Monday, October 12, 2020

MARAINI VILLA

Via Ludovisi 48

1903/05 Otto Maraini (1863/1944), Swiss architect from the Republic and Canton of Ticino, brother of Emilio Maraini, industrialist from Lugano known for having introduced with great success in Italy the production of sugar from beet

The house was donated in 1946 by the widow of Maraini, Carolina Maraini Sommaruga, to the Swiss Confederation

It is the headquarters of the Swiss Institute in Rome (ISR), private foundation created by the Swiss Confederation in 1947 with the task of promoting scientific exchange and artistic between Switzerland and Italy

It stands on an artificial hill formed by debris from the excavation works of the Villa Ludovisi and it is topped by a Belvedere Tower

The area was part of the destroyed Villa Ludovisi

The building goes back to the tradition of Roman villas. The decorations consist of originals and copies of ancient sculptures, as well as fragments of sculptures and other artifacts found here

MAIN HALL

Fresco by Giovanni Capranesi (1852/1921) who painted with Domenico De Angelis in South America in the opera houses of Manaus and Belem in Brazil and in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires in Argentina

LIBRARY

Specializing in classical humanities. There are about 30,000 volumes and about 10,000 magazines

LARGE OUTBUILDING

It was originally built for the employees

It was renovated in the years 2001/05 by Michael Burckhardt, keeping the original façades that look onto Via Liguria and onto the garden of the convent of St. Isidore

No comments:

Post a Comment