La città razionalista. Modelli e frammenti. Urbanistica e architettura a Modena 1931-1965

The book, through different notes perspectives, offers an interpretation of Modena’s architectural and urban scene opportunely considered within the European outline, from 1931 to 1965. It also shows fragments of materials through a rich and mostly unpublished photographical collection, taken from public and private archives. Seventy buildings, built between the Thirties and the Seventies, have been catalogued, described and critically examined, as they represent an unexpected modern image and identity of Modena. The book is then completed by an historical essay about the city economic development - which clears up the specificity of “modenese case” due to the great impulse that the municipal authority gave to the urban renewal - and by a few reliable evidences given by some protagonists of that season. In this context, a very important role was played by Alberto Mario Pucci, engineer and architect, who plaid a key role on the national architectural scene together with Piero Bottoni between the first and second World War. As Councillor for Public Works (“Assessore ai Lavori Pubblici”) in the group led by Alfeo Corassori, he had the chance to try and verify more directly the planning methods and instruments developed by the Rationalism, applying them to a very much characterized and compact historical centre. Moreover, it is worth stressing the importance of public initiative together with its continuity and the tight relationship between town planning strategy and the development model which have characterised the post-war period. Furthermore, Pucci as rationalist gave his crucial contribution introducing in Modena an up-to-date culture, even while working professionally, projecting private buildings which will remain in the history of architecture, helping to spread of a new style, a modern language, and unusual formal landscapes. Other critical essays examine the heritage of the Reconstruction experience, suggesting some hypothesis for a first evaluation of the last 30 years. The book is a multi-level original reading of the urban phenomenon and its dynamics which intends to be an instrument of comprehension, to explore a town which became almost invisible during the development of the last decades. Critical essays: Giancarlo Consonni, Stefano Guidarini, Laura Montedoro, Stefano Magagnoli, Andrea Costa, Giuseppe Caruso, Francesco Fantoni. Witnessing: Carlo Lizzani, Vinicio Vecchi, Cesare Leonardi.