Ernesto Basile
Encyclopedia
Ernesto Basile was an Italian architect
and an exponent of modernism
and Art Nouveau
. He became well-known because of his stylistic fusion of ancient, medieval and modern elements. He was one of the pioneers of Art Nouveau
in Italy.
. His father Giovanni Battista Filippo Basile was also an architect and a professor at the University of Palermo
. Ernesto graduated in 1878 as an architect in Palermo in the Royal School of Engineering and Architecture . During the 1880s he lived in Rome. There in 1887 he married Ida Negrini and became assistant professor at the University of Rome. In the following years he was appointed professor of technical architecture in the University of Rome. At that period of his life he travelled in Brazil and in Spain. In 1890 he succeeded his father Giovanni, who died in 1891, as a professor of architecture. Ernesto Basile died on August 26, 1932 in Palermo.
in Palermo on January 12, 1874 but it was stopped for eight years from 1882 until 1890. From 1891 until the completion of the project on May 16, 1897 Basile was the supervising architect of the building. In 1881 Basile took part in a competition held by Francesco Crispi
the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, regarding the reconstruction of Palazzo Montecitorio
, seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
. In 1903 his project for the new parliamentary hall was selected and presented by the Prime Minister of Italy
Giovanni Giolitti
. Basile fused the Roman classicist
and Baroque
elements of the building with Art Nouveau
imagery. The construction of the Italian parliament in the Art Nouveau
style was one of the most important moments of early modernism in architecture. It was completed in 1927. In 1911 he was the architect of the contsruction of the town hall of Reggio Calabria
. From 1907 until 1912 he built the Palazzo della Cassa Centrale di Risparmio in Palermo. In 1913-14 he built the Kursaal Biondo theatre, which had asymmetrical Baroque elements, in Palermo.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and an exponent of modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
and Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
. He became well-known because of his stylistic fusion of ancient, medieval and modern elements. He was one of the pioneers of Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
in Italy.
Life
He was born on January 31, 1857 in PalermoPalermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
. His father Giovanni Battista Filippo Basile was also an architect and a professor at the University of Palermo
University of Palermo
The University of Palermo is a university located in Palermo, Italy, and founded in 1806. It is organized in 12 Faculties.-History:The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although its earliest roots date back to 1498 when medicine and law were taught there...
. Ernesto graduated in 1878 as an architect in Palermo in the Royal School of Engineering and Architecture . During the 1880s he lived in Rome. There in 1887 he married Ida Negrini and became assistant professor at the University of Rome. In the following years he was appointed professor of technical architecture in the University of Rome. At that period of his life he travelled in Brazil and in Spain. In 1890 he succeeded his father Giovanni, who died in 1891, as a professor of architecture. Ernesto Basile died on August 26, 1932 in Palermo.
Career
After graduation Basile took part in many architecture competitions. Ernesto Basile created a stylistic hybrid consisting of Roman, Norman and Arab influences. His father had started the construction of the opera house Teatro Massimo Vittorio EmanueleTeatro Massimo
The Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II....
in Palermo on January 12, 1874 but it was stopped for eight years from 1882 until 1890. From 1891 until the completion of the project on May 16, 1897 Basile was the supervising architect of the building. In 1881 Basile took part in a competition held by Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi was a 19th-century Italian politician of Arbëreshë ancestry. He was instrumental in the unification of Italy and was its 17th and 20th Prime Minister from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896.-Sicily:Crispi’s paternal family came originally from the small agricultural...
the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy, regarding the reconstruction of Palazzo Montecitorio
Palazzo Montecitorio
The Palazzo Montecitorio is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.- History :The building was originally designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the young Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV...
, seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
. In 1903 his project for the new parliamentary hall was selected and presented by the Prime Minister of Italy
Prime minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...
Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti was an Italian statesman. He was the 19th, 25th, 29th, 32nd and 37th Prime Minister of Italy between 1892 and 1921. A left-wing liberal, Giolitti's periods in office were notable for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms which improved the living standards of...
