Casa Galleria Analysis

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HP 391 Historic Preservation Spring 11Architecture in Italy: History an Preservation

Author of Term Paper: Hopkins, Jonathan

The Institute at Palazzo Rucellai, Florencee-mail: [email protected].

Location: Firenze, Italy

Borgo Ognissanti 26Denomination: Casa GalleriaTypology: row house/palazzinaPeriod: 1911Style: Floreale/Art NouveauArchitect: Giovanni Michelazzi

Bibliography: Facade elements:

Bargellini, Piero. La Tramvia Elettrica ComEra Firenze: 100 Anni Fa

(Firenze, 1998)

Busa, Alessandro; Pirazzini, Veronica. Casa-Galleria VichiFlorence:

Twentieth Centuryhttp://immagini.archinfo.it/vedimmagine.php?data=1&_obj=37951

Caniggia, Gianfranco; Maffei, Gian Luigi. Intertreting Basic Building

Architectural Composition and Building Typology (Firenze, 2001)

Fei, Silvano; Sica, Grazia Gobbi; Sica, Paolo.Arnolfos Great

Enlargement and the Fourteenth Cenutry Events Firenze: An

Outline of Urban History (Firenze, 1995)

Zucconi, Guido. Florence: During the Time of BrunelleschiFlorence:

An Architectural Guide (Verona, 1995)

Links:Casa Galleria

http://simonetta.tripod.com/costruzioni/COSTRUZIONI6.html

Flach, Jalf. Casa Galleria Florence

http://www.arteliberty.it/firenze_casagalleria_ing.html

Cement Cladding Panels

Cement Sculptures

Iron railings

Large, circular glass

Wooden eave

Terracotta roof

Cement column / pilaster

False capital

Materials Techniques:

Portland CementGlassIron

modelling in site

prefabricated modellingcasting in siteprefabricated casting

Surface treatment: Surface finishing:

Tool-Scored CementBush hammered Cement

lime washlinseed oil paintplastic paint

silicate paint

Condition Notes:

cracking

Art Nouvea style for a row house building typology in

existing medieval, renaissance and barogue urban fabric.
http://immagini.archinfo.it/vedimmagine.php?data=1&_obj=37951http://immagini.archinfo.it/vedimmagine.php?data=1&_obj=37951http://simonetta.tripod.com/costruzioni/COSTRUZIONI6.htmlhttp://simonetta.tripod.com/costruzioni/COSTRUZIONI6.htmlhttp://www.arteliberty.it/firenze_casagalleria_ing.htmlhttp://www.arteliberty.it/firenze_casagalleria_ing.htmlhttp://www.arteliberty.it/firenze_casagalleria_ing.htmlhttp://simonetta.tripod.com/costruzioni/COSTRUZIONI6.htmlhttp://immagini.archinfo.it/vedimmagine.php?data=1&_obj=37951


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Casa Galleria is a row house building located in the midst of a medieval neighborhood at

Borgo Ognissanti 26 near the Piazza Ognissanti, which opens to the Fume Arno. The building

was designed by Giovanni Michelazzi for Argia Marinai Vichi in the Stile Floreale. Casa Galleria

was originally designed as a private residence and gallery space, which are functions that are

continued today in the form of apartments and commercial space. Michelazzi designed a

building that is both respectful to the tradition of the surrounding urban fabric and a showcase

of modern building materials and ornament.

As development pushed beyond the Roman wall in the early medieval era, new walls

had to be built. The area around Piazza Ognissanti developed after that land became enclosed

by the construction of the Arnolfo di Cambio wall.1

The buildings lining Borgo Ognissanti

developed, like much of the land outside of the original Roman wall, along axial paths that

extended outward from the existing urban fabric into the countryside.2

Borgo Ognissanti

extends out of Piazza Goldini to the northwest and was originally lined almost entirely with row

houses. The row house is the typical building block for development during the medieval era. It

is a typology characterized by two bearing walls 5-6 meters apart with a street-facing faade

that is built out to the sidewalk edge. The bearing walls are usually blank and attach to the

neighboring buildings. The back of the building usually faces a garden unless additions to the

building have been made, in which case there is usually a small courtyard or light well. Row

houses can range in height anywhere from one to four stories and depending on the wealth of

the owner may contain an altana for laundry and servants. As the population of Florence grew

