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PIERO BOTTONI
Th ee houses on he Ty henian Sea
Edoa do C esci
DIDA - Uni e si à degli s udi di Fi enze / DIDA - Uni e si y o Flo ence
Flo ence, I aly
Abs ac
Pie o Bo oni is one o he majo ep esen a i es o I alian a ionalism and a leading
igu e in he c i ical e ision o mode nism. Be ween 1931 and 1945 he designs h ee
‘ illas’ close o each o he on he Ty henian Sea: ‘Villa La ina’ (1930), ‘Villa Ludol ’
(1941) and ‘Villa nella pine a’ (1945). Focusing on a c i ical eading o hese h ee
p ojec s, he pape would like o demons a e he g owing in luence o he landscape and
he egional cha ac e s in he ma u a ion o he sensi i i y and he hough o one o he
mos impo an a chi ec s o I alian mode nism.
Keywo ds: Pie o Bo oni, Mode nism, Regionalism, Houses, Medi e anean Sea
Pie o Bo oni g adua ed in a chi ec u e a he Milan Poly echnic in 1926, he pa icipa ed
in he Fi s I alian Exhibi ion o Ra ional A chi ec u e in 1928 wi h a se ies o
wa e colou s en i led A chi ec u al C oma isms ha b ough he acclaim o Le Co busie .
A ound he same ime, he was one o he ounde s o he I alian Mo emen o Ra ional
A chi ec u e (MIAR) along wi h people like Adalbe o Libe a, Ma io Ridol i, Luigi Figini,
Gino Pollini, Ignazio Ga della, Giuseppe Pagano and Giuseppe Te agni. F om 1930, he
was a membe and delega e o he CIAM and h oughou his ca ee played -wi h g ea
ci il commi men - a leading ole in he na ional pano ama o I alian own planning and
a chi ec u e.
Paolo Po oghesi, alking abou Bo oni, ecalls he p ide wi h which he accep ed he
me i o being among he i s o b ing abou and suppo a ionalis in elligence in I aly
(Po oghesi, 1998, p.336), while Ca lo Olmo eminds us how Bo oni was a p o agonis
in he c i ical e ision o mode nism (Olmo, 2000, p.298). Being i s among he
p omulga o s and i s among he c i ics o he mode n mo emen a he same ime a e
wo seemingly i econcilable oles ha Pie o Bo oni held hanks o his mo al ye no
dogma ic adhe ence o he p inciples in oduced by mode nism. In ac , om he
beginning, his s ance was always qui e dea ' o he c ies o he s apaesan ana ics' and
much mo e sensi i e o a congeni al 'Medi e aneanism, in ended in he spi i , and no in
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he o ms o in he olklo e’ (Bo oni, 1933, p.84). These las wo ds come om he
P og amma di A chi e u a, a so o mani es o signed by Bo oni, Figini, Pollini, BBPR
and o he s and published in he i s issue o he magazine Quad an e o May 1933. The
P og amma well ep esen s a s ance o a gene a ion o young I alian a chi ec s in which
‘Medi e aneanism’ is mo e a sha ed eeling, o ideological ension, ins ead o a common
s yle o as e o speci ic a chi ec u al o ms.1
Reading in ch onological o de a g oup o 'houses by he sea’2 designed by Pie o Bo oni,
i is possible o obse e wi h mo e cla i y han elsewhe e a ma u a ion in he sensibili y
and a chi ec u al hough o his passiona e suppo e o he dic a es o new mode ni y
(emb aced abo e all wi h a e olu iona y spi i owa ds 20 h cen u y academicism),
owa ds a ee and mo e ins inc i e sea ch o he sa is ac ion o he mos ancien and
na u al needs o man ('I was one o he i s de ende s o he na u al alues o li e’
(Bo oni, 1973, p.350)). As ea ly as 1932, Bo oni s a ed: 'Among he a ional needs o
he home, i is impe a i e no o o ge he o emos impo an need o li ing: he need,
ha he poe y and sensi i i y o he a is , as a man be o e echnician, will ha e been
el and esol ed’ (Bo oni, 1932 a, p.147). Asking himsel om he beginning abou
wha a chi ec u e alks o he soul o man, ' o he soul o he non- heo e ical man’
(Bo oni, 1931, p.120), is wha p obably plan ed in Bo oni ha seed in e ile soil ha
ge mina ed heal hily, s ong o e he yea s, chasing he wa m ays o he sun mo e han
he s e ile coldness o neon lamps.
Pe haps we could al eady ind his seed by digging unde he la ge loggia open ' o he
sea and o he moun ain' o Villa La ina. This house, designed in Bonassola, o e looking
he Ty henian Sea, was p esen ed in 1930 o a na ional compe i ion abou he p ojec
o 'a mode n illa o he amily home’ announced on he occasion o he 4 h
In e na ional Exhibi ion in Monza. Bo oni's p ojec was he undispu ed key playe
among he mode nis end p oposals p esen ed3 and con ained in essence all he
sensi i i y and ension exp essed in his bes a chi ec u es o he ollowing decades.
1 Fo a b oade discussion o his heme he eade should e e o Mode n A chi ec u e and he
Medi e anean, edi ed by Jean-F ancois Lejeune and Michelangelo Saba ino.
2 Re e ence is made o a g oup o wo ks and p ojec s o p i a e clien s, concen a ed mainly on
he coas s o he Ty henian Sea and he island o Cap i, be ween 1929 and 1969. Among hem:
S udio di illa al ma e (1929), S udio pe un g ande albe go al ma e (1929), Villa La ina (1930),
Casa al ma e alla V T iennale di Milano (1932), Villa Ludol (1941), S udio di palazzina con negozi
(1941), Casa ideale su pala i e (1943), Case a al ma e Sa ini (1944), Villa nella pine a (1945),
es au o della G o a di F a’ Felice (1958), Case a con piscina in ia Tibe io (1961), Villa la
Que cia (1967)
3 I is in e es ing o no e ha impo an igu es such as F anco Albini demons a e in his
compe i ion o be s ill s ongly linked o he 20 h cen u y neoclassicism.
