Armando Bernabiti (Crevalcore, 4 March 1900 – Crevalcore, 4 March 1970) was an Italian architect.

Life and career

Born in

Crevalcore Crevalcore (Bolognese dialect, Western Bolognese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, near Bologna. On January 7, 2005 Crevalcore train crash, a train crash in Crevalcore killed 17 people ...

, Bernabiti studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and began working as an architect in Paris and Rome. He designed public and private buildings in a mostly Rationalist style, though with strong influence from local vernacular architecture.

Portolago

In 1923, Bernabiti was invited by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

along with

Rodolfo Petracco Rodolfo Petracco (Trieste, 1889 – Foggia, 1961) was an Italian architect. Life and career He was born in Trieste in 1889. After graduating, he moved to the Dodecanese, which had been an Italian possession since 1912. Together with Florestano D ...

to design the city of

Portolago Lakki (), known as Portolago (Πόρτο Λάγο) until 1947, is a community on the Greek island of Leros, in the Dodecanese, at the head of Lakki Bay. The population was 2,093 at the 2021 census. The area was built up as the main base of the Ita ...

Leros Leros (), also called Lero (from the Italian language), is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by a nine-hour ferry ride or by a 45-min ...

. The city's planning and architecture was inspired by

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

Futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

, and classical geometry. Described as "the only truly rationalist town outside of Italy", their work on Portolago has been praised for its beauty, imagination and inclusivist nature.

Rhodes

In 1927, he moved to the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; , ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. This island group generally define ...

, which had been an Italian possession since 1912. Much of his work in

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

to helped to solidify Italian dominance on the island by transforming it into a destination for culture and tourism. His first work in Rhodes was the

Archaeological Museum An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological artifacts. Many archaeology museum are in the open-air museum, open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum.David Watkin. ''The Roman Forum ...

square in 1928. The design aimed to restore of the original character of the buildings with cues from Italian architecture to make it feel familiar to visitors. The

Aquarium of Rhodes The Aquarium of Rhodes, also known as the Hydrobiological Station of Rhodes, is a research centre, aquarium and museum in Rhodes, Greece. It was built in the 1930s, when the island was under the Italian rule and is currently administered by the He ...

, an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

design, was constructed between 1934 and 1935. When it first started operations in 1937, it was named the Reale Istituto di Ricerche Biologiche di Rodi (Royal Biological Research Institute of Rhodes). Research here included the hydrology, sponges, and fisheries of the Aegean. In 1937, Bernabiti designed the National Theatre of Rhodes (previously Teatro Giacomo Puccini) in the

International Style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

with

glass brick Glass brick, also known as glass block, is an architectural element made from glass. The appearance of glass blocks can vary in color, size, texture and form. Glass bricks provide visual obscuration while admitting light. The modern glass block ...

masonry. Using a

modernist style Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architecture wa ...

, Bernabiti designed the Town Hall and the Casa del Fascio, the Cinema Theatre Roma, the Hotel Roma, a primary school and nursery, residential and commercial areas, and residences for military officers. The ELLI building was designed and built from 1936 to 1938 to house bathing facilities, a refreshment room, and a diving boat in the sea. It is designed in an eclectic style, blending the modernism with oriental details, to feature a prominent circular hall with arched window doors and numerous lozenge-form skylights.

Other work

His other notable works include the

Diagoras Stadium The Municipal Stadium of Rhodes "Diagoras" (former national), with its original Italian name Arena Del Sole, is a football and cycling stadium in the city of Rhodes and is the seat of the General Assembly of Diagoras Rhodes and AS. Rhodes. It is ...

, St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, and the Kallithea Thermal baths. In

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

, he designed both the Casa del Fascio and the Casa del Balilla.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernabiti, Armando 1900 births 1970 deaths Italian architects People from Crevalcore