Alberto Sartoris’ Contribution to the Architectural Culture of Theatre: From the Private Theatre of Casa Gualino to the Avant-garde Theatre for Geneva

Cinzia Gavello

doi:10.11648/j.ajad.20190403.11

Abstract

In the last twenty years Alberto Sartoris has been the subject of numerous celebrative publications: despite this critical fortune, catalogs of exhibitions and essays dedicated to him are mostly referred to specific episodes of his career, the aspects of his relationship with the architecture of the theater has always remained in the background, in spite of this very rich bibliographic production. The aim of this research is therefore to add a further piece to the complex artistic-theoretical activity of such a multifaceted person, analyzing Sartoris' contribution to architecture of the theatre through the analysis of his main projects and his theoretical contribution to design. His eclectic personality allowed him to successfully apply in many disciplines, so as to be recognized as one of the most important precursors of rational architecture in Italy and abroad. Sartoris' “lyrical rationality” is also clearly visible in his experimental avant-garde theatre project of 1929 whereby he can coherently deal with theatre themes, favoring a rational stage performance, with the involvement of large masses of spectators, a trend typical of architecture in the first half of the twentieth century.

Highlights

Alberto Sartoris (Turin, Italy, 1901-Cossonay, Switzerland, 1998), Italian-Swiss architect, author of books and art promoter, is considered by critics and existing literature one of the central personalities of twentieth-century European architecture [1].Despite the fact that his main books have been published by an Italian publishing house, Ulrico Hoepli, and notwithstanding being repeatedly defined as the “father of rationalism Italian” and the “founder of the new architectural culture” [2], curiously in Italy Sartoris seems to have never enjoyed the great fortune and recognition due to the spectacularity of his projects [3]
The critical reading of the architectural theater works published within the book can be a precious testimony of what were the projects or theater buildings reputed by Sartoris worthy to appear in his famous volume
The result of this study highlights how much is still possible to investigate within the professional and academic career of Sartoris. It was evident how the images appeared within the three editions of Gli elementi were a precious testimony of how much this volume has marked and influenced the perception of the architectural image from the early thirties of the twentieth century

Summary

Introduction

Alberto Sartoris (Turin, Italy, 1901-Cossonay, Switzerland, 1998), Italian-Swiss architect, author of books and art promoter, is considered by critics and existing literature one of the central personalities of twentieth-century European architecture [1].Despite the fact that his main books have been published by an Italian publishing house, Ulrico Hoepli, and notwithstanding being repeatedly defined as the “father of rationalism Italian” and the “founder of the new architectural culture” [2], curiously in Italy Sartoris seems to have never enjoyed the great fortune and recognition due to the spectacularity of his projects [3]. After an initial period of training in Turin, judged to be a Fascist in the 1930s, Sartoris was able to conduct his professional activity in Switzerland, with works that included residential and religious constructions and architecture of the theater: with these projects, in the following years Sartoris has successfully and stubbornly brought to light a so-called “project radicalism”, with a stainless faith in rational architectural. Such obstinacy sounded like an offense to the Italian innovators of the time that was certainly difficult to tolerate. Sintesi panoramica dell’architettura moderna published in April 1932 [4]

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