The 100 years of Bruno Zevi

One of the great figures of the twentieth century architecture is honored in his home country with a program of activities including the exhibition "The Architects of Zevi. History and anti-history of Italian architecture, 1944-2000 "in Rome. Zevi, known for the classic book "Know-How Architecture" was also a pioneer of communication techniques, presenting media and instruments never before used to talk about architecture, such as radio, television and low-cost publications.

 

The learning of architecture has immovable pillars: one of them is the story. And in this discipline by other complex and relevant are famous names that have contributed a rich legacy to both the diffusion and the critique and teaching of architecture. Such is the case of Bruno Zevi, (1918 – 2000), architect, historian, lecturer, politician, designer and critic of Italian art.

His bibliographic compendium includes works that have become classics such as knowing How to see Architecture (1948);  History of Modern Architecture (1950); Architecture and Historiography (1951); The modern language of Architecture and Historiography (1978); Know how to see Urbanism (1997); and read, write and talk about Architecture (1997).

In knowing how to see architecture, Zevi poses to architecture as a versatile activity, because it involves many design factors and therefore analysis. One of them, space, is the characteristic that the famous critic plays in the architectural fact. However, his proposal is not reductionist, because he says that in addition to the content − The inner space −, the container, that is, the materiality of the building itself, must have certain characteristics to be considered architecture.

In addition to making a critique of the way in which the architecture had been analyzed until then, Zevi also commented on a very true and current aspect: that the architects, imbued in their own building activity, seldom have the time, the interest or the Tools to enter the historical and critical debate; And at the same time, critique is so specialized that it does not involve the so-called "great public." It outlines the need for a new, critical, inclusive and clear approach. It is an obligatory reading, which can be read repeatedly and each time find new ideas.

This 2018, to celebrate the hundred years of its birth, the MAXXI − National Museum of the Arts of the 21st century −, in collaboration with the foundation Bruno Zevi both based in Rome, created the National Committee for the centenary celebrations of the birth of Bruno Zevi and They organized a sample titled "The Architects of Zevi. History and counter-history of Italian architecture, 1944-2000 "which, together with a cycle of lectures, will go through the stages of their work and delve into their figure in the hands of international researchers and teachers.

Through drawings, mock-ups and auditory material, the exhibition aims to clarify the fundamental role that Bruno Zevi had in the national architectural debate of the "Dopoguerra" − period of the history of Italy that includes since the years after the second war World until the beginning of the First Republic −, showing the importance of the relationship between architecture and political commitment.

Maurizio Sacripanti, Luigi Pellegrin, Franco Albini, Giovanni Michelucci, Mario Ridolfi, Carlo Mollino are some of the 35 architects who participate in the exhibition, whose projects, published and analyzed by Zevi, accompanied their path in more than 50 years of Critical and militant activity. The exhibition also represents an unprecedented viewpoint on the Italian architecture of the period, the re-discover designers of extaordinaria creativity, and thus pays homage to the great production historiographic of Zevi, his political and social passion, and His presence in the history of the country.