivoluzione fascista : 1. decen­ nale della marcia su Roma. Rome : Partito nazionale fascista. 1933, Sarfatti, Margherita. ‘Architettura, arte e simbolo alla mostra del ­Fascismo’. Architettura (Gennaio): pp. 1–17. 1932, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. Idee sulla prospettiva. Bergamo: Periodico ­Editore. 1932, Pizzigoni, Giuseppe. ‘Saggio di critica sulla facciata del Duomo di Bergamo’. La rivista di Bergamo XI (10–11): pp. 454–456. 1931, Crippa, Geo Renato. ‘Pino Pizzigoni o dell’euritmia’. La Voce di Bergamo. 1931, Muzio, Giovanni. ‘Alcuni architetti d’oggi in Lombardia’. Dedalo XV ­(Agosto). 1931, Nezi, Antonio. ‘Edilizia moderna del tema più dolce: la casa’. Empo­ rium (434): p. 93. 1931, Reggiori, Ferdinando. ‘Il monu­ mento agli avvocati bergamaschi ­caduti in guerra’. Architettura e Arti Decorative (Marzo): pp. 343–344. 1931, Ronchi, Umberto. ‘Le realizza­ zione fasciste dell’anno IX E.F.’. La ­rivista di Bergamo (Dicembre): pp. 558–561. 1930. ‘Casa Traversi a Bergamo e ­villa-studio del pittore Locatelli a ­Bergamo’. Architettura: rivista del ­Sindacato nazionale fascista architetti (Giugno): pp. 298–302. 1930. Catalogo della IV Triennale di Monza. 1930. Catalogo ufficiale della mostra del Concorso nazionale per la Cattedrale di La Spezia. 1930. ‘Concorso per la Cattedrale di La Spezia’. Architettura e Arti Decorative (Luglio): pp. 415–416. 1930, Nezi, Antonio. ‘Sistemazioni ­urbane e questioni edilizie. Progetti per Bergamo Alta’. Emporium (421): pp. 12–25. 1930, Reggiori, Ferdinando. ‘Il progetto per una nuova chiesa nel bergamasco dell’arch. Giuseppe Pizzigoni’.

Architettura e Arti Decorative (Aprile): pp. 361–364. 1929, ‘Pino Pizzigoni, un bergamasco costruttore di chiese’. L’Eco di Berga­ mo. 1929. ‘Porta-abiti, dormeuse e poltron­ cine’. Domus (Speciale Dicembre): pp. 135, 140–141.

1928. ‘Interno della Villa Pizzigoni’. ­Domus (7): p. 17. 1928, Buzzi, Tomaso. ‘Villa Pizzigoni a Bergamo’. Domus (Marzo): pp. 18–21. 1928, Muzio, Giovanni. ‘Il Concorso per una Fontana in Piazza della Scala in Milano’. Architettura e Arti Decorative (Maggio): pp. 405–414.

291

1927, Reggiori, Ferdinando. ‘La casa dell’architetto Giuseppe Pizzigoni a Bergamo’. Architettura e Arti Deco­ rative (Maggio): pp. 427–432.

Index of Buildings by Giuseppe Pizzigoni

Alemanni House, Roncobello  24, 74 –75,  204,  2 39 Ardiani Tomb, Bergamo  12,  27,  2 8, 82  –  8 3, 109,  206,  208,  244,  248 Aula Curia Vescovile, Bergamo, New roof  158,  2 23 Azimonti-Fortis House, Bergamo 29, 90 – 9 3, 125,  209 Bagattini House, Zandobbio  226 Baj Tomb, Bergamo  12,  27, 43, 44 – 4 5, 83, 84 – 8 5,  206,  208,  245 Belotti House, Zandobbio  206 Beratto House, Bergamo  199 Billi Tomb, Bergamo  27,  2 8, 132 – 133,  2 22,  264 Bordogna House, Zandobbio  142 – 145, 158,  2 21,  267 Bosis House, Tavernola Bergamasca 30, 31, 116 – 117,  215,  254 – 255 Brandolisio Tomb, Bergamo 194 – 195,  2 31,  2 86 Broletti House, Pontenossa 112 – 113,  210,  214 Bruni Tomb, Bergamo  194 – 195,  2 30 C.E.P. Nursery Schools, Bergamo  32, 33, 158, 172 – 173,  2 26 – 2 27,  274 – 275 Celadina Nursery School, Bergamo 158, 170 – 171,  2 27 Celadina Parish Centre, Bergamo 120 – 121,  217,  218,  258 Cheese factory, Torre Pallavicina 158, 162 – 163,  2 25 Cheesemaker’s house, Torre Pallavicina 160 – 161,  2 25,  277 Church of the Immacolata, Bergamo 33, 34, 40, 133, 158, 159, 190 – 193, 216,  2 22,  2 29,  2 30,  2 84 – 2 85 Cima House, San Giovanni Bianco, Extension 205 Colombo House, Bergamo  30, 32, 136 – 141,  2 21,  265 – 266 Comana Marble Works, Seriate  32, 33, 134 – 135, 158,  216,  262 – 263 Crespi Tomb, Bergamo  62 – 6 3,  206 Cubo House, Bergamo  23, 30, 70 – 7 3, 111,  202,  204,  205,  2 38 Donizetti Theatre, Bergamo, Extension 34, 150 – 151,  219 Facchinetti House, Zandobbio  228 Facchinetti Tomb, Bergamo  203

