Ignazio Gardella

Background

Ignazio Gardella (1905-1999) graduated in Engineering in 1928 from the Politecnico di Milano and in Architecture in 1949 from the IUAV in Venice. Molteni&C's designer page calls him an undisputed leading figure in the Italian architectural scene of the twentieth century.

Signature Style

During the 1930s he designed his first rationalist works, among them the Anti-Tuberculosis Dispensary in Alessandria (1933-1938). The Blevio datasheet places him as an established figure of Italian architecture already in 1930, the year he made the Blevio table as a single model for his own family home, Villa Usuelli on Lake Como. Molteni&C describes that table as a piece that combines the purest features and intrinsic simplicity.

Notable Works

The Molteni&C page names the Contemporary Art Pavilion of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (PAC) in Milan (1947-1954) and the Casa alle Zattere in Venice (1953-1958) among his most notable works. The Blevio datasheet adds three Alessandria projects: the Vittorio Emanuele III Sanatorium (1928-1938), a Hygiene and Prophylaxis Laboratory and an Antituberculosis Dispensary (both 1933-1938).

Legacy

The page says the Casa alle Zattere was the first modern building in under fifty years to be protected by the Ministry of Cultural and Environmental Heritage. In 1996 Gardella received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. His Blevio table is part of the Molteni&C Heritage Collection.