Ernesto Nathan Rogers (March 16, 1909 – November 7, 1969) was an Italian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, writer and educator.

Biography

Born in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he graduated from the

Politecnico di Milano The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 18 ...

, Italy in 1932. He is the cousin of the renowned English-Italian architect Richard Rogers. Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico (Varese, 1963) - BEIC 6338823

Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico (Varese, 1963) - BEIC 6338823

BBPR Group

Rogers, together with Gian Luigi Banfi, Ludovico Belgiojoso and Enrico Peressutti, in 1932 formed an architectural partnership in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy named

BBPR BBPR was an architectural partnership founded in Milan, Italy in 1932. Partnership The BBPR studio was formed in Milan in 1932 in a climate described by Giorgio Ciucci as “oscillating between differing and contrasting positions.” The name ...

(from the names of the architects). As a partner of

, Rogers completed several projects. Perhaps his best-known work is the Torre Velasca (Velasca Tower), located in the historic city centre of

. In the period between the two World Wars an account of his activities virtually coincides with the engagements of BBPR as a whole.

Editor and journalist

In the post-war period Rogers distinguished himself from his partners through his work as journalist, critic and architectural publicist. Associated with art and architecture periodicals from his student days, in fact, he co-edited ''Quadrante'' from 1933 to 1936, and as a prolific writer, as well as architect, he was instrumental in the establishment of Italian

rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy ...

(it: ''razionalismo''). From 1953 until 1965 he had the direction of the magazine ''

Casabella ''Casabella'' is a monthly Italian architectural and product design magazine with a focus on modern, radical design and architecture. It includes interviews with the world's most prominent architects. History and profile Casabella was founded i ...

''.

War years

During his internment in Switzerland (1943–45) he maintained his interest in journalism as well as being active in the anti-fascist ''Partito d’Azione''.

Post war cultural debate

On his return to Milan, he took on '' Domus'' as publisher–editor (1946–47), developing its international reputation as an architectural periodical. Rogers’s major contribution to European architectural polemic, and the Italian neo-liberty debate in particular, was through his editorship of Casabella in the key period 1953 to 1964. ''Dal cucchiaio alla città'' ("From the spoon to the town") is the slogan created by Ernesto Rogers in 1952 in the Athens Charter. He explained the typical approach of a Milanese architect, designing a spoon, a chair, and a lamp and in the same day working on a skyscraper. The group of architects including Aldo Rossi, Vittorio Gregotti and

Giancarlo de Carlo Giancarlo De Carlo (12 December 1919 − 4 June 2005) was an Italian architect. Biography Giancarlo De Carlo was born in Genoa, Liguria, in 1919. In 1939, he enrolled at the Milan Polytechnic, where he graduated in engineering in 1943. Duri ...

, with whom he conducted the debate through Casabella columns, and through artefacts and writings, continued to influence Western architecture. Rogers played a vital role in the transition from post-war

Rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy ...

to acceptance of historical context as a major determinant of style.

University career

Rogers lectured and taught widely, becoming a lecturer at the Politecnico di Milano from 1962 and a professor in 1964. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Ernesto Nathan 1909 births 1969 deaths Architects from Trieste Italian male journalists Polytechnic University of Milan alumni Academic staff of the Polytechnic University of Milan 20th-century Italian architects Casabella editors Italian people of English descent Rogers family Compasso d'Oro Award recipients Domus (magazine) editors