BMA : Exhibitions : 2004

Angiolo Mazzoni: Architecture in Motion
Italian Railway & Postal Building Architecture 1928-1943
10 December 2004 - 29 May 2005

Angiolo Mazzoni (1884-1979) was an early twentieth century architect who designed over one hundred projects and built over forty major public buildings from 1920 to 1946. Mazzoni, who had trained in architecture and engineering, had a long and distinguished career as a public architect. In 1920, he entered in the service of the Italian national railway, as an intern engineer, and rose through the ranks to become the chief engineer/architect of the consolidated state railroad and postal service in 1938. Among his influences were post-war Futurism, Russian Constructivism, the Dutch modernists, Eric Mendelsohn, and Frank Lloyd Wright. These influences were often reflected in asymmetrical plans and massing, a formal language emphasizing motion, and an inventive use of bold colors in material palettes simultaneously ancient and modern.

Mazzoni is distinguished from other early modern Italian architects in his alignment with post-war Futurism. During the 1930’s he wrote articles on Futurism and co-authored the “Futurist Manifesto of Air Architecture”, with F. T. Marinetti and M. Somenzi. Like Frank Lloyd Wright, and many early European modernists, Mazzoni often designed a wide range of interior details and furniture, including the light fixtures and tables and chairs found in his passenger stations.

Professor Michael McNamara, College of Architecture, Planning and Design, K-State organized the exhibition. The exhibit, which has been funded by two grants from the Graham Foundation, with smaller grants from the KSU USRG and the College of Architecture, Planning and Design, includes eleven basswood models of Mazzoni’s seminal projects, and seventeen display panels with drawings, text and photographs. He collaborated with a number of recent K-State Architecture graduates to realize the model construction.

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