ALBERTONI SPINOLA PALACE

PALAZZO ALBERTONI SPINOLA

Piazza Campitelli 2

Beginning 1600 from a design by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) completed by Girolamo Rainaldi (1570/1655) for the Albertoni family

Rainaldi designed for sure the ornate portal of the façade, the beautiful entablature decorated with heraldic symbols and the internal layout of some rooms

The redundant TOP FLOOR was added in the nineteenth century

The building passed from the Albertoni to the Altieri family and it belongs now to the Genoese Marquis Spinola

ALBERINI PALACE

PALAZZO ALBERINI

Via del Banco di S. Spirito 12

Maybe begun in 1512 by Donato Bramante (1444/1514) with the ground floor

Continued in the years 1515/19 maybe by Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546) or Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) (1483/1520) for Giulio Alberini and leased to the Florentine bankers Bonaccorso Rucellai and Bernardo da Verrazzano

Completed in 1521 by Pietro Rosselli (c.1474/after 1531)

It was later called PALAZZO CICCIAPORCI

Heavily restored for the Calderai family in 1866 by Antonio Sarti (1797/1880)

After a restoration of the Studio Gigli that lasted two years, in 2009 the palace became the HEADQUARTERS OF THE GUCCI FASHION HOUSE

ALBANI DEL DRAGO PALACE

PALAZZO ALBANI DEL DRAGO

Via Quattro Fontane angolo Via XX Settembre

1587/90 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Muzio Mattei

Completed and extended along Via XX Settembre (known then as Strada Pia) from 1707 onwards by Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729) for Cardinal Alessandro Albani, with the addition of the lookout tower

In mid-1800 it was acquired by Queen Maria Cristina widow of Ferdinand VII of Spain, and, at her death, by the Prince Del Drago

Now it is the property of the company Servizi Interbancari, provider of Italian credit card services

In the corner of the crossroad of the Four Fountains there is the fountain with a lion representing the Arno River

Frescoes by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691/1765) and Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)

In a room on the second floor there are frescoes copies of those found in ancient tomb of the Nasonii on Via Flaminia

PALACE ON VIA VENETO 7

PALAZZO AL N°7 DI VIA VENETO

Via Vittorio Veneto 7

1925/27 Gino Coppedè (1866/1927) for the Società Anonima Edilizia Moderna (Modern Anonymous Construction Company)

It was the last work of this imaginative architect before his death

“The sign of changing times is felt, after a certain date, even in Coppedè's work: the building built in Rome on Via Veneto (...) even though it doesn't betray Coppedè's style, it appears set to a greater sobriety, mitigating in a more classical composure the decorative exuberance of the palaces of Piazza Quadrata. In this case Coppedè appeared to have taken into account some criticism from many quarters that were addressed to his work, to a conception of architecture, to a school - of which Coppedè appeared as an exemplary exponent - which was now to be finally overcome by the times” (Mauro Cozzi - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

ACQUAVIVA PALACE

PALAZZO ACQUAVIVA

Piazza S. Lorenzo in Lucina/Via S. Lorenzo in Lucina

1663 Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91) transformed the preexisting Palazzo Acquaviva in Convent of the Caraciolinans

Completed 1690/1700 by Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721) with wings on Parliament Square and Via S. Lorenzo in Lucina

Now is the seat of the CARABINIERI HEADQUARTERS for the Province of Rome

MANCIOLI APARTMENT HOUSES

PALAZZINE MANCIOLI

Via Lusitania 29 - Via Vulci 9

1953/54, PALAZZINA MANCIOLI I in Via Lusitania 29

1959/60, PALAZZINA MANCIOLI II in Via Vulci 9

Mario Ridolfi (1904/84) e Wolfgang Frankl (1907/94)

Original examples of bow-windows in a rationalist version adapted to the Fifties

“In the apartment block of Via Lusitania it is very original the solution of the windows in which the external covering transformed into a molding that frames the upper part, refers to one of the typical elements of the classical tradition of architecture” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

APARTMENT HOUSES ON VIA DEL CIRCO MASSIMO

PALAZZINE IN VIA DEL CIRCO MASSIMO

Via del Circo Massimo 1-3

1953 Vincenzo Monaco (1911/69) e Amedeo Luccichenti (1907/63)

The two elegant buildings have substantial differences, although similar at first sight

“Monaco was, along with Luccichenti, one of the most influential and ardent supporters of the opening of the architectural design to the most advanced and experimental trends of modern and contemporary Italian art. (...) During the fifties the Luccichenti and Monaco Studio was one of the leading studios in Rome and in Italy in a new way of doing architecture, where the synergy of the group, the high specialisms, ensuring a quality product and the ability to deal with various aspects of the complex planning matters were able to make a difference: a unique style of work that soon passed over the narrow borders to attract the attention of critics and of the international press” (Paolo Melis - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

“With the two buildings of Via del Circo Massimo the 'bourgeois rationalism' of Monaco and Luccichenti reached one of its most accomplished expressions. Abandoning the plastic elements in part present in the buildings of Via S. Valentino and Via S. Crescenziano, they tend to develop a language mainly made up of rhythmic and repetitive elements in series” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

