A Body and a Soul: A Generation of Architects and the Construction of Modern Milan

After the Second World War, Milan lay in ruins. It had to be rebuilt quickly and carefully, given its role as a productive and cultural centre. Fortunately, a group of eager architects were ready to contribute to the national architectural discourse. Claudio Asnago, Mario Vender, Luigi Caccia Dominioni and Ignazio Gardella were among those who designed the cityscape of the Italian economic miracle of the following years. Their architecture was minimalist and their material palette rough — perhaps too simple for the emerging bourgeoisie. Subtly referencing local construction techniques, they reinterpreted the architecture of the palazzo through a modern lens, celebrating plain compositions of carefully crafted façades. These architects worked to restore the sense of place lost after the war, giving physical expression to the aspirations of a rising bourgeoisie and reinterpreting the Palazzo Milanese type through a refined study of composition, surfaces, materials and sensuous interior spaces. At that time in Milan, architecture was the mirror image of its inhabitants: introvert on the outside and lavish on the inside.