A Matter of Style. Architecture and Modernization: The Work of Giuseppe Vaccaro, 1916–1970

National Resurgence, Fascist Revolution, Democratic Reconstruction: the three most significant stages in the history of unified Italy are characterized by the prefix re-, expressing a desire to start anew, leaving behind a period of social, political and scientific backwardness. Giuseppe Vaccaro (1896–1970) crosses these different phases with seamless dexterity, proving to the Kingdom of Italy, the Fascist Regime, the Italian Republic and the Vatican State of having the style to fulfill these ambitions of progress, with over 140 projects in approximately fifty years.

Against any ideological alignment, Vaccaro meets and orients this desire of modernizing the country by acting on multiple levels and with a distinct ability to bring together contributions from a variety of voices: steering the renewal of an architectural academic system still tied to the Beaux-Arts tradition towards a polytechnic program, and legitimizing this transformation by means of a solid link to the previous 19th-century legacy; directing the development of the administrative apparatus through an extensive handbook activity that brings to the systematization, transmission and development of technical standards and building codes; partnering with the chief engineers and technologists of his time to experiment with innovative structural solutions, the use of new materials and standardized production processes in order to face shifting ideological, economic and infrastructural needs; leading the debate around public housing, its related social issues and the relationship between city and countryside; defining a new architectural language capable of conveying to the wider public the aspirations of renewal of his clients.

Interweaving these different narratives and revisiting for the first time in its entirety Vaccaro's archive – as well as looking at the repositories of clients, collaborators and teachers – this dissertation traces the evolution of Italian architecture, building technology and society throughout radical political upheavals, looking at a period of about fifty years (1916–70) and several case studies. In doing so, Vaccaro is not intended as the sole protagonist of the investigation, but a methodological tool for analytical analysis, shifting the focus of Italian architectural historiography from the publicized debate promoted by individual designers or critics to the building practice, understood as the outcome of a collegial work between architects, clients, engineers, media, users and academic, administrative, industrial and political organizations.