Romaldo Giurgola


Romaldo "Aldo" Giurgola was an Italian-born academic, architect, professor, and author. He worked with various other architects, including in practices named Mitchell/Giurgola, and, in Australia, with Australian architect Richard Thorp, Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp. He is known for his award-winning design of Parliament House in Canberra, Australia.

Early life and education

Romaldo Giurgola was born in Rome, Italy, in 1920.
After service in the Italian armed forces during World War II, he studied architecture at the Sapienza University of Rome, completing the equivalent of a B.Arch. with honors in 1949.
After being awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in his graduation year, Giurgola moved to the United States and received a master's degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1951.

Career

Academia

In 1954, Giurgola accepted a position as an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.
Giurgola was appointed chair of the Columbia University School of Architecture in 1965.

Architecture

US

Giurgola formed Mitchell/Giurgola Architects in Philadelphia with Ehrman B. Mitchell in 1958. After becoming chair at Columbia University architecture school, he opened a second office of the firm in New York City.
The first important building of Mitchell/Giurgola was the Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center for the US National Park Service, a building that brought them national attention for three reasons. It was one of the first NPS visitors' centres that became a building type unto itself. The design was consonant with a certain aesthetic preoccupation with aviation, flight, technology and space travel of the time, the same zeitgeist that produced Saarinen's TWA Terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was seen as a break with strict modernist tenets in its respect for the site and the program, as opposed to what Giurgola called "the imposition of abstract forms".
In Philadelphia, Giurgola had formed a relationship with Louis Kahn, who held similar views. In April 1961 the architectural critic Jan Rowan grouped Giurgola, Kahn, Robert Venturi, George Qualls, Robert Geddes and others, into "the Philadelphia school of architecture", which had high regard for classical Roman architecture. Giurgola published several books on Kahn's work and philosophy.

Australia

Giurgola was invited to join the panel of judges for the 1978 international competition for the new Australian Parliament House in Canberra. Instead, he chose to enter the competition. The firm won the competition, and Giurgola moved to Canberra to oversee the project. Working with Australian architect Richard Thorp, their practice was called Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp between 1980 and 1990. In 1989, after its completion and official opening in 1988, the Parliament House was recognised with the top award for public architecture in Australia, the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Buildings.

Personal life

Giurgola moved to Australia and practised there after Parliament House was completed. He was married to Adelaide, who was born in the US. She developed Alzheimer's disease in later life and died in Australia in 1997. Giurgola took up Australian citizenship in January 2000.
By 2005 he had built his own house at Lake Bathurst, near Goulburn, New South Wales.

Recognition and awards

In 1978, he was a Resident in Architecture at the American Academy in Rome.
In 1982, he was awarded the AIA Gold Medal by the American Institute of Architects.
In 1982 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1994.
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture honored Giurgola with its Distinguished Professor Award in 1987-88.
He was awarded the RAIA Gold Medal by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 1988.
In January 1989 he was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia, "for service to architecture, particularly the new Parliament House, Canberra". The award became substantive when he adopted Australian citizenship in 2000.
In 1989 he won the Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Buildings for Parliament House.
In 1990 Giurgola's second notable Canberra building, the modest St Thomas Aquinas Church in Charnwood opened in 1989, won the RAIA's Canberra Medallion.
In 2001, he was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal, "for service as Principal Architect of the new and permanent Parliament House".
In 2004 his St Patrick's Cathedral, Parramatta, won him Australia's highest architectural award, the RAIA's Sir Zelman Cowen Award for Public Architecture, which he was also awarded in 1989 for Parliament House.
In 2003 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Sydney.
The portrait of Romaldo Giurgola painted by Mandy Martin, was gifted by the RAIA to the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra in 2005.

Projects