ZACCARDI APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA ZACCARDI

Via G.B. De Rossi 12 - Nomentano

1950/54 Mario Ridolfi (1904/84) and Wolfgang Frankl (1907/94)

It is characterized by glass surfaces articulated with alternating projections and recesses of great visual impact

“The building reflects the architect's personal evolution going from a more strictly rationalist position to a language that has a higher plastic intensity and greater wealth of decorative accents” (Giorgio Muratore)

“First accomplished result of the work of revising the rationalist vocabulary that Ridolfi was developing in the early postwar years. It was a work based on the belief that it was important to make the language of modern architecture more akin to the common way of people and therefore it was necessary to make it richer and less abstract (...). Peculiar is the introduction of a coverage 'in the hood' with coated glass mosaic that binds together the two volumes of the building. It was this solution, as well as the shape of the balconies, the design of the fixtures and railings, in later years to become a linguistic element widely present in contemporary production. Ridolfi's works were in fact often used as a catalog of forms to choose from, rather than a methodological reference” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

SALVATELLI APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA SALVATELLI

Via Eleonora Duse 53 - Parioli

1939 Gio Ponti (1891/1979) and Antonio Fornaroli

An almost Spartan apartment block, simple and effective

Originally the external coatings were in stoneware (compact and waterproof ceramic paste) which remains only in the attic

All the façades were plastered later

“Ponti pursues the specific intention of offering 'functional refinement' instead of the usual 'gaudy lordly attributes'. His sober and discreet architecture, defined by slight projections from the wall and rhythmic continuous scanning of the openings, is a sophisticated product of the 'Novecento' (Twentieth century) style” (Giorgio Muratore)

REA APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA REA

Via di Villa Massimo 39 - Nomentano

1934/36 Mario Ridolfi (1904/84) and Wolfgang Frankl for the engineer Tullio Rea

Mario Ridolfi was in 1933 in Germany and Switzerland, where he was able to appreciate the German Rationalism applied to residential building

“It reflects the direct knowledge of German residential architecture and of the experiments of Central European rationalism” (Giorgio Muratore)

“The façade is characterized by a 'thickness' (a theme already tried in previous projects), of which the projections, the side cladding, the windows and the shelter of the attic determine the articulated depth” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

“The plan of the building at Villa Massimo has a 'rational' layout but in a practical way, deeply tied to the context. The formal character of the building, the site-specific character, are always important for Ridolfi” (Website of DAUR of the University of Padua)

COOPERATIVA ASTREA APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA PER LA COOPERATIVA ASTREA

Via Edoardo Jenner 27/29

1947/49 Luigi Moretti (1907/73)

Experiment of an apartment block with diversified locations for the rooms

“The classical derivation of Luigi Moretti's language, just filtered a little through the rationalist ideas, shone in a clear manner by a well-calibrated monumentality, by the use of very elegant 'concluded' volumetric solutions and by a great attention to light and its spatial effects” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

“It represents one of the first projects by Moretti after the war and already has the formal solutions of high strength plastic that would characterize the success of his later production. The novel volumetric articulation solves the difficulty of lot with a bad northern exposure. So the areas of services, along with the stairwells, is grouped in a completely new way, on the main front, while the living rooms and bedrooms are developed along the front facing back toward the south. The street façade features a series of plastic episodes, always motivated by the need to ensure a functional order for environmental well-being” (Giorgio Muratore)

NEBBIOSI APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA NEBBIOSI

Lungotevere Arnaldo da Brescia 9

1928/32 Giuseppe Capponi (1893/1936) for the Company Nervi and Nebbiosi

Elegant building in stylized forms reminiscent of Francesco Borromini

The Sardinian Giuseppe Capponi, also author of the Institute of Botany and Pharmacology of the University La Sapienza, was representative of the Italian Movement for Rational Architecture (MIAR)

He tragically died on the island of Capri only 43 years old

“In the process of the renewal of the architectural language that developed in Rome in the second half of the twenties, the research of Giuseppe Capponi has a special role because it is directed towards subjects unrelated both to the echoes of the Vienna Secession, and to the ambiguities of 'Barocchetto' (Small Baroque). In this work (...) the interest is mainly focused on the formal values of the curved surfaces presented through a modern reading with geometric characteristics typical of some Baroque works. (...) The semi-cylindrical grooves of the façades allow to withdraw some rooms and remove the central courtyard so that it can be replaced by two small cloisters that light up the spiral staircase and the service areas. (...) The building has two apartments per floor featuring some interesting distribution solutions because they are lacking corridors and disengaged only by a pair of atria” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

Here lived the architect Pier Luigi Nervi (1891/1979) in the period in which the Company Nervi e Nebbiosi took care to carry out his plans for the 1960 Olympic Games: the Corso Francia viaduct and the Palazzetto dello Sport (Sports Hall)

