1.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
2.
Carlo Maciachini
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Carlo Francesco Maciachini was an Italian architect and restorer. Born near Varese, he studied in Milan, where he realized some of his most important works. Other notable works of Maciachini are restorations of churches in several cities of northern Italy. Maciachini was born in Induno Olona, in the Province of Varese, as a young boy, he proved to be a talented wood carver, working as an apprentice in local woodworking shops. His first major work as an architect was the realization of the San Spiridione church for the Illyrian Orthodox community in Trieste. A few years later he submitted his proposal for the design of the new Monumental Cemetery of Milan, the cemetery was completed in 1866, and is widely recognized as Maciachinis prominent achievement. Thereafter, Maciachini worked on a number of designs in Milan and other areas of Northern Italy, including several cities in Lombardy, Veneto. He would also return to sculpture and carving, for example, he realized the Corinthian capitals of the church of Bodio. Maciachini was also involved in a failure with his design of the dome of the Cathedral of Pavia. The Cathedral had to remain closed for seven years because pieces of marble would occasionally fall from the fractured dome. The dome is still in place, but its maintenance is difficult, Maciachini died in Varese in 1899, and was buried in the Monumental Cemetery of Milan. To honour his contributions to the architecture of Milan, a square of the city. Especially in the restoration of old buildings, Maciachini developed a personal and appreciated style, a recurring theme in Maciachinis style is the extensive use of dense patterns of geometric shapes and symbols in the decoration of facades, rose windows, and other architectural elements. On the other hand, stars of David, pentagrams, swastikas, triskelions and this predilection for pagan symbols has aroused a number of theories alleging that Maciachini was an affiliate of some sort of secret organisation, such as a Freemasonry society
3.
Ancient Greek temple
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Greek temples (Ancient Greek, Ναός, Naós dwelling, semantically distinct from Latin templum were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, since the sacrifices, temples were frequently used to store votive offerings. They are the most important and most widespread building type in Greek architecture, in the Hellenistic kingdoms of Southwest Asia and of North Africa, buildings erected to fulfill the functions of a temple often continued to follow the local traditions. Even where a Greek influence is visible, such structures are not normally considered as Greek temples and this applies, for example, to the Graeco-Parthian and Bactrian temples, or to the Ptolemaic examples, which follow Egyptian tradition. Most Greek temples were oriented astronomically, stylistically, they were governed by the regionally specific architectural orders. Whereas the distinction was originally between the Doric and Ionic orders, an alternative arose in late 3rd century BC with the Corinthian order. A multitude of different ground plans were developed, each of which could be combined with the superstructure in the different orders. From the 3rd century BC onwards, the construction of temples became less common, after a short 2nd century BC flourish. Thereafter, only structures were newly begun, while older temples continued to be renovated or brought to completion if in an unfinished state. Greek temples were designed and constructed according to set proportions, mostly determined by the diameter of the columns or by the dimensions of the foundation levels. The nearly mathematical strictness of the basic designs thus reached was lightened by optical refinements, in spite of the still widespread idealised image, Greek temples were painted, so that bright reds and blues contrasted with the white of the building stones or of stucco. The more elaborate temples were equipped with rich figural decoration in the form of reliefs. The construction of temples was usually organised and financed by cities or by the administrations of sanctuaries, private individuals, especially Hellenistic rulers, could also sponsor such buildings. New temples now belonged to the tradition of Roman architecture, which, in spite of the Greek influence on it, aimed for different goals and followed different aesthetic principles. The Mycenaean Megaron was the precursor for later Archaic and Classical Greek temples, the basic principles for the development of Greek temple architecture have their roots between the 10th century BC and the 7th century BC. In its simplest form as a naos, the temple was a rectangular shrine with protruding side walls. Until the 8th century BC, there were also apsidal structures with more or less semi-circular back walls, by adding columns to this small basic structure, the Greeks triggered the development and variety of their temple architecture. The columns and superstructure were wooden, door openings and antae were protected with wooden planks, the mud brick walls were often reinforced by wooden posts, in a type of half-timbered technique
4.
