HIGHLIGHT: VITTORIO GREGOTTI

2020-03-27 Anita Tare No Comments BLOG, HIGHLIGHT

Vittorio Gregotti (10 August 1927 – 15 March 2020) was an Italian architect, born in Novara, and attended the Politecnico di Milano. He worked as a contributor to Casabella, an architectural magazine, and was its editor-in-chief from 1955 to 1963. Gregotti founded his own studio, Gregotti Associati International, in 1974 but also lectured on architectural theory, becoming a key figure in 1970s Postmodernism.
Vittorio Gregotti’s reputation reached well beyond architecture—he was also a respected art theorist, editor, curator, and teacher.

Vittorio Gregotti’s passing on the 15th of March because of pneumonia brought on by COVID-19, truly marks the end of an era. Gregotti is considered by many to be an outstanding figure whose career profoundly transformed the architectural practice in Italy and beyond.

Barcelona Olympic Stadium

One of the most successful works of Gregotti Associati International was the renovation of a stadium for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. Gregotti gutted the structure, which had been originally built by architect Pere Domènech i Roura for the 1929 Expo, but the facade was retained.

Belém Cultural Center

The Belém Cultural Center is a complex of artistic venues located in Belém in the city of Lisbon, completed in 1992, in collaboration with the architect Manuel Salgado. It is the largest building with cultural facilities in Portugal. The centre was initially built to accommodate the programme of Portugal’s Presidency of the European Council in 1992, but with the long-term goal of providing permanent venues for conferences, exhibitions and performance arts (such as opera, ballet and concerts), in addition to meeting halls, shops and cafés.

Arcimboldi Opera Theater

The Teatro degli Arcimboldi is a theatre and opera house in Milan. Designed by Vittorio Gregotti in collaboration with Mario Botta and Elisabetta Fabbri, the fan-shaped, two-level, 2,375-seat auditorium was inaugurated with a performance of Verdi’s La traviata on 19 January 2002.

University of Calabria Campus

The Campus of the University of Calabria was originally designed by Vittorio Gregotti and Dänen Martensson. The buildings are situated along a suspension bridge, which is currently 1.3 kilometres long. As in British and North-American campuses, students live in specific residential blocks near the University.

Grand Théâtre de Provence

The winning project for the closed international competition for the new opera and concert theater in the city of Aix-en Provence, famous for its music festival, takes its initiative from the conditions laid out by Oriol Bohigas’ scheme for this urban area. It was thus a large void characterized by a vast manmade landscape that, as a new center for urban expansion, could not be resolved with an isolated architectonic element. The architectonic response includes the design of the large open space and the inside and outside opportunities that it can provide for one of the most important musical activities in Europe.