Table of contents:
- He stayed modern until the end of his days
- Theater in Aix-en-Provence
- Belem Cultural Center in Lisbon
- Olympic stadium in Barcelona
- Stadium "Luigi Ferraris" in Genoa
- Church of Saint Massimiliano Kolbe in Bergamo


This spring, Italian and world architecture lost an outstanding urban planner. Vittorio Gregotti, a great architect, theorist in urban planning, one of the founders of the neorationalism movement, died of pneumonia caused by the coronavirus. He died at the age of 92 in a Milan hospital, where he was taken with his wife, also infected with Covid-19. The Mayor of Milan, commenting on the death of Gregotti, called him "Italy's ambassador to world architecture" and briefly summed up "Thank you for everything." We present some of the projects of the great architect.
He stayed modern until the end of his days
Gregotti was born in 1927 in Italy, graduated from the Technical University of Milan in 1952. In creating his own concept in architecture, Gregotti relied on the experience of both Western European and Soviet avant-garde artists. He formulated the ideas of Italian neorationalism in the book "Territory of Architecture", which was published in 1966 and is still relevant.
With his architectural studio Gregotti Associati Internationa, founded back in the 1970s, the architect created more than 1,500 works, including designs for cruise ships. The last of the architect's works is the transformation of the former foundry into the Teatro Leopold in Follonica (Grosseto).
Gregotti has curated the cultural and architectural biennials, and for 14 years was the head of the Casabella magazine, covering the topic of architecture and design.

The most controversial of his work was the project of a social housing quarter in Palermo - after its construction, it received a lot of criticism from architects and from the residents themselves, however, it is impossible to be perfect in everything.
Theater in Aix-en-Provence
The opera house, which is commonly called the "Grand Theater of Provence", is the venue for the annual Aix-en-Provence Opera Festival, as well as the Easter Festival. The building is located in Aix-en-Provence in the new quarter of Sextius Mirabeau.

The Grand Theater of Provence is home to the French Youth Orchestra, the Coffee Zimmermann ensemble and the Philharmonic.
The theater was opened in 2007, Gregotti worked on it with Paolo Colao, and this project is called an example of architecture of the XXI century.

The building is mounted on a spring to effectively eliminate vibration interference from trains on the nearby railroad.
The concert hall has a capacity of 1370 seats, of which 950 are in the stalls. When decorating the interiors, Mount Saint-Victoire, a symbol of Provence and an iconic landmark of France, was chosen as the thematic element.

Belem Cultural Center in Lisbon
The building is located near the river embankment west of Lisbon. It is adjacent to the Jerónimo monastery and is surrounded by numerous historical buildings such as the palace and tower of Belena, the Museum of Archeology, the Planetarium, the Monument to the Discovery.
The cultural center with an area of 140 thousand square meters was prepared in a very short period (1989-1992). The customer of the project was the Portuguese state. Gregotti developed the project together with the architect Manuel Salgado.

The building is aligned with the Monastery of Jerónimo, faces Piazza Imperio, and consists of structural blocks with courtyards and “patio squares” connecting the three main buildings. Each center is divided by transverse “streets” - this links the interiors of the building, which are a continuation of the historic urban structure of Lisbon. The central part of the main building is a public space.
The cultural center is known for its music, dance, theater and literary programs.
Olympic stadium in Barcelona
The Lewis Companis Multisport Stadium was built in Barcelona in 1927, and in the early 1990s, with the participation of the architect Gregotti, the arena was reconstructed to host the 1992 Summer Olympics.
The stadium can accommodate about 56 thousand spectators, and for the period of the Olympic Games its capacity was increased to 70 thousand spectator seats.


Stadium "Luigi Ferraris" in Genoa
This stadium, which is also called "Marassi" (due to its geographical location), was built according to the project of Vittorio Gregotti for the 1990 FIFA World Cup on the site of the old one, erected back in 1909. It hosted four championship games.
Work on the construction of the facility went on for a little over two years and, interestingly, was carried out in stages in separate sectors, so as not to interrupt the games of local football teams.

Church of Saint Massimiliano Kolbe in Bergamo
The church was very modern in appearance and was built at the request of the bishop. Architectural studio Gregotti won the competition in 1999, but construction began only in 2005. The work was completed three years later, and three years later an organ hall was added to the architectural complex.
The church has three tiers (the first is a basement) and looks like a square with a round roof. The outside of the building is covered with sandstone, using quartz colored sand, brought from India.
The complex has a meeting room, white marble with bronze inserts is used in the interior.


The diameter of the white dome inside is 18 meters. The altar is supported by 13 square columns, 12 of which are carved with the names of the apostles.

Continuing the topic, read about how: a Japanese man builds houses out of paper and cardboard for refugees and oligarchs.
Popular by topic
Why brides from all over the world go to the post office of a small town: the romantic secret of the province

When you think about the most romantic places on our planet, then this small, provincial, unremarkable town is unlikely to occur to you. But he is known to lovers all over the world. The post office of this village works in the rhythm of a big city. On Valentine's Day and the wedding season, lovers from all over the world want to send congratulations to their soul mate from this particular post office. What is the secret of this American town?
How teenagers and rock 'n' roll made vaccination fashionable: King Elvis saves the world from an epidemic

The polio virus has kept millions of parents at bay for years. In America, by 1955, tens of thousands of children were infected, many were disabled. Hope came with the discovery of a vaccine against this terrible disease. But those who wanted to be vaccinated were negligible. In search of a solution to this problem, the government attracted the most popular person in the United States at that time - Elvis Presley. The king of rock and roll was able to dramatically change the opinion of all Americans (and not only) about vaccination. How did the musician manage to
How Samuel Morse's personal tragedy pushed him to create the world's most famous alphabet

Morse code was a revolutionary development at one time. She was widely used in trade and war, sent personal messages with her help, and even … talked with deceased relatives! It was one of the crucial steps in creating a technology that everyone today takes for granted. Here are some interesting little-known facts about Morse code and its impact on the modern life of humanity
Why women are jealous of a duck named Gertrude and how she became famous

Her name is Gertrude and she has an amazing hairstyle that can only be envied. In fact, it is a comb of feathers. With whom only thanks to this the duck was not compared! The famous bird was honored to stand on a par with George Washington, Queen Elizabeth, Albert Einstein and many other famous personalities with memorable hairstyles. The duck has become a real star of the Internet not only because of its "hair", but also because of the unusual qualities of its character. NS
How ridiculous medieval fashion sent a man to the next world

At all times, the concept of a victim of fashion has existed. The Middle Ages were no exception. Not only the ladies suffered from ridiculous fashion whims, but also the men. Experts examined the remains of almost two hundred men from the period of the 14-15 centuries and came to very disappointing conclusions. Negative changes were discovered, caused by the strange pointed shoes of those times. She was incredibly expensive, uncomfortable, but extremely high status. Why were these shoes exactly the same and how did they send the owners to that St