QUARTIERE DELLA GARBATELLA
Made by the
ICP (Istituto Case Popolari - Institute of Social Housing) in the years 1920/32
First works
1920, now partly demolished, around Piazza Benedetto Brin by Gustavo Giovannoni (1873/1947) who, with Innocenzo Sabbatini (1891/1984), described as Barocchetto
(Small Baroque) the architectural style of the new district
Buildings
for 190 homes well separated, mainly on two floors, with various and well
harmonized typological solutions
“The
fundamental contribution of Giovannoni to Italian architecture in the twentieth
century is to be found far more in his work as a scholar and theorist, than in
his limited activities as a designer and planner. The field of his research is
very extensive, but it can be limited to a specific field: the study of
architectural monuments and of the ancient towns with reference, almost always,
to the extraordinary series of examples offered by Rome, his hometown” (G.
Zucconi - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
Later they
were joined by Costantino Costantini (1904/82), Massimo Piacentini, cousin
of the more famous Marcello and Mario De Renzi
(1897/1967)
“From a
linguistic point of view the district testifies of a research for the
picturesque, the vernacular, the rediscovery of those elements of the lesser
Roman architecture between the '500s and '700s which Giovannoni (...) was
advocating on those years and which constituted a form of progressive response
to the Eclecticism from which already, in another ways, others, like Piacentini
and Sabbatini, were trying to come out with their 'Viennese' solutions. This
trend, which was given the name of 'barocchetto' (Small Baroque) to emphasize the
nostalgic and resigned tone, characterized for a few years the work of many
Roman architects. Among them Debbio, Limongelli, Sabbatini himself (who
designed, inter alia, the tall houses of this first nucleus of the district) De
Renzi and, at least in part, Aschieri” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)
The
population of the district is now approximately 46,500 inhabitants
The
inspiration came from the urban English Garden Cities, far from the
center but well connected by public transport and consisting of small residential
units with gardens also cultivable as vegetable gardens
The
district name probably derives from the nickname of the owner “graceful and
beautiful” of the family-run restaurant Osteria da Maria, which was at
the end of 1800s on the Via Ostiense near St. Paul's cliff
The
following buildings were all designed by Innocenzo
Sabbatini:
EDIFICIO DI MAGGIOR MOLE (The Largest Building)
It should
have been an experiment of accommodation with shared areas for families
displaced from the center of Rome, but the shared areas were immediately
divided into apartments
“After the
'Viennese' phase, Sabbatini approached the 'barocchetto' (Small Baroque) and
imprinted a particular and recognizable character to the production of the
Institute. (...) In this climate can be traced the project for the Hotels,
where there is no shortage however, even of expressionistic accents related to
how to compose the great mass of buildings. The Albergo Rosso was presented at
the 1st Exhibition of Italian Rationalist Architecture and aroused
mixed reactions for its atypical style compared to the projects of young
rationalists” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)
CASA ALBERGO (House Hotel)
CASA DEI BAMBINI (Children's House)
MOVIE
THEATER AND HOMES WITH PUBLIC BATHS AND STUDIES FOR ARTISTS
The homes
were inspired by the House of Diana in Ancient Ostia
“With the
rise of fascist authoritarianism, the urban development of Garbatella underwent
a sudden change, characterized by an intense period of construction to the
detriment of public parks in the area. This new phase, the result of changes in
the national political scene, sees the Garbatella become a place of
accommodation for all those people, not necessarily poor, who were without a
home. During this period, in fact, a decision was taken to redesign the city
center, through the destruction of many buildings and the consequent need to
find new accommodations for evicted tenants. ICP put into effect a building
development based on testing of the 'fast house' in the years between 1923 and
1927. This type could be visually associated with the Garden Homes, but, unlike
the English model, it provided the use of low cost materials, was characterized
by a high speed, the ornamental elements were marginal and green areas were no
longer private gardens but public places” (Site of the Associazione Culturale e
Sportiva Rione Garbatella - www.rionegarbatella. it)
NEIGHBORHOOD FOR SLUM DWELLERS
MODEL HOMES
Thirteen
two-story houses designed for a competition among seven young talented
architects selected by five construction companies on the occasion of the XII
Congress of the International Federation for Housing and Town Planning,
held in 1929 in Rome:
Mario De Renzi (1897/1967), Pietro Aschieri (1889/1952), Gino
Cancellotti (1890/1987), Giuseppe Nicolosi (1901/81), Mario Marchi (1900/96), Plinio Marconi (1893/1974) AND
Luigi Vietti (1903/98)
“From the
architectural point of view some projects, those of Aschieri and especially the
two houses of De Renzi, highlight the progressive abandonment of those
linguistic references to the minor architecture of Rome, which had partially
characterized the research of the twenties. In fact, one can perceive in them
the hints of works of formal settling, more sensitive to the echoes of
contemporary European experiences” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)
DISTRICT OF HOUSES IN REDEMPTION
“Only by
starting from the fundamental contribution of personalities such as Poletti and
Calderini, first, to pass, then, through those of G.B. Milani, Giovannoni,
Piacentini and, also, Fasolo, Minnucci and Marconi, it may be possible to
define in its most authentic dimension and in its specific essence of the
complexity of a situation in Rome which, through its aporias and falls, but
also through its not insignificant moments of excellence, it is considered now
to have had an important and decisive role, not only in Italy, but also
internationally. (...) The case of Plinio Marconi, from this point of view is
emblematic and exemplary: practically forgotten, neglected and shunned by
critics and contemporary historiography like other personalities, however
eminent, (see the case in some ways 'similar' of Giuseppe Vaccaro, only
recently 'rediscovered'), gravitating in different ways in the vast and varied
cultural orbit of Piacentini, and only for this destined to a specific damnatio
memoriae (...). Plinio Marconi, in this context, is a good example (...) of the
quality of these young architects, well informed about what was happening in
the rest of the world (...) and also capable of catalyzing the theoretical
arguments of a complex contemporary debate that, especially around the
Thirties, created a moment of extraordinary and accelerated vitality.
Especially in the relationship between the latest experiments and the assorted
theoretical and methodological, technical and aesthetic ideas that were their
basis, the reflection of Plinio Marconi suggests us the wealth of theoretical
knowledge of the ones who, in ways more and less evolved and aware, were
starting to cross a territory still unexplored, heading to the uncertain, yet
fascinating, but still, in many ways, obscure objectives of Modernity” (Giorgio
Muratore - www.archiwatch.it)
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