# Italo Insolera

Italo Insolera (February 7, 1929, in Turin – August 27, 2012, in Rome) was an Italian architect, urban and land planner, and historian.
He published several books and essays dealing with the economic, social and cultural circumstances and conditions of urban development, and the use of the ancient town in the framework of metropolitan development. These issues were also the primary focus of his professional and academic work, where restoration and planning of historical towns and environmental systems prevail. He was especially interested in the relationship between archaeology and the modern city; he proposed solutions for the correct (re)use of ancient towns that included traffic restriction, pedestrianization, and restoration. Some of these have been implemented by municipal governments, particularly in Rome.

## Biography

Born in Turin in 1929, at age five he and his family moved to Rome. His father Filadelfo, a university teacher, ranked amongst the few who introduced the financial and actuarial science in Italy. His elder brother Delfino was editorial director at Zanichelli publisher in the 1970s and 1980s; his sister Melina, high-school teacher, wrote a number of grammar books (Italian, Latin and ancient Greek).
In 1953, Insolera graduated from La Sapienza University, Rome, with a degree in Architecture. He became a licensed architect in 1954, and qualified for university teaching in urbanism in 1960. Meanwhile, he had married Anna Maria Bozzola (architect, in the early 1960s was the author of a book series on arts education which became a reference in the freshly reformed Italian lower secondary school); she would be his partner during all his life. In 1962, he published Roma moderna. Un secolo di storia urbanistica (Modern Rome: A Century of Urban History), the first book dealing with urban planning and management in Rome from the unification of Italy to the present. The book has subsequently gone through six editions, with the most recent published in 2011.
He was added to the official register of land planners in 1971. From 1963 to 1971, he was a lecturer at Venice University's Institute of Architecture, and from 1971 to 1983 he was a tenured professor of Urban History at Geneva University’s School of Architecture [fr]. He also taught courses and seminars at the universities of Rome, Florence, Naples, Paris, Kassel, Barcelona, Madrid.
During his tenure in Geneva, he founded and was for four years at the head of the Centre de Recherche sur la Rénovation Urbaine (Research Centre on Urban Renovation), sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Insolera also long played a leading role in numerous environmental battles over landscape conservation and protection, as well as urban architectural heritage protection and revitalization.
He died of natural causes at age 83 in his house in Monteverde, Rome at dawn on August 27, 2012. Italian urban planners deeply mourn his passing.
Since 2003, all of Insolera's professional documents, designs, photos and writings have been deemed of public interest and protected by the Italian Superintendence of Archives [it].

## Planning
### Regional planning

* 1963 – 1964 Gargano Coast (Apulia)
* 1965 – 1966 Province of Teramo (Abruzzo)
* 1965 – 1970 Gallura (Sardinia), Coast and Hinterland
* 1968 – 1969 Province of Nuoro (Sardinia), Coast
* 1973 – 1976 Umbrian Apennines
* 1984 – 1992 Crotone (Calabria), Cape Colonna Archaeological Park
* 1982 – 1992 Parks in the municipalities of Suvereto, Campiglia Marittima, Piombino (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany), and Follonica (Province of Grosseto, Tuscany)
* 1985 Spatial and Landscape Plan (in Italian: "Piano Territoriale-paesistico") of Emilia-Romagna Region (pursuant to National Law 431/85 [it]).

### Urban planning

* 1956 Porto Empedocle (Province of Agrigento, Sicily), Reconstruction Plan
* 1957 Rivisondoli (Province of L’Aquila, Abruzzo), Reconstruction Plan
* 1967 – 1972 Coordinated Plans for the communes of Cecina, Bibbona, Castagneto Carducci, San Vincenzo, Sassetta (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
* 1969 – 1970 Coordinated Building Programmes for the communes of Dorgali, Orosei, Siniscola (Province of Nuoro, Sardinia; joint work)
* 1973 – 1978 General Master Plan for the commune of Leghorn (Tuscany)
* 1988 – 1996 General Master Plan for the commune of Pitigliano (Province of Grosseto, Tuscany; joint work)
* 1989 – 1994 General Master Plan for the commune of Correggio (Province of Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna; joint work)
* 1997 – 1999 Structural Plan for Lucca (Tuscany, joint work).

### Parks and urban districts

* 1957 it:INA-Casa District (public housing) at Syracuse Santa Panagia (Sicily, joint work)
* 1958 it:INA-Casa District (public housing) at Naples Soccavo (joint work)
* 1962 it:INA-Casa District (public housing) at Caserta (Campania; joint work)
* 1971 - 1978 Public housing district at San Vincenzo (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
* 1980 - 1981 Special Plans (in Italian: "Piani Particolareggiati") for Castagneto Carducci (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
* 1982 - 1984 Plans for Productive Zones (tourist resorts; in Italian: PIP, "Piani per Insediamenti Produttivi") at Piombino (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
* 1988 Feasibility Plan for Gabii Archaeological Park (Rome; joint work)
* 1988 - 1989 Together with Leonardo Benevolo and Pier Luigi Cervellati [it], studies for Palermo’s historical core Special Plan (appointing body: the Municipality, Mayor Leoluca Orlando)
* 1996 Preliminaries to the Spatial Plan (in Italian: "Piano di Assetto") for the Archaeological Park of the Ancient Appian Way (Rome)
* 1997 Environmental Project for Rome's great ring road underpass to the Ancient Appian Way (ANAS, National Agency for Roads)
* 2000 Environmental and Landscape Study for it:Tormarancio area (Rome; joint work, appointing body: Rome's Archaeological Superintendence [it])
* 2005 Project for a Natural Park and Farm Restoration at San Vincenzo (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; appointing body: Rimigliano ltd; joint work).

