Promotion of Architectural Art and Culture through the Publication of the Monographic Book “Vincenzo Monaco e Amedeo Luccichenti, Opera Completa 1933-1969”

Project location: Italy, Rome
Project start date: December 2011 - Project end date: December 2012
Project number: 2011-54
Beneficiary: Associazione culturale ACCADEMIA CERITA

Architecture magazines and contemporary critics are rediscovering the architects and works produced in both the pre-WWII period and the period of Italy's rebirth.
Among these, architects Monaco and Luccichenti are currently subjects of interest and study by universities and architecture historians.
The intention of this monographic book is to serve as an instrument of knowledge and information on this important historic period.
The publishing house (Mondadori Electa) was chosen not only for its high quality and its historic traditions with Casabella magazine, but above all for the certainty that the book will receive the widest possible exposure through the Mondadori network (in Italy and abroad): in public libraries, universities, bookshops specializing in the architectural field, and cultural centres. 

The origins of the "Accademia Cerita" Cultural Association date from the purchase of the Castle of Ceri (Cerveteri - Rome) from Prince Torlonia in 1960 by architect Vincenzo Monaco, who intended to use the large spaces and rooms as the venue for cultural and university events.
With Vincenzo Monaco's death in 1969, it was no longer possible to carry forward the plan to develop the originally intended cultural initiatives.
The association was later founded by Edoardo Monaco together with his friend Valter Rossi (an art publisher under the name 2RC), to collaborate in activities for the promotion of art and culture, availing themselves of both the potential offered by the evocative atmosphere of the site and the large spaces available in the castle, and Valter Rossi's contacts with major Italian and international artists.
Various exhibitions were thus held at Ceri, including the show of artist Victor Pasmore.
This project, which received a grant from the NPF,  consists in the publication of a monographic book on the work of two famous Italian architects. The publishing project, dedicated to framing and interpreting the work of Vincenzo Monaco and Amedeo Luccichenti, will mark the true starting point of the historical-critical study of the work of the two architects.
July 20th, 2011 is the centenary of the birth of architect Vincenzo Monaco.
During the pre-WWII period, from 1935, and especially from the immediate post-war period, together with his partner Amedeo Luccichenti (1907-1963), Vincenzo Monaco (1911-1969) stands out as one of the best interpreters of Italian and Roman culture and architecture.
The work done for the office of the President of the Republic during the Gronchi years (in particular, the enlargement of the presidential villa at Castelporziano, Rome, and the Villa del Gombo on the San Rossore estate, Pisa) and the structures produced for the event of the 17th Olympic Games held in 1960, the "Leonardo da Vinci" International Airport at Fiumicino and the Olympic Village (of which Le Corbusier expressed his sincere appreciation) - some of the most impressive urban architectural works produced during the Italian post-war period - bear witness to the national and international success of Monaco & Luccichenti's architecture and constitute a valuable contribution to the knowledge abroad of Italian talent, architecture, and professionalism.
For the above reasons, and in light of the fact that the archive of the plans of the Monaco Luccichenti firm had been declared an Archive of National Interest by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities in 2002, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Vincenzo Monaco, a request was presented to the Minister for the formation of a National Committee, with the intention of supporting initiatives focusing on the knowledge of the work of Vincenzo Monaco and the Monaco and Luccichenti Archive.
It was acknowledged that among the topics of interest of the Nando Peretti Foundation is "the promotion of Art and Culture", and the subject of the request for a grant for producing a book on the activity of architects Monaco and Luccichenti from 1935 to 1969 serves to fill a cultural gap through the publication of works, largely heretofore unpublished, bearing witness to the capacity to combine complementary arts: architecture, painting, sculpture, and poetry.
Vincenzo Monaco and Amedeo Luccichenti worked together from 1933 to 1963, producing around 350 works (around 459 if those of Vincenzo Monaco working alone are included), of which around one hundred were built, at the local, national, and international level: Rome, Pisa, Naples, Taranto, Dalmatia, Persia, France and Tunisia.
Active in the 1930s, with their participation in prestigious competitions (such as that for the Palazzo dei Congressi in Rome) and the design of seaside summer camp facilities, with the structures built in Dalmatia in the train of Fascist official and patron Bastianini and with the building of the lovely and controversial villa for Claretta Petacci in Rome's Camilluccia neighbourhood, during the post-war period they become well-known for the numerous and refined buildings and villas built, especially in Rome, and for the interiors of cafés and restaurants of the Roman "dolce vita".
They are also the minds behind the Confindustria building in the EUR district of Rome. With these major works and with the expressive experimentation shown in their residential architecture (small buildings, villas, and houses), they contribute to the export of Italian style worldwide.
The relationship with the artists of the period, one of both friendship and work, affords the Monaco-Luccichenti firm a totally peculiar and particularly significant view of a world, mainly that of 1930s-60s Italy, which is also characterized by a vision of architecture that often aims to achieve a "synthesis of the arts", and which focuses on the values of the form.
After the death of Amedeo Luccichenti, Vincenzo Monaco receives from the Municipality of Tunis an engagement as Manager of a company for the planning and implementation of public contracts in Tunisia (El Iskan), for which he designs and builds 400 prefabricated public (council) housing units in Ben Arous, the Salle des Fêtes in Tunis, the office complex on the new "Nord-Route X", and the hotel complex on the Kerkennah islands; themes that confirm, in Vincenzo Monaco's architecture, the desire to follow the contemporary technological scenario, reworking it on the basis of high-level aesthetic categories, an ethically modern attention to the reality of living, and a particular architectural expression of the Mediterranean language.

The publishing project, dedicated to framing and interpreting the work of Vincenzo Monaco and Amedeo Luccichenti, will mark the true starting point of the historical-critical study of the work of the two architects.
The monograph will consist of a critical review of the entire body of work of Vincenzo Monaco and Amedeo Luccichenti, through the "catalogue of works" which will concentrate on 153 plans and works (of the 459 listed) and will be preceded by a comprehensive introductory essay and followed by a section of personal accounts and an anthology of writings. A preface will explain the reasons, intentions, and critical approach of the monograph. Completing the publication will be various sections, including a complete list of the works, a list of correspondence, and a bibliography.
The text will be illustrated by 461 previously unpublished images, in colour and black and white, photographs and drawings, coming from the Monaco & Luccichenti archive.
The volume will be included in the prestigious series of the "Architetti Moderni" (Modern Architects) series published by Electa.
Format: 25X28 cm, clothbound with dustcover and case.
Total sextodecimos: 24.
Total pages: 384.
Total images: 461.
Total characters: 987,255.

Presentation:
Mondadori Electa, on the occasion of the presentation of the monograph, states that they are willing to offer their consultancy for the planning of an event.