Gino Valle

From his very first projects in the 1950s in Udine and around Friuli, Gino Valle (1923-2003) was spotted by international critics as one of the most original, creative figures to emerge in post-war European architecture. His artistic talent, combined with lively intellectual curiosity and an authentic passion for experimenting new building techniques led Valle to elaborate a decidedly open, multiform style. In the small towns of Friuli and Veneto or in the metropolitan contexts of New York, Paris and Berlin, council houses and banks, factories and offices, town halls and tribunals remain today, not only as solid, modern realities, but also as works to be referred to when discussing significant projects in the fields of new architecture in historical contexts, industry and open countryside, town planning and architecture. A considerable part of his production was dedicated to the typically “modern” theme of work, such as offices and factories, in response to regional and national clients first (Zanussi, Fantoni, Olivetti), and later multinational clients (IBM, la Banca Commerciale Italiana, la Deutsche Bank). 20 years after the publication of the only complete monography dedicated to Valle, now virtually impossible to find, the book reconstructs his considerable output in 15 themed chapters, enhanced with 60 charts detailing his main works, with various reading paths which examine the geographical contexts, the formal characteristics and the intellectual framework of achievements which defy simple classification.