### Consultancies

* 1965 Ministry of Public Works (now Ministry for Infrastructure and Transports), Committee for provisions to be adopted on tree-lined roads in order to ensure traffic safety and natural values protection
* 1966 Municipality of Rome [it], Committee for study of pedestrian islands
* 1966-1969 Italian Automobile Club, Committee for traffic and circulation
* 1981-1982 Municipality of Naples, Commissionership for reconstruction subsequent to 1981 earthquake
* 1981-1982 Intergovernmental Programme Egypt-Italy, Feasibility study for restoration and reuse of Cairo Citadel
* 1981-1982 Municipality of Rome [it], Committee for study of issues related to establishment of the Archaeological Park in the city historical centre
* 1988-1990 Museum of Natural History of Leghorn Province, member of the Board of governors
* 1988-1992 Member of the National Council at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage
* 1990-1992 Province of Bologna, land planning
* 1994-1995 Municipality of Rome [it], Department for Mobility
* 1995-1996 ATAC (Municipal Company for Public Transport), Rome
* Council of Europe, member of the Committees for restoration and reuse of the historical cores of Toledo (Spain, 1982), Salamanca (Spain, 1984), and Antigua Guatemala (Guatemala, 1997)
* Council of Europe, general speaker at Ferrara (1978), Strasbourg (1982) and Lille (1983) conventions.

## Architecture

* 1958-1964 Turin National Library (together with Massimo Amodei, Pasquale Carbonara, Aldo Livadiotti, Antonio Quistelli).
* 1958 Nursery School at Rivisondoli (Province of L’Aquila, Abruzzo)
* 1959 Nursery School at Pescocostanzo (Province of L’Aquila, Abruzzo)
* 2001 Studies for the Moses Memorial at Mount Nebo (Jordan)
* 2003 Plan for the Puccini Theatre at Torre del Lago (Viareggio, Tuscany; together with Mauro Ciampa, Raffaello Bartelletti).

## Restoration works

* 1963-1965-1967 Houses in the centre of Anguillara Sabazia (Rome)
* 1971 House in the historical centre of Tropea (Calabria)
* 1980 House in the historical centre of Castagneto Carducci (Tuscany)
* 1978-1980 and 1993-1994 Ancient Roman houses at San Paolo alla Regola Street, Rome (joint work)
* 1990 Mullioned-windowed house (in Italian: “Casa delle Bifore”) at Piombino (Tuscany), hosting the Municipal Archives (joint work)
* 1990 St. Francis Cloister at Suvereto (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
* 1989-1992 Meucci Center at Suvereto (Tuscany; joint work): an ancient farmhouse to be reused as residence for maladjusted youths
* 1990-1995 Villa Poniatowski in Rome, preliminary project for reuse to host a section of Villa Giulia’s National Etruscan Museum and the Castellani Collection (ancient jewellery)
* 1991-1994 House on the Lake Maggiore (Piedmont)
* 1996 “La Pievaccia” Tower at Follonica (Province of Grosseto, Tuscany; joint work)
* 2000-2001 Poderi Stalloni at Suvereto (Tuscany): ancient farmhouses to be reused as hostels and function-room for Parchi Val di Cornia Inc. (joint work).

## Exhibitions

* 1997: Via Appia-Sulle rovine della magnificenza antica (Appian Way – Amidst the ruins of the ancient splendour), Memmo Foundation, Ruspoli Palace, Rome; layout project
* In collaboration with the Granet Museum, Aix-en-Provence (France):
** 1996: Paesaggi perduti-Granet a Roma 1802-1824 (Lost Landscapes – Granet in Rome 1802-1824), American Academy in Rome, Scientific Committee
** 2000: Alla ricerca della luce-I pittori di Aix-en-Provence dal XVIII al XX Secolo (Searching for Light – The Painters from Aix-en-Provence from 18th to 20th Centuries), Municipality of Perugia, Palace of Penna; curator of both exhibition and catalogue
** 2000-2001: Frondose arcate. Il Colosseo prima dell'archeologia (Leafy Arcades – The Coliseum before Archaeology), Rome's Archaeological Superintendence [it], Altemps Palace, project, layout and catalogue
* 2002-2003: Roma tra le due guerre (Rome between the two Wars), Museo di Roma in Trastevere and House of Architecture, Rome; project and layout (with A.M. Sette)
* 2002-2003: Dall'Augusteo all'Auditorium (From the Augusteum to the Auditorium), for the opening of the new Auditorium “Parco della Musica”, Rome; project, layout and catalogue (with A.M. Sette).

## Competitions and competitive examinations

* 1955 Spatial layout of the “Valletta di Belfiore” area, Mantua (Lombardy; joint work): 1st prize equal
* 1955 Establishment of designers-architects teams for it:INA-Casa (public housing programme): qualified
* 1957 Venice General Master Plan [it] (in Italian: “Piano Regolatore Generale”; joint work)
* 1957 Turin National Library (joint work): 1st prize equal; realized
* 1958 Applications of “Plastirivmel” (plastic elements for use in interior design), 4th Competition: 2nd prize, realized
* 1964 Setting up of registers of designers-architects for it:Gescal (public housing programme): qualified
* 1965 Selection of ISES (public housing) designers-architects: qualified
* 1967 Extension to the House of Parliament, Rome
* 1971 New headquarters for the University of Florence (joint work): 2nd prize
* 1982 Restoration of Piombino Castle (Province of Leghorn, Tuscany; joint work)
* 2003 Puccini Theatre at Torre del Lago, Viareggio (Tuscany): winner.