Italo Insolera


Italo Insolera was an Italian architect, urban and land planner, and historian.
He published several books and essays dealing with the economic, social and cultural circumstances and conditions of urban development, and the use of the ancient town in the framework of metropolitan development. These issues were also the primary focus of his professional and academic work, where restoration and planning of historical towns and environmental systems prevail. He was especially interested in the relationship between archaeology and the modern city; he proposed solutions for the correct use of ancient towns that included traffic restriction, pedestrianization, and restoration. Some of these have been implemented by municipal governments, particularly in Rome.

Biography

Born in Turin in 1929, at age five he and his family moved to Rome. His father Filadelfo, a university teacher, ranked amongst the few who introduced the financial and actuarial science in Italy. His elder brother Delfino was editorial director at Zanichelli publisher in the 1970s and 1980s; his sister Melina, high-school teacher, wrote a number of grammar books.
In 1953, Insolera graduated from La Sapienza University, Rome, with a degree in Architecture. He became a licensed architect in 1954, and qualified for university teaching in urbanism in 1960. Meanwhile, he had married Anna Maria Bozzola ; she would be his partner during all his life. In 1962, he published Roma moderna. Un secolo di storia urbanistica, the first book dealing with urban planning and management in Rome from the unification of Italy to the present. The book has subsequently gone through six editions, with the most recent published in 2011.
He was added to the official register of land planners in 1971. From 1963 to 1971, he was a lecturer at Venice University's Institute of Architecture, and from 1971 to 1983 he was a tenured professor of Urban History at. He also taught courses and seminars at the universities of Rome, Florence, Naples, Paris, Kassel, Barcelona and Madrid.
During his tenure in Geneva, he founded and was for four years at the head of the Centre de Recherche sur la Rénovation Urbaine, sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Insolera also long played a leading role in numerous environmental battles over landscape conservation and protection, as well as urban architectural heritage protection and revitalization.
He died of natural causes at age 83 in his house in Monteverde, Rome at dawn on August 27, 2012. Italian urban planners deeply mourn his passing.
Since 2003, all of Insolera's professional documents, designs, photos and writings have been deemed of public interest and protected by the.

Planning

Regional planning

Urban planning

Parks and urban districts

Consultancies

Architecture

Restoration works

  • 1963-1965-1967 Houses in the centre of Anguillara Sabazia
  • 1971 House in the historical centre of Tropea
  • 1980 House in the historical centre of Castagneto Carducci
  • 1978-1980 and 1993-1994 Ancient Roman houses at San Paolo alla Regola Street, Rome
  • 1990 Mullioned-windowed house at Piombino, hosting the Municipal Archives
  • 1990 St. Francis Cloister at Suvereto
  • 1989-1992 Meucci Center at Suvereto : an ancient farmhouse to be reused as residence for maladjusted youths
  • 1990-1995 Villa Poniatowski in Rome, preliminary project for reuse to host a section of Villa Giulia’s National Etruscan Museum and the Castellani Collection
  • 1991-1994 House on the Lake Maggiore
  • 1996 “La Pievaccia” Tower at Follonica
  • 2000-2001 Poderi Stalloni at Suvereto : ancient farmhouses to be reused as hostels and function-room for Parchi Val di Cornia Inc..

Exhibitions

  • 1997: Via Appia-Sulle rovine della magnificenza antica, Memmo Foundation, Ruspoli Palace, Rome; layout project
  • In collaboration with the Granet Museum, Aix-en-Provence :
  • * 1996: Paesaggi perduti-Granet a Roma 1802-1824, American Academy in Rome, Scientific Committee
  • * 2000: Alla ricerca della luce-I pittori di Aix-en-Provence dal XVIII al XX Secolo, Municipality of Perugia, Palace of Penna; curator of both exhibition and catalogue
  • * 2000-2001: Frondose arcate. Il Colosseo prima dell'archeologia,, Altemps Palace, project, layout and catalogue
  • 2002-2003: Roma tra le due guerre, Museo di Roma in Trastevere and House of Architecture, Rome; project and layout
  • 2002-2003: Dall'Augusteo all'Auditorium, for the opening of the new Auditorium “Parco della Musica”, Rome; project, layout and catalogue.