Fara Houses, Bergamo  29, 41, 42, 96 – 97,  213,  217,  250 – 251 Finazzi Building, Bergamo 124 – 125,  213,  217 Ghezzi Tomb, Bergamo  62 – 63,  203 Gilberti House, Gorlago  30, 31, 113, 118 – 119,  215,  252 Gualini House and Shop, Trescore Balneario 224 House for his father, Bergamo 13, 17, 18, 19, 48, 52 – 5 5, 80 – 81, 199,  207,   212,  2 32 – 2 33 INA Social Housing, Trescore Balneario 28, 130  – 131,  256 – 257 Invernizzi Tomb, Bergamo 60 – 61, 201,  2 37 Locatelli House, Bergamo  11, 58 – 5 9, 202 Lubrina House, Bergamo 30, 114 – 115,  215,  253 Maffioletti Tomb, Bergamo 27, 104  – 105,  206,  211 Mayer House, Bergamo 146 – 147, 222,  268 Mayer Printing Works and Apartments, Bergamo  98 – 101,  214,  259 Minima House, Bergamo 14, 15, 16, 17,  26,  27, 43, 81, 86 – 8 9,  207,  217,  242 – 243 Monument to Lawyers Fallen in World War I, Bergamo  60 – 61,  201,  2 36 Monument to Military Health Corps, Bergamo  62 – 6 3,  2 30 Monument to the Calvi Brothers, Bergamo  68 – 6 9,  201 Monument to the Fallen, Stezzano  212 Mutti Tomb, Trescore Balneario  206 Nani House, Parre  36, 37, 43, 44, 137, 184 – 189,  2 29,  2 82 – 2 83 Nani Tomb, Bergamo  156 – 157,  2 23 Nursery school, Zandobbio 168  – 169,  2 27,  2 81 Pagoda Apartments, Bergamo 35,  178  – 183,  2 28,  2 29,  279 – 2 80 Palazzo Frizzoni, Bergamo, New roof and refurbishment of the Council Chamber 209 Paleocapa Technical High School, Bergamo  30, 31, 148 – 149,  218,  2 29,   270 – 271 293

Parish Cinema, Adrara San Marino  210 Parish Cinema-Theatre, Stezzano  29, 94 – 9 5,  210 Parish House, Brusaporto  126 – 127,   218 Pedrinelli House, Dalmine  204 Pedrini House, Bergamo  209 Pedrini-Cornelli Tomb, Villa d’Almè 106 – 107,  211,  246,  249 Pezzoli House, Leffe  176 – 177, 226, 229,  278 Pianone Restaurant, Bergamo  204 Pig barns, Torre Pallavicina 33, 158,  164 – 165,  2 25,  272 – 273 Pipia Tomb, Bergamo  152 – 155, 222,  269 Pizzigoni Tomb, Zandobbio 156 – 157,  2 23 Primary School, Rota d’Imagna  30, 31, 122 – 123,  217 Riglietta House, Bergamo, Extension 212 Rinaldi-Ardiani House, Selvino  13, 64 – 6 5, 113,  202,  206 Riva House, Bergamo  128 – 129,  218 Romelli/Gervasoni House, Clusone  224 Rooms C and D at the Fascist Revolution Exhibition, Rome  66 – 6 7,  203 Rota Apartments in Via Matris Domini, Bergamo  102 – 103,  210,  214 Rota Zaverio/Facchinetti Apartments, Bergamo  210,  214 Sanguinetti Padoa House, Rome  36, 158, 166 – 167,  2 26 Santa Croce Church, Bergamo Entrance vestibule  46, 76 – 79,  207,  240 High altar  205,  241 School building, Via Luigi Cadorna, Bergamo 200 School building, Via Fratelli Calvi, Bergamo 200 Social housing, Via Biava, Cenate Sotto 219 Social housing, Via Donizetti, Costa di Mezzate  219 Social housing, Via Papa Giovanni XXIII, Trescore Balneario  221 Social housing, Via Ponte Vecchio, San Giovanni Bianco  213