Obelisk
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An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. These were originally called tekhenu by their builders, the Ancient Egyptians, the Greeks who saw them used the Greek obeliskos to describe them, and this word passed into Latin and ultimately English. Ancient obelisks are monolithic, that is, they consist of a single stone, though this technological capacity exists today, most modern obelisks are made of several stones, some, like the Washington Monument, are buildings. The term stele is used for other monumental, upright. Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, who placed them in pairs at the entrance of temples. The word obelisk as used in English today is of Greek rather than Egyptian origin because Herodotus, a number of ancient Egyptian obelisks are known to have survived, plus the Unfinished Obelisk found partly hewn from its quarry at Aswan. These obelisks are now dispersed around the world, and fewer than half of them remain in Egypt, the earliest temple obelisk still in its original position is the 68-foot 120-metric-ton red granite Obelisk of Senusret I of the XIIth Dynasty at Al-Matariyyah in modern Heliopolis. The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra, and during the religious reformation of Akhenaten was said to be a petrified ray of the Aten. It was also thought that the god existed within the structure, Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial waters Nu upon which the creator god Atum settled in the creation story of the Heliopolitan creation myth form of Ancient Egyptian religion. The Benben stone is the top stone of the Egyptian pyramid and it is also related to the Obelisk. The pyramid and obelisk might have inspired by previously overlooked astronomical phenomena connected with sunrise and sunset. The Ancient Romans were strongly influenced by the form, to the extent that there are now more than twice as many obelisks standing in Rome as remain in Egypt. All fell after the Roman period except for the Vatican obelisk and were re-erected in different locations. The largest standing and tallest Egyptian obelisk is the Lateran Obelisk in the square at the west side of the Lateran Basilica in Rome at 105.6 feet tall, not all the Egyptian obelisks in the Roman Empire were set up at Rome. Herod the Great imitated his Roman patrons and set up a red granite Egyptian obelisk in the hippodrome of his new city Caesarea in northern Judea and this one is about 40 feet tall and weighs about 100 metric tons. It was discovered by archaeologists and has been re-erected at its former site and this one stood 95 feet tall and weighing 380 metric tons. Its lower half reputedly also once stood in Istanbul but is now lost, the Istanbul obelisk is 65 feet tall. Rome is the capital of the world
5.
Trajan's Column
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Trajans Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajans victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Apollodorus of Damascus at the order of the Roman Senate and it is located in Trajans Forum, built near the Quirinal Hill, north of the Roman Forum. Completed in AD113, the column is most famous for its spiral bas relief. Its design has inspired numerous victory columns, both ancient and modern, the structure is about 30 metres in height,35 metres including its large pedestal. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal Carrara marble drums, each weighing about 32 tons, the 190-metre frieze winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a staircase of 185 steps provides access to a viewing platform at the top. The capital block of Trajans Column weighs 53.3 tons, on December 4,1587, the top was crowned by Pope Sixtus V with a bronze figure of St. Peter, which remains to this day. The column was originally flanked by two libraries, which may have contained Trajans scroll-written despatches from his Roman-Dacian Wars, filippo Coarelli suggests that such scrolls are the basis both of the columns design and its spiraling, sculpted narrative. The column shows 2,662 figures, and 155 scenes, the continuous helical frieze winds twenty-three times from base to capital, and was in its time an architectural innovation. The design was adopted by later emperors such as Marcus Aurelius, the narrative band expands from about 1 metre at the base of the column to 1.2 metres at the top. Often a variety of different perspectives are used in the same scene, the relief portrays Trajans two victorious military campaigns against the Dacians, the lower half illustrating the first, and the top half illustrating the second. These campaigns were contemporary to the time of the Columns building, throughout, the frieze repeats standardized scenes of imperial address, sacrifice, and the army setting out on campaign. Scenes of battle are much an minority on the column, instead it emphasizes images of orderly soldiers carrying out ceremony. The war against Dacia was one of conquest and expansion, wartime violence in general seems to have been downplayed. The two sections are separated by a personification of Victory writing on a shield flanked on either side by Trophies, great care is taken to distinguish the men and women from both sides of the campaign as well as the ranks within these distinct groups. The scenes are crowded with sailors, soldiers, statesmen and priests and it also exists as a valuable source of information on Roman and barbaric arms and methods of warfare and costume. The relief shows details such as a ballista or catapult, the precise details of the depictions creates a reality effect for the viewer in which designers hope is that these images are taken for objective historical truth. The emperor Trajan is depicted realistically in the Veristic style, the focus on Trajan as the heroic protagonist is central
6.