INAIL APARTMENT HOUSE ALSO KNOWN AS "WITCHES' HOUSE"

PALAZZINA INAIL DETTA “CASA DELLE STREGHE”

Viale Marco Polo 96

1953/56 Mario Ridolfi (1904/84) and Wolfgang Frankl (1907/94)

19 apartments, 3 stores on the main front and garages below the level of the road

The top floor was used by Mario Ridolfi as his studio until the early Seventies together with Giulio Rinaldi, Wolfgang Frankl and Domenico Malagricci

Ridolfi moved later to Marmore near Terni, where he committed suicide

“The building is furrowed by deep grooves, corners are rounded and often ruffled by the projections of the windows. The crown is defined by a parapet inclined towards the outside: in the language of Ridolfi and Frankl seem to emerge suggestions with a medieval flavor” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

“Formed in the wake of the great Roman tradition, the one of Borromini and Carimini, of the artisans who came to the architect craft through the initiation of menial jobs (he was a decorator and then designer), Ridolfi documented its unique realism of classical clarity through countless drawings: geological layers of signs that made up to order beams, stones, brick walls in an organic and necessary relationship. A difficult summary, built with patient, loving toil in which the eye recognizes, however, the charm of an essential, familiar simplicity” (Giuseppe Strappa - Repubblica of 19 marzo 1998)

FURMANIK APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA FURMANIK

Lungotevere Flaminio 18

1935/38 Mario De Renzi (1897/1967), Giorgio Calza Bini (1908/99), Maurizio Sacripanti (1916/96) and Pietro Sforza who supervised the sophisticated interiors unfortunately destroyed by the recent renovation which altered the exterior as well of such an elegant building

It is considered a masterpiece of the Rationalism of the Roman school

It was built for residential use but is now home to the offices of Equitalia, the government agency whose job is to collect taxes

“The main front projecting toward the Tiber is dug deep into a series of superimposed loggias, developed without interruption along the entire length of the façade, to echo the horizontality of the watercourse. In the other sides continuity of wall surface prevails, evenly punctured by holes that are repeated with a single module. Lately the intended use has been changed from homes to offices, and an improvident action of restructuring has severely mortified the figurative coherence of the system by eliminating the sliding shutters, which protected the interior from the midday light and made the front vibrate, and adding an external fire escape at the rear” (Giorgio Muratore)

“The formal result overall is of great interest because it corresponds to a very concise idea: the compact volume of the building looks almost dug by large continuous openings that determine, in the alternation with the full parapets, a rhythm of horizontal elements featuring well-balanced proportions” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

VIALE LIEGI APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA DI VIALE LIEGI

Viale Liegi 40

1920/22 Marcello Piacentini (1881/1960)

Piacentini intervened on a building already begun, with an L shape already defined and this resulted in the not so innovative distribution system of housing

“Piacentini was influenced here by the Viennese Secession, not only with regards to the elegant chiaroscuro that distinguishes the outer surface, but also and above all, for the introduction of bow windows, absolutely unusual elements for Roman architecture in those years” (Giorgio Muratore)

VIA SAVOIA APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA DI VIA SAVOIA

Via Savoia/Via Frosinone

1920 Marcello Piacentini (1881/1960)

“The compactness of the building is interrupted both by the receding last floor articulating the profile of the building, and by the corner loggias creating void in the structure” (Giorgio Muratore)

VIA S. VALENTINO APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA DI VIA S. VALENTINO

Via S. Valentino 16 - Parioli

1948/50 Vincenzo Monaco (1911/69) e Amedeo Luccichenti (1907/63)

Vincenzo Monaco and Amedeo Luccichenti with this building and those they designed later in Via S. Crescenziano and Via del Circo Massimo greatly influenced the style of construction for this type of homes in Rome

“After the war, some Roman professionals, more attentive to the tastes of high and middle class client, formulated, after having stripped it of any ideological content, a refined formal repertoire clearly derived from Rationalism. Vincenzo Monaco and Amedeo Luccichenti are certainly the best interpreters of this attitude. After their successful debut with the now destroyed Villa Petacci on Via Camilluccia, they devoted themselves mainly to private residential construction and worked in particular on the theme of the apartment block, gradually refining the distribution patterns” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

VIA S. CRESCENZIANO APARTMENT HOUSE

PALAZZINA DI VIA S. CRESCENZIANO

Via S. Crescenziano 40 - Via Salaria

1952 Vincenzo Monaco (1911/69) and Amedeo Luccichenti (1907/63)

Built on a far higher level than Via Salaria running below

Daring balconies protrude significantly from the plane of the façade that looks out on Villa Ada

“The layout of the building is not that of a classical building, but rather that of a two-family home with two apartments per floor and with the body of the stairs projecting outward. In the planimetric configuration it seems evident the reference to the Swiss Pavilion designed by Le Corbusier in 1930 in the University City in Paris as well as very Le Corbusier-like appear the overall formal solution, set on the dialectic between elements in orthogonal geometry and curvilinear ones” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)