Social housing, Via Rivi, Zandobbio  220 Social housing, Via San Francesco d’Assisi, Albano Sant’Alessandro 220 Social housing, Via Secco Suardo, Lurano 213 Social housing, Via Tasso, Cologno al Serio  220 Tadini Shop, Bergamo  212

The “Ombrello”, Gorlago  216,  261 The “Sella”, Gorlago  216,  260 Tomb of Teresio Facchinetti, Bergamo 60  –  61 Town hall, Zandobbio  35, 36, 158, 174 – 175,  2 28,  276 Traversi House, Bergamo  19,  20, 56  –  5 7,  200,  2 34 – 2 35

294

Traversi Tomb, Bergamo  27,  2 8, 108 – 111,  206,  211,  247 Villa Carozzi, San Remo, Extension 205 Villa Signorelli, Bergamo, Extension 224 Workers’ housing in Clementina, Bergamo 199

Illustration Credits

Pizzigoni Archive at the Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai e Archivi storici comunali, Bergamo 14, 15, 18,  21,  2 2,  2 3,  25,  27,  2 8 (Figs. 21,  2 2),  2 9 (Fig. 25), 31 (Figs. 28, 30, 31), 32 (Figs. 32, 34), 33, 34 (Figs. 30, 40), 35 (Fig. 42), 36, 37 (Figs. 45, 47), 40, 42, 44, 45, 53, 65, 71, 73, 89, 91, 93, 95, 113, 123, 127, 139, 141, 151, 159, 167, 171,  202 (left), 203 (centre),  204 (centre, right),  205 (left),  207 (centre),  208 (centre),  209 (centre, right),  212 (right),  217 (centre), 218 (centre),  2 22 (centre),  2 24 (right), 225 (left),  2 26 (centre),  2 27 (centre), 229 (centre),  2 30 (centre) Francesco Nicola Cima 205 (centre) Roberto Colleoni 147 Gianluca Gelmini 189,  207 (left),  2 83

Nicola Lucini 183

Alfieri 1933 203 (left)

Giancarlo Motta 212 (centre),  2 24 (centre),  2 29 (left),   238

Sarfatti 1933 67

Antonia Pizzigoni 11,  24 (Photographs),  26, 39, 48 (Fig. 15) Marcello Riva 129 Wim van den Bergh (Drawings) 16, 48 (Fig. 14) The following figures whose authorship could not be verified were taken from publications listed in the bibliography: Sacchi 2000 28 (Fig. 23)

Carlo Leidi 40 (Fig. 1)

Pizzigoni 1982 4,  24 (Drawing),  2 9 (Fig. 24), 30, 31 (Fig. 29), 32 (Figs. 33, 35), 37 (Figs. 46, 48), 75,  2 27 (right)

Domenico Lucchetti 34 (Fig. 39), 193

Aloi 1948 12,  2 8 (Fig. 20)

295

Domus (61) 1933 13 Ronchi 1931 199 (right) Architettura (June) 1930 20 If not otherwise credited, the illustration rights belong to the author. The recent photographs shown in the book were taken between 2011 and the present by Carolin Stapenhorst, Wim van den Bergh and myself. I would also like to thank my father, Giancarlo Motta, who took countless photographs of Giuseppe Pizzigoni’s work, particularly between 1965 and 1975. His photographs are now preserved in the Pizzi­ goni Archive. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright owners of the plans and illustrations reproduced. The publisher apologizes for any omission that may have occurred.

Graphic Design, Cover, and Layout: hawemannundmosch, Berlin Production: Anja Haering, Berlin Printing: Beltz Grafische Betriebe GmbH, Bad Langensalza Paper: Condat Matt Perigord 135 g/m² Editor for the Publisher: Michael Wachholz, Berlin Library of Congress Control Number: 2022935331 Bibliographic information published by the German National Library The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in databases. For any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained. This publication is also available as an e-book (ISBN PDF 978-3-0356-2460-1). © 2022 Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, Basel P.O. Box 44, 4009 Basel, Switzerland Part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF ∞ Printed in Germany ISBN 978-3-0356-2458-8 987654321 www.birkhauser.com