Gio Ponti
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Giovanni Gio Ponti was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, and publisher. Pontis parents were Enrico Ponti and Giovanna Rigone and he did military service during World War I in the Pontonier Corps with the rank of captain, from 1916 to 1918, receiving the Bronze Medal and the Italian Military Cross. Ponti graduated with a degree in Architecture in 1921 from the Politecnico di Milano University, also in 1921, he married Giulia Vimercati, they eventually would have four children and eight grandchildren. Ponti began his career in partnership with Mino Fiocchi and Emilio Lancia from 1923 through 1927. In these years he was influenced by and associated with the Milanese neo-classical Novecento Italiano movement, around 1933, Ponti ended his relationship with Lancia and teamed with two engineers, Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini, to form Studio Ponti-Fornaroli-Soncini which would last until 1945. Ponti in 1950 won the commission to design the 32-story Pirelli Tower in collaboration with Pier Luigi Nervi and this was the second skyscraper built in Milan, and likely the climax of Pontis entire career. In 1951, Ponti designed the plan, and two individual block contributions, for the IINA lIstituto Nazionale per le Assicurazione) Casa quarter housing project in Milan. In 1952 he went into partnership with the architect Alberto Rosselli, from 1953 to 1957, he built the Hotel della Città et de la Ville and the Centro Studi Fondazione Livio e Maria Garzanti, in Forlì, by the assignment of Aldo Garzanti, a famous Italian publisher. Between 1960 and 1962 Ponti designed and realize the first Italian Hotel Design, from 1923 to 1930 Ponti worked at the Manifattura Ceramica Richard Ginori, in Milan and Sesto Fiorentino, changing the companys whole output. Also very famous is the Due Foglie sofa. glass bottles, he designed stylish, among the latter, one of the most famous is the Billia lamp, which looks modern today but it was designed for Fontana Arte in 1931. Design by Ponti photographed by Paolo Monti In 1928 he founded Domus magazine, in 1941 he resigned as editor of Domus and set up Stile magazine, which he edited until 1947. In 1948 he returned to Domus, where he remained as editor until his death, from 1936 to 1961 he worked as a professor on the permanent staff of the Faculty of Architecture at Politecnico di Milano University. In 1934 he was given the title of Commander of the Royal Order of Vasa in Stockholm and he also obtained the Accademia dItalia Art Prize for his artistic merits, as well as a gold medal from the Paris Académie dArchitecture. Finally, he obtained an honorary Doctorate from the London Royal College of Art, Ponti, Gio, In Praise of Architecture, NY, F. W. Dodge Corporation,1960. Sherer, Daniel, “Gio Ponti in New York, Design, Architecture, catalogue essay for the Ponti Exhibition at the Triennale di Milano,6 May –24 July 2011, 35–45
7.