1Fei, Silvano; Sica, Grazia Gobbi; Sica, Paolo.Arnolfos Great Enlargement and the Fourteenth Cenutry Events

Firenze: An Outline of Urban History (Firenze, 1995) p. 412

Caniggia, Gianfranco; Maffei, Gian Luigi. Intertreting Basic Building Architectural Composition and Building

Typology (Firenze, 2001) p. 175


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in the medieval era, it was normal for shops and businesses to open on the ground floor of row

houses in older sections of the city. The row house is an immensely adaptive building typology

and although many of the properties along Borgo Ognissanti were combined during the

Renaissance and converted into in-line houses3, Borgo Ognissanti 26 remains a row house to

this day.

Engraving of Piazza Ognissanti showing Borgo Ognissanti 30 (still existing), and 28 by Guiseppe Zocchi (1744)

In 1865, Florence became the Italian capital and Poggi produced a plan for expansion4

of the city. The plan extended beyond the old city walls to create new neighborhoods that

would be developed in the neo-renaissance style and serve as residential areas for the upper

3Zucconi, Guido. Florence: During the Time of BrunelleschiFlorence: An Architectural Guide (Verona, 1995) p. 70

4Fei, Silvano; Sica, Grazia Gobbi; Sica, Paolo. Florence After 1860. The Plan To Enlarge The City And Later Events



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middle class. By the turn of the 20th

century, new building materials could be created around

the world that had no connection to local resources. For the first time in history, architecture

was not limited to what natural materials were close by and this allowed for a more universal

language of design to develop. Florence, however, with its rich Renaissance history was slow to

accept new styles. It was not until the 1910s in Campo di Marte that experiments of design

began popping up. The Stile Floreale was an architectural style popular in Tuscany at the turn of

the 20th

century that was explored by Giovanni Michelazzi in Florence. The style was connected

to the larger Art Nouveau movement, which represents the beginning of the modern

movement and an early exploration of a universal design language. The development of steel

and concrete allowed for new shapes to take form, taller heights to be attained and larger

spans to be achieved. New found wealth also allowed for the creation of new building

typologies such as the villino and pallazina, which were often constructed new as detached

single family houses surrounded by gardens.5

These buildings are typically smaller and two

stories with a large portion of the cost going towards the 3-4 facades of the building. Like the

Art Nouveau, Stile Floreale is still very much connected to the classical tradition through human

scale details, proportions, and craftsmanship. Giovanni Michelazzi had worked in Florence since

the early 1900s and had built up a substantial portfolio of re-styled pallazina.

Casa Galleria, Michelazzis masterpiece, was commissioned by Argia Marinai Vichi and

built in 1911 on Borgo Ognissanti.

6

The building is located on a pre-existing medieval row

house, which was redesigned on the interior and the faade was demolished and rebuilt with



Busa, Alessandro; Pirazzini, Veronica. Casa-Galleria VichiFlorence: Twentieth Century p. 183


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Michelazzis design. The existing conditions of the site allowed for less freedom than a free

standing pallazina because there were pre-existing buildings on either side of Casa Galleria.

Zoomorphic iconography Casa Galleria in Context Ironwork on the Door

Michelazzi used the circumstances as an opportunity to showcase the Floreale style and be

extravagant with the design. The building is five stories with a commercial ground and

mezzanine floor and three residential floors above. The ground and mezzanine floors are united

under a single archway on the faade with the mezzanine windows reminiscent of the Roman

thermal window. The center windows on the next two floors above terminate at a massive

circular window on that last floor. The faade is symmetrical and highly ornamented with

cement sculptural elements. The exterior cladding is made from Portland cement and is scored

to imitate Roman travertine stone. Vertical lines of cement dominate the faade and give the

appearance of soaring heights, which are accentuated with eagles and dragon wing

iconography as inspired by the advent of flight and Eastern world influence. Wrought ironwork

is used throughout the faade to create window frames and railings. The ironwork was


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manufactured off-site and made to look handcrafted with the intricate detailing like twisted

balustrades and circular curving railings. The traditional roof is incorporated into the faade by

extending cement vertical elements into the overhang of the roof. Human figures are also used

as artful displays on the faade. Massive protruding eagles are created to hold iron-cladded

lamps over the street as a way of showing off the wealth of the owner, displaying new

technology7

and providing the valuable function of lighting the streets for the public. At the

time of construction, Casa Galleria was a shocking design that was heavily disliked by people in

Florence. As a result, Michelazzi opted for a more reserved style on subsequent projects and

eventually took his own life.