. Basile fused the Roman classicist
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
and Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
elements of the building with Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
imagery. The construction of the Italian parliament in the Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style was one of the most important moments of early modernism in architecture. It was completed in 1927. In 1911 he was the architect of the contsruction of the town hall of Reggio Calabria
Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...
. From 1907 until 1912 he built the Palazzo della Cassa Centrale di Risparmio in Palermo. In 1913-14 he built the Kursaal Biondo theatre, which had asymmetrical Baroque elements, in Palermo.
Notable works
- Villino Basile in collaboration with his father Giovanni Basile, 1874-78.
- National Exhibition in PalermoPalermoPalermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, in Arab-Norman styleArab-Norman cultureThe term Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture, Norman-Sicilian culture or, less inclusive, Arab-Norman culture respectively Norman-Arab culture, refers to the interaction of the Norman, Arab and Byzantine culture following the Norman conquest of Sicily from 1061, to around 1250...
, 1891-92. - Memmorial in Calatafimi-SegestaCalatafimi-SegestaCalatafimi-Segesta is a small town, more popularly known simply as Calatafimi, in the Province of Trapani, in Sicily, southern Italy....
, in order to commemorate the victory of Giuseppe GaribaldiGiuseppe GaribaldiGiuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
against the BourbonHouse of BourbonThe House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
s, 1892. - Teatro MassimoTeatro MassimoThe Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele is an opera house and opera company located on the Piazza Verdi in Palermo, Sicily. It was dedicated to King Victor Emanuel II....
in Palermo, 1891-97. - Villa Firriato in CanicattìCanicattìCanicattì is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 90 km southeast of Palermo and about 25 km east of Agrigento.-History:...
, 1898. - Social theatre in CanicattìCanicattìCanicattì is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 90 km southeast of Palermo and about 25 km east of Agrigento.-History:...
, 1898. - Florio Vincenzo villa in Palermo, 1899.
- Grand Hotel Villa Igiea in Palermo, 1899-1900.
- Villino Florio in Palermo, 1899-1902.
- Tomba Raccuglia in Palermo, 1900.
- Cappella Lanza di Scalea, 1900.
- Palazzo MontecitorioPalazzo MontecitorioThe Palazzo Montecitorio is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.- History :The building was originally designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the young Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV...
, seat of the Italian Chamber of DeputiesItalian Chamber of DeputiesThe Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
in Rome, 1903-27. - Villino Fassini in Palermo, 1903.
- Villino Ida (named after his wife Ida Negrini), 1903-04.
- Villa dei Principi Deliella, 1905-07.
- Stand Florio in Palermo, 1906.
- Municipal Hall of LicataLicataLicata is a city and comune located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River , about midway between Agrigento and Gela...
, 1906. - Palazzo Bruno di Belmonte in IspicaIspicaIspica is a city and comune in the south of Sicily, Italy. It is 30 km from Ragusa, 50 km from Syracuse, and 90 km away from La Valletta, on the coast of Malta...
, 1906. - Florio Pavilion in MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, 1906. - Centre of electric power in CaltagironeCaltagironeCaltagirone is a town and comune in the province of Catania, on the island of Sicily, about 70 km southwest of Catania. It is bounded by the comuni of Acate, Gela, Grammichele, Licodia Eubea, Mazzarino, Mazzarrone, Mineo, Mirabella Imbaccari, Niscemi, Piazza Armerina, San Michele di...
, 1907. - Expansion of Grand Hotel in Palermo, 1907.
- Palazzo della Cassa Centrale di Risparmio in Palermo in Palermo, 1907-12.
- Square of the Sardinian in Messina, 1909.
- Town hall of Reggio CalabriaReggio CalabriaReggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...
, 1911. - Kursaal Biondo theatre in Palermo, 1913-14.
- Municipal building in Reggio CalabriaReggio CalabriaReggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...
, 1918-21. - Cassa di Risparmio in Messina, 1926-27.
- Church of Saint Rosalia in Palermo, 1928.
Writings
- Sculptures and plasters of Giacomo Serpotta , 1911.
- Architecture and the beginnings of its renewal , 1882.