The exhibition „Giuseppe Terragni architetto europeo“ is the second monographic exhibition organized in Como on the works of Terragni after the one in 1949 at the Broletto, which Le Corbusier attended.
On that occasion, Pietro Lingeri, Giuseppe Terragni’s friend and collaborator, planned a structure made of a metal lattice-work in perspective on which sketches, drawings, photographs and paintings of Terragni’s works were simultaneously displayed divided by year in chronological order. From the original photographs of the exhibition, it appears clear that Lingeri’s intention was to present the whole body of works of Giuseppe Terragni as a single and incessant research in which a single building could not be judged without a comprehensive look at his work, without cross-associations and indirect glances at his masterpieces. As with the 1949 exhibition, „Giuseppe Terragni architetto europeo“ will require the visitor to actively take part in the interpretation and contextualization of the work. The aim of and the premise for the exhibition is to hinder the transformation of the facts of architecture into the concepts of architecture and to stress the value of the works by leading the visitors and the inhabitants of Como though a didactic and imaginative journey.

Structure

The exhibition is structured so that at the entrance there is a didactic area with maps showing diagrams which summarize the complex activities of Giuseppe Terragni and his participation in building modern architecture, alongside pictures of works and architects mentioned in the texts of the Gruppo 7.
There are two alternative entrances to the church of San Francesco. On one side, Terragni’s self-portrait with the 1929 military uniform on a black background leads us towards his works of architecture (thinking the world), while on the other side a photograph of a young Terragni on a white background leads the visitor into the personal history of the artist (observing the world). In fact, the two entrances lead to a single space where it is possible to see the dichotomy between the architect’s detachment, necessary for modern culture to assert itself, and the presence of the world and the period in question. This is clear in the fineness of the drawings, in the photographs and in the personal writings of the master, in the great intuition in depicting landscapes and people as the work of an incessant talent which seems to contrast the action of constructing.
In order to rule out the univocality and stability of this dichotomy, which on its own does not totally suit Giuseppe Terragni’s works, in the middle of the area there will be a structure made of glass surfaces which will allow a vast set of movements and viewpoints within the exhibition area and which will spark off questions on the essential variations and changes that happened in architecture in accordance with the events of the period. The glass segments of the structure are seen communicating surfaces, which allow the viewer to get sight of the whole exhibition area. Just as the simple form of the experimentation with glass in architecture coincides in Terragni’s works with a moment of „reflection“ on the destiny of modernity. The glass of the exhibition structure aims at reflecting every exhibition space around it, thus including the modern exhibition area into a simultaneous vision with the past.

Exhibition itinerary

The exhibition continues through a narrow passage displaying the photographs and drawings of Terragni during the Second World War, with particular reference to the Russian campaign when he was a soldier in the winter of 1942-1943. It is not only an extraordinary documentation of the terrible events of the war seen through the eyes of the master, but also an insight into his favourite cities and monuments, people and human aspects, his way of observing and framing the landscape.
Near the exit, in the apsidal part of the Salone of San Francesco, a big backprojection screen offers the visitor the continuous projection of a sequence of historical and greatly evocative images on architecture. This space of images and sounds will give the opportunity to observe the unfinished projects, sketches and drawings born out of the hope for what would come after the war. During the chronological overview, a sequence of various music pieces, in collaboration with the Academy of Music of Como, will allow to form connections between the works and the lights and sounds of the period. This has been planned as a travelling exhibition both around Italy and abroad.

Opening hours:
Tuesday/Friday from 3.00 PM to 9.00 PM; Saturday/Sunday from 10.00 AM to 10.00 PM. Morning hours reserved for school visits. Closed on Monday. Closed on 15th August.