Arturo Martini
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Arturo Martini was a leading Italian sculptor between World War I and II. He moved between a very vigorous classicism and modernism and he was associated with public sculpture in fascist Italy, but later renounced his medium altogether. Martini seems to have been a supporter of the Futurist movement between 1914 and 1918. He certainly corresponded with Umberto Boccioni and produced a modernist booklet in 1918, between the wars, he became the semi-official sculptor of the fascist regime. He was literally overwhelmed by commitments, great monuments and commemorative works for courthouses, churches and universities, examples include the great bronze at La Sapienza University in Rome and the memorial to the aviator Tito Minniti. He sculpted the monument to the Fallen at the Palazzo delle Poste, after the fall of Mussolini, feeling that his art had been corrupted, he published an essay against sculpture in the magazine La Martini in 1945, scultura, lingua morta. He writes for example, La scultura unarte è da negri e senza pace, Martini is as important Italian sculptor in the period between the world wars. He worked with many materials but never moved far from figuration, although he was able to abstract forms. He exercised great influence on later Italian sculptors such as Marino Marini, Emilio Greco, Marcello Mascherini, Pericle Fazzini, media related to Arturo Martini at Wikimedia Commons Web galley of 20th Century figure sculpture 1200 years of Italian sculpture
8.
Marble
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Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Geologists use the marble to refer to metamorphosed limestone, however. Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material and this stem is also the basis for the English word marmoreal, meaning marble-like. In Hungarian it is called márvány, Marble is a rock resulting from metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks, most commonly limestone or dolomite rock. Metamorphism causes variable recrystallization of the carbonate mineral grains. The resulting marble rock is composed of an interlocking mosaic of carbonate crystals. Primary sedimentary textures and structures of the carbonate rock have typically been modified or destroyed. Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of a very pure limestone or dolomite protolith, green coloration is often due to serpentine resulting from originally magnesium-rich limestone or dolostone with silica impurities. These various impurities have been mobilized and recrystallized by the intense pressure, examples of historically notable marble varieties and locations, White marble has been prized for its use in sculptures since classical times. This preference has to do with its softness, which made it easier to carve, relative isotropy and homogeneity, construction marble is a stone which is composed of calcite, dolomite or serpentine which is capable of taking a polish. More generally in construction, specifically the dimension stone trade, the marble is used for any crystalline calcitic rock useful as building stone. For example, Tennessee marble is really a dense granular fossiliferous gray to pink to maroon Ordovician limestone that geologists call the Holston Formation. Ashgabat, the city of Turkmenistan, was recorded in the 2013 Guinness Book of Records as having the worlds highest concentration of white marble buildings. According to the United States Geological Survey, U. S. domestic marble production in 2006 was 46,400 tons valued at about $18.1 million, compared to 72,300 tons valued at $18.9 million in 2005. Crushed marble production in 2006 was 11.8 million tons valued at $116 million, of which 6.5 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate and the rest was construction aggregate. For comparison,2005 crushed marble production was 7.76 million tons valued at $58.7 million, of which 4.8 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate, U. S. dimension marble demand is about 1.3 million tons. The DSAN World Demand for Marble Index has shown a growth of 12% annually for the 2000–2006 period, the largest dimension marble application is tile. In 1998, marble production was dominated by 4 countries that accounted for almost half of production of marble
9.
Mario Palanti
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Mario Palanti was an Italian architect who designed important buildings in the capital cities of both Argentina and Uruguay. Born in 1885 in Milan, Italy, Palanti studied architecture in the Brera Academy, for nearly 20 years he worked on both sides of the River Plate for wealthy compatriot clients. During this period he designed the Palacio Salvo in Montevideo. In the final period of his work, after he returned to live in Italy in 1930 and he was the inventor of Palandomus. Palanti died in his native Milan in 1978 and he was interred in the Civico Mausoleo Palanti, a Cimitero Monumentale di Milano mausoleum for notable local citizens of his own design. Order of the Crown of Italy, Commander Mario Palanti, Prima esposizione personale darchitettura nella Repubblica Argentina, Milano, Civico Mausoleo Palanti Palandomus Prima esposizione personale darchitettura nella Repubblica Argentina, Milano, Stab. Di arti grafiche Rizzoli e Pizzio,1917 El Portal de arte y arquitectura en Internet http, //www. arquitectura. com/historia/protag/palanti/palanti. asp
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