Electric Lighting Fixture Circular Window and Roof Overhang

In my opinion, Michelazzis design for Casa Galleria has a solid foundation in the

Florentine tradition from the Roman beginnings up through to the years the Florence was

capital of Italy. While the central placement of the windows on the faade is not familiar to the

row house tradition, the resulting verticality on the faade of Casa Galleria is connected to the

7Bargellini, Piero. La Tramvia Elettrica ComEra Firenze: 100 Anni Fa (Firenze, 1998) p. 78


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tower tradition of Roman city wall watch towers and entry gates. The row house typology is still

evident in the layout of the floors and the entry into the building; a front door off to one side

brings you into an entry hall that accesses the central stair up to the residential portion of the

building. The symmetry of the faade and use of human figures is connected to the ideals of the

Renaissance. The organic, rounded shapes of the windows and ironwork as well as the fabric

texture on the fake columns are reminiscent of Baroque architecture. Even with the use of

worldwide influence, new materials, innovative construction techniques, and technology

Michelazzi managed to keep the building connected to its geographic and historic context. With

the world rapidly changing, Casa Galleria was both respectful to the established urban fabric

and acknowledging of the major advancements of recent times. This design was also connected

to contemporary Florence at that time, which was growing outside of the Poggi expansion era.8

The late 19th

century architecture in Florence was heavily influenced by the revival of the

renaissance style, which itself was a revival of the classical orders. Michelazzi may have been

reacting to what some perceived to be weakness for antiquarian kitsch and stylistic revivals.9

Art Nouveau was a style that finally broke from the cycle of classical design and allowed

architecture to move in a new direction. Michelazzi was sensitive enough to understand the

resistance of Florence to move beyond the renaissance style, but he also wanted to explore

these new modern materials and techniques, which is why he did a contemporary design that

was informed by the context. It is unfortunate that Casa Galleria was not seen for its complexity

in its own time because if it were, there is no telling what Michelazzi could have accomplished.



Zucconi, Guido. Florence During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Florence: An Architectural Guide

(Verona, 1995) p. 119


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Bibliography

Bargellini, Piero. La Tramvia Elettrica ComEra Firenze: 100 Anni Fa (Firenze, 1998)

Busa, Alessandro; Pirazzini, Veronica. Casa-Galleria VichiFlorence: Twentieth Century

http://immagini.archinfo.it/vedimmagine.php?data=1&_obj=37951

Caniggia, Gianfranco; Maffei, Gian Luigi. Intertreting Basic Building Architectural Composition

and Building Typology (Firenze, 2001)

Fei, Silvano; Sica, Grazia Gobbi; Sica, Paolo.Arnolfos Great Enlargement and the Fourteenth

Cenutry Events Firenze: An Outline of Urban History (Firenze, 1995)

Zucconi, Guido. Florence: During the Time of BrunelleschiFlorence: An Architectural Guide

(Verona, 1995)

Photographs

Casa Galleria

http://simonetta.tripod.com/costruzioni/COSTRUZIONI6.html

Flach, Jalf. Casa Galleria Florence

http://www.arteliberty.it/firenze_casagalleria_ing.html
http://immagini.archinfo.it/vedimmagine.php?data=1&_obj=37951http://immagini.archinfo.it/vedimmagine.php?data=1&_obj=37951http://simonetta.tripod.com/costruzioni/COSTRUZIONI6.htmlhttp://simonetta.tripod.com/costruzioni/COSTRUZIONI6.htmlhttp://www.arteliberty.it/firenze_casagalleria_ing.htmlhttp://www.arteliberty.it/firenze_casagalleria_ing.htmlhttp://www.arteliberty.it/firenze_casagalleria_ing.htmlhttp://simonetta.tripod.com/costruzioni/COSTRUZIONI6.htmlhttp://immagini.archinfo.it/vedimmagine.php?data=1&_obj=37951

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Casa Galleria Analysis