Born in Pistoia in 1891, Giovanni Michelucci is considered
one of the most important architects of this century. He lived in
Florence but his native city always remained, as he himself said
many times, an important reference point for his life as a man and
as a designer (
vs12).
In a letter to his friend Giovanni Alessandri, Michelucci wrote:
The evocation of some particular moments in my life has the aim
of making known the environment where I lived in my youth, the place
which has so influenced my work as well as my difficult character.
And this knowledge will lead to an understanding of the reasons
for certain reticences and for certain romantic impulses that are
in my works.
Michelucci had his first artistic education in the foundries for
iron working that were owned by his family (
vs15)
But above all, through his contact with the workers, he discovered
the figure of mankind that would later become the focus of his architecture.
In his work, Michelucci was always aware of society's needs, to
the point that a large part of his thought was taken up with reflections
on the city a place for meeting and as a community. In his long
artistic career, Michelucci designed and built many projects. One
of his masterpieces is the church of Saint John the Baptist on the
highway near Florence. In Pistoia, too, the architect left many
examples of his work, for instance his youthful work, the Casa lovi,
which was notable for the lack of any decoration. A few years later
he designed, in collaboration with the architect R. Fagnoni, the
Casa del Balilla in Piazza San Francesco (
vs5).
Immediately after the war he built the Church of the Santi Pietro
e Gerolamo in Collina di Vinacciano and almost at the same time,
the church of Sante Maria e Tecla in the are known as La Vergine.
In the 1960s he carried out the extension of the Cassa di Risparmio
(
vs15) that replaced the
previous Goods Exchange. In the same years he designed and built
the Church of the Cuore Immacolato di Maria in the area of Villaggio
Belvedere. This is the first building in which the architect reconsidered
the concept of sacred space. The interior has a singie nave and
branching pillars that serve as metaphors for the Holy Tree and
for Christ's monogram. The church built for La Vergine's cemetery
dates from the same period.
During the early i 960s he began to build the A. Roncalli Middle
School on the Thyrion Bastion, one of the fortifications belonging
to the third circle of city walls (
vs8).
After this project, in Pistoia his activity was limited to building
private houses.
senza titolo (disegno)
The
Giovanni Michelucci Documentation Center
Set up in the mezzanine of the City Hall (vs14)the Giovanni Michelucci
Center collects drawings, photographs and models of the architect's
entire production, from the beginning of his career right up to
the last projects. The collection Is composed of about 900 drawings,
some of which have his hand-written notes on them. Some preparatory
sketches for projects, furniture designed and built by the architect
as well as models are all on permanent display in the Center's great
hall. The Center also houses an updated specialized library which
can be consulted by researchers.
(n.) refers to the number of the file-card (s.i.) means see information
inside
