Muzio, Giovanni

views updated

Muzio, Giovanni (1893–1982). Italian architect. His Neo-Classicism was exemplified by the Ca' Brutta apartment-block, Via Turati and Via Moscova, Milan (1919–23), with its simplified triumphal arch set between vaguely Mannerist blocks that responded with great success to the urban context and drew on historical references. His other works include the headquarters of the Banca Popolare di Bergamo, Bergamo (1924–7); the Università Cattolicà, Milan (1928–36—adjacent to which is his War Memorial, a version of the Tower of the Winds, Athens); the Palazzo dell'Arte (1932–3) and Palazzo del Popolo d'Italia (1937–8), both in Milan; the Palazzo del Governo, Sondrio (1934–5); the Church of Sant'Antonio, Cremona (1935–6); and the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth, Israel (1967–9). His work of the 1920s and 1930s was associated with the Metaphysical movement in art (of which Giorgio di Chirico (1888–1978), with his juxtaposition of the commonplace and the fantastic, was the main exponent), and also with Fascism (which led to his interesting, even brilliant, architecture being ignored or denounced after 1945, but it has been reassessed by more open minds).

Bibliography

Boidi (ed.) (1994–5);
D&P (1976);
Irace (1994);
Mezzanotte (1974);
Seta (1978);
Jane Turner (1996)

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture