- Year of nomination: 2021
- Facility: Department of Design
- E-mail: fulvio.irace@polimi.it
"He was full professor of History of Architecture and Design at the Politecnico di Milano: from 1979 he has held the role of professor of History and Criticism of Contemporary Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture and subsequently with History of Arts, Design and Architecture at the School of Design. Internationally recognized as an expert on the historiographical issues of Italian architecture between the two wars and of contemporary Italian architecture, he has been a visiting professor at several prestigious foreign universities including Princeton University (USA), the Universidad de Navarra (SPAIN) and the Academy of Architecture at USI Mendrisio (CH).
He has held leading positions at important cultural institutions such as the association of national archives of architecture, AAItalia, the Centro Alti Studi sulle Arti Visive in Milan, the Vico Magistretti Foundation, the Renzo Piano Foundation, the Brera Art Gallery, the Museo City association, the Milan Triennale. In 2005, he received the ANCE-IN/ARCH ‘Bruno Zevi’ National Award for architecture critics.
His tireless research has given rise to a vast array of monographic scientific publications on the major protagonists of architecture and design and on the leading-edge themes of historiographical critique. Collaborator and editor of leading architecture and design magazines: Domus, Abitare, AU, ArchitecturalReview, Casabella, Lotus, Ottagono, Op.Cit. He has been instrumental in organizing and curating exhibitions on behalf of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the sector, from the Venice Biennale to the Milan Triennale.
Some of his works have formed the basis of the critical reconsideration of Italian architecture between the two wars and in the period of the ‘economic miracle’, and still remain as the cornerstones of the revaluation of Italian identity in the international context. His studies on Gio Ponti, Giuseppe Terragni, Giovanni Muzio, Luciano Baldessari, Franco Albini have had a strong impact on the international scientific community. More recently, he has broadened his interests on contemporary Italian architecture, and in particular on the figure of Renzo Piano, the subject of numerous monographs and an important exhibition at the Milan Triennale."
[extract from the 2021 nomination statement]