Giuseppe Terragni
b. Meda, 1904;
d. Como, 1943.

Italian Famous Architect, Giuseppe Terragni was a leading Italian Rationalist and Gruppo Sette member from Como. Terragni studied at the Technical College, Como (1917-21), before carrying out his architectural training at the Milan Polytechnic (1921-6). He opened an office in Como with his brother Attilio in 1927 and they remained in practice until the war. Their work was exhibited at the Monza Biennale in 1928 at the same time as the founding of the avant-garde but politically Fascist Gruppo Sette, of which he was a member from the outset. His first major building was the Russian Constructivist inspired Novocommun Flats, Como (1927-8). This was followed by his most elaborate and famous work, the Casa del Fascio (now the “People’s Palace”) in Como (1932-6). This building served as a place for Fascist rallies but in architectural terms is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of international Modernism in Italy, with its simple trabeated geometrical construction, asymmetry and cool white appearance. Its simplicity, however, belies its thorough theoretical framework and the respect it shows for the humanistic traditions of the Renaissance. In the 1930s Terragni contributed an artist’s house to the first Milan Triennale, designed the Antonio Sant’Elia School in Como and a further Casa del Fascio, in Lissone (1938-9). The last work in his short career was the Casa Frigerio, Como, completed in 1940.

Major buildings / works:
Project for Gas Works, Rome, 1927.
Apartments, Novocommun, Como, 1927-8.
Salone of the Year, Exhibition of Fascist Architecture, Rome, 1922.
Casa del Fascio (now Casa del Popolo) Como, 1932-6.
Tommello House (with Lingers), 1933, followed by other houses with the same collaborator.
Sant’Elia Kindergarten, Como, 1937.
Danteum (with Lingeri), Rome, 1937.
Casa del Fascio, Lissone (with
A. Carminati), 1938-9.
Casa Giuliani Frigerio, Como, 1939-40.

Bibliography:
M. Labe, Giuseppe Terragni, Milan, 1947.
Bruno Zevi, “Omaggio a Giuseppe Terragni”, L’architettura, No. 153, 1958;
Bruno Zevi, (ed.), Giuseppe Terragni, Bologna, 1980.
T. Schumacher, “From Gruppo 7 to the Danteum”, Oppositions, New York, No. 9, 1989