In memoriam: Paolo Portoghesi (1931 - 2023)
Postmodernist Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi has died; writer David Plaisant celebrates his life and legacy, recalling his visit to Calcata for a feature in the Wallpaper* April 2021 issue
![Exterior of brick building by Paolo Portoghesi](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UQq68gGM8eRM4rhLixRb4R-415-80.jpg)
There was an air of uncertainty about our meeting with Paolo Portoghesi, as we approached the ancient hilltop town of Calcata, just beyond Rome’s urban sprawl, on a cold morning in February 2020. Not only had the appointment been made with very little instructions, but there was news of cases of a new virus proliferating in Italy. Gloomy clouds overhead only brought further worry. Once at the prolific postmodernist’s sprawling house, and only after getting a very courteous welcome from Portoghesi (who was 89 at the time) could photographer Leonardo Magrelli and I begin to relax.
Architect Paolo Portoghesi photographed in the gardens of his home in Calcata, Lazio in 2020
Paolo Portoghesi: his work and inspiration
Over the next four hours we were shown around personally by the spritely architect himself. It was a tour that not only took in the extraordinary house and grounds he shared with his wife Giovanna, but was a meandering journey through the mind of a man whose more than eight decades of output went far and beyond the built realms of architecture. When he was just 16, he produced his first book, a hand-bound, hand-illustrated biography of baroque master Francesco Borromini, a figure that was to perennially inspire Portoghesi over the decades. From a 1967 Rai TV documentary to his seminal and unrivaled 'Borromini. Life and Works' (last edition was 2019), Portoghesi was and still is the Italian authority on baroque architecture.
Portoghesi's home features a series of steps that echo the geometric patterns found inside Francesco Borromini’s Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome
He was fixated on the baroque’s use of the curve and in particular its juxtaposition with the straight line, a phenomenon Portoghesi found to be poetic and full of irony. Indeed much of his work intentionally mirrored the tricks and twists of Borromini’s San Carlo (1660) or Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza (1644) in Rome. Three of Portoghesi's Roman projects - the Casa Baldi (1959), Casa Papanice (1966) and half a century later, his reconfiguration of the Piazza San Silvestro in 2012 - show his tenacity and ingenuity in being able bring the baroque back from the dead in a very modern way.
Staircase entrance at the Mosque of Rome
His house was a place filled with thousands of objects, beautifully arranged, and above all books in every conceivable nook and cranny. 'People take me for a historian who designs buildings,' he told us before explaining that for him, the historian in him always played second fiddle to the architect. It was his embedded historicism however, that led to what might be his most celebrated building, the Grand Mosque of Rome which he designed together with Vittorio Gigiotti and Sami Mousawi (completed 1994). Portoghesi’s love for the Art Nouveau and Victor Horta who he wrote about extensively, can be seen in much of the Mosque’s sinuously decorative style.
The Sala Portoghesi, at the Terme Tettuccio spa in Montecatini, designed by Portoghesi in 1987
Portoghesi was also pivotal in the creation of the first Venice Architecture Biennale in 1980. He curated the 'Strada Novissima' exhibition there, for which he wrangled submissions from some of the world’s most prominent architects, among them Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Arata Isozaki, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, and Ricardo Bofill. The exhibition is considered by many as a rallying point for the postmodernist movement, and certainly one of its most intellectually rigorous manifestations.
Poalo Portoghesi, the postmodernist architect and art historian, died peacefully at his home in Calcata on the 30th May 2023. He was 92 years old.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
‘Carlo Scarpa: The Complete Buildings’ is an essential tour of the Italian master’s works
‘Carlo Scarpa: The Complete Buildings’ is the perfect book for architecture enthusiasts
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
New Aesop Milan store is a haven of beauty and tranquillity
The latest Aesop Milan store to open is a hub of wellness, beauty and tranquillity in the Italian metropolis
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A new water mirror casts a misty veil over ancient Roman baths
Architect Hannes Peer reveals a water mirror in Rome – an immersive architectural installation at the heart of the ancient Baths of Caracalla
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Giovanni Michelucci’s dramatic concrete church in the Italian Dolomites
Giovanni Michelucci’s concrete Church of Santa Maria Immacolata in the Italian Dolomites is a reverently uplifting memorial to the victims of a local disaster
By Jonathan Glancey Published
-
Milan’s 10 Corso Como revamp nods to the concept store’s industrial character
Milanese concept store 10 Corso Como unveils its new look by 2050+, a stripped-back design that nods to its 20th-century character
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Carlo Ratti announced curator of Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
Carlo Ratti has been revealed as the Director of the Architecture Department at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, with the specific task of curating the 19th International Architecture Exhibition
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Floating infinity pool by Herzog & De Meuron at Lake Como is largest of its kind
Herzog & de Meuron creates the largest floating infinity pool in the world for Mandarin Oriental in Lake Como
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Best of brutalist Italian architecture chronicled in new book
Brutalist Italian architecture enthusiasts and concrete completists will be spoilt for choice by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego’s pictorial tour
By Jonathan Bell Published