Competitions and competitive examinations

  • 1955 Spatial layout of the “Valletta di Belfiore” area, Mantua : 1st prize equal
  • 1955 Establishment of designers-architects teams for :it:INA-Casa : qualified
  • 1957 Venice
  • 1957 Turin National Library : 1st prize equal; realized
  • 1958 Applications of “Plastirivmel”, 4th Competition: 2nd prize, realized
  • 1964 Setting up of registers of designers-architects for :it:Gescal : qualified
  • 1965 Selection of ISES designers-architects: qualified
  • 1967 Extension to the House of Parliament, Rome
  • 1971 New headquarters for the University of Florence : 2nd prize
  • 1982 Restoration of Piombino Castle
  • 2003 Puccini Theatre at Torre del Lago, Viareggio : winner.

Books

Roma moderna. Un secolo di storia urbanistica, Torino, Einaudi, 1962-1993-2001,.Il quartiere barocco di Roma, Roma, Ed. LEA, 1967 Coste d'Italia, Roma, ENI, 1967-1971, 5 volumes Monti d'Italia, Roma, ENI, 1972-1975, 4 volumes
  • Città di Torino, La collina di Torino, Padova, Marsilio, 1972.L'urbanistica, in "Storia d'Italia", Torino, Einaudi, 1973La città e la crisi del capitalismo, Roma, it:Ed. Laterza, 1978 Roma. Immagini e realtà dal X al XX secolo, it:Ed. Laterza, 1980, Parchi naturali: l'esperienza di Rimigliano, Roma, Edizioni delle Autonomie, 1982 Storia moderna dei Fori di Roma, Roma, it:Ed. Laterza, 1983,.L'EUR e Roma dagli anni Trenta al Duemila, Roma, it:Ed. Laterza, 1986,.Roma, Touring Club of Italy, 1986,.La villa Huffer, una dimora romana dell'Ottocento, Roma, Istituto Italiano di Credito Fondiario, 1991 In via delle Muratte. Un edificio e l'intorno nella storia di Roma, Roma, Ed. Mediocredito di Roma, 1993 Roma e il Giubileo del secondo Millennio, Roma, Ed. Mediocredito di Roma, 1995 Paesaggi perduti, Granet a Roma 1802 – 1824, American Academy in Rome, Roma, Electa, 1996,.Via Appia, Sulle ruine della magnificenza antica, Roma, Leonardo Arte, 1997,.Frondose arcate, Il Colosseo prima dell'archeologia, Roma, Electa, 2000,.Roma fascista attraverso la documentazione dell'Istituto Luce, Roma, :it:Editori Riuniti, 2001,.Roma tra le due guerre. Cronache da una città che cambia, Roma, Palombi Editore, 2003,.Dall'Augusteo all'Auditorium, Roma, Ed. Musica per Roma, Collana dell’Auditorium no. 1, 2003,.L'occhio e la memoria: Porto Empedocle 1950, Roma, Palombi Editore, 2007,.Saper vedere l'ambiente, Roma, De Luca Edizioni d’Arte, 2008,.Avanti c'è posto, Roma, :it:Donzelli Editore, 2008,.Roma, per esempio. Le città e l'urbanista, Roma, :it:Donzelli Editore, 2010,.Roma moderna. Da Napoleone I al XXI secolo, Torino, Einaudi, 2011,.Modern Rome: From Napoleon to the Twenty-First Century, Newcastle upon Tyne, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021,.
  • The Centre de recherche sur la rénovation urbaine published: Atlas du territoire genevois – Permanences et modifications cadastrales aux XIXe et XXe Siècles, 7 volumes, Genève, Georg Ed., 1983-1998.

Journals and newspapers

Articles published on: Ferrania, Architettura, Urbanistica, Comunità, Casabella, Zodiac, Architèse, Werk, Centro Sociale, Ulisse, Paese Sera, Il Messaggero, Il Manifesto, La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera.

Radio and TV collaborations

  • RAI, Italian State Radio-television
  • RTS, Radio-television of French-Switzerland.

Awards

  • Aldo Della Rocca Foundation Award, 1954.
  • INARCH Award for Historical Criticism, 1964.
  • Cervia Award, 1970.
  • Italian Fund for the Environment Award, 2008.

Writings on Italo Insolera