L'architetto Carlo Morra (1854-1926): dalla formazione piemontese all'attività argentina

The article retraces Carlo Morra’s training and professional career as one of the Italian designers who emigrated to Argentina in the late 19th century and helped transform Buenos Aires into a Federal Capital. In 1876 he graduated from the Turin Military Academy (Scuola di Applicazione delle Armi di Artiglieria e Genio dell’Accademia Reale di Torino) where he trained in civilian and military engineering. He then moved on to architecture after he moved to the Argentinean capital. Morra designed several public buildings – starting with the prestigious National Library – as well as a number of private dwellings, finding his path in the various styles that came under the umbrella term ecleticism. More importantly, he was appointed architect-inspector of the Consejo Nacional de Educación (National Education Council) and designed all the schools and higher educa-tion buildings defining school-types (escuelas-tipo) applying the French combinatorial me-thod he had learnt at the Turin Academy.