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Figu e 1. Villa La ina, Bonassola, I aly, 1930. (A chi io Pie o
Bo oni, Das u, Poli ecnico di Milano)
This illa wan s o eclaim, om he spi i o La in cons uc ions, he balance o
he olumes, om he ou doo li e cus oms o he Medi e anean peoples, he
loggias, he a ia and e aces, om he houses o he Ty henian coas he
colou , om he echnical possibili y ha belongs only o oday and i s s uc u e.
I ises in a ga den, on he edge o a pine o es by he sea. I does no block o
he landscape bu is c ossed by i . (Bo oni, 1930, p. 33)
Bo oni's wo ds a e e y clea and lea e no oom o alse in e p e a ions; his p ojec o
a 'mode n illa' is in ended o be deeply oo ed in he adi ion o ha place, o ha
peninsula and o he en i e Medi e anean basin. The echnique is con empo a y,
mode n4, bu wi h his newness Bo oni ies o ish deep in o he his o y o local
buildings (‘ om he houses o he i e s unning in o he Ty henian Sea'), Roman ones
('La in cons uc ion') and all he mo e o less anonymous and spon aneous ' e aces' and
'loggias' ha o e look each bank o he Ma e Nos um.
4 Fo he building’s s uc u e Bo oni chooses a ein o ced-conc e e ame sys em.
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Figu e 2. Villa La ina, Bonassola, I aly, 1930. (A chi io Pie o
Bo oni, Das u, Poli ecnico di Milano)
This sea and his landscape a e ecognised as ac i e, essen ial ea u es o he scene,
inhabi an s ha 'c oss' a chi ec u e, longing o human companions. The con ac wi h
he landscape -e en hough qui e gene ic- is e y s ong and Bo oni’s pain ing o he
Villa (Figu e 1) is emblema ic: he building p oudly s ands as a iumphal a ch o a sail
boa coming om he sea, as inhabi ed h eshold be ween he Ty henian and he Apuan
Alps, s a ic, he e, pain ed wi h he same colo o he many o he s soli a y and
s e eome ic houses o he No h-Ty henian ock coas .
No wi hs anding Bo oni does no wan o make o all his a o mal issue, bu a ma e o
‘spi i ', he acade’s solu ion, he s ongly geome ic app oach o he olume, as well as
he igidi y o a s ill imma u e de elopmen o he plans, demons a e how he p ojec o
Villa La ina (shaped on a se ies o ske ches om 1929 made o o he p ojec s by he
sea5) is s ill ancho ed o a bi e ecep ion o he new Eu opean mode nis in luences.
Ne e heless he wo ds and d awings o he young a chi ec s ongly anscend he 'a id
5 Re e ence is made o S udio di illa al ma e and S udio pe un g ande albe go al ma e, bo h
om 1929. The d awings o hese wo s udios kep a he Pie o Bo oni A chi e in Milan illus a e
he ges a ion o he Villa La ina p ojec s a ing om he de elopmen o he la ge loggia on he
g ound loo , a ue emb yo o many o Bo oni's u u e p ojec s.
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and a he same ime sad’ (Bo oni, 1931, p.120) a chi ec u e o ce ain in e na ional
exhibi ions, aiming s aigh a wha eally seems o coun : ‘gi ing a mo al ease o ou
li e i sel and a sa e, las ing hospi ali y o ou spi i and sensibili ies, so ha cul u e and
expe ience ha e nobly en iched us’, as Gio Pon i w o e in he in oduc ion o he
ca alogue o he compe i ion, which seems o ha e had on his deck he pe spec i e iew
om he loggia o Villa La ina when he pu he ollowing wo ds on pape : " he bes o
hese p ojec s a e like eal in e p e a ions o he dwelling, o ou li e and, i we like, o
ou ci ilisa ion” (Pon i, 1930, in oduc ion).
I alian a ionalis s a e much mo e conce ned han some c i ics belie e abou
p ese ing he spi i o adi ion in ac , a spi i ha is becoming clea e and mo e
asse i e e e y day in i s achie emen s. This spi i does no eside in he na ow
supe icial classicism, in he deco a i e de ail, in he his o icism, in he
a chaeological e-enac men s, bu in a supe io classicism o he spi i . (Bo oni,
1933, p.84)
Figu e 3. Villa Ludol , Ma ina di Massa, I aly, 1941.
(A chi io Pie o Bo oni, Das u, Poli ecnico di Milano)
O e looking he same Ty henian Sea, a couple o miles sou h o Villa La ina, Pie o
Bo oni had he oppo uni y in 1941 o design ano he house, Villa Ludol : a ' ypical
example o a Medi e anean illa' (Consonni, 1973, p.45). The clien was he coun ess
Ma ie Ludol Fabb i, widowed a he ime o Bo oni’s p ojec and al eady owne o an
exis ing illa on he si e. The d awings made o he Coun ess Ludol , who p obably

Edoa do C esci, Pie o Bo oni. Th ee houses on he Ty henian Sea
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ga e ca e blanche o he a chi ec , demons a e he achie emen o ull con ol o e he
a ionalis p inciples, skil ully shaped he e o se a ue, se ene ‘casa all’i aliana’6. An
e olu ion o Bo oni's language is beginning o be ou lined and i will consis in a
p og essi e depa u e om he ocabula y o he 'absolu e a ionalism' c i icised since
he 1930s. The sugges ions o he my h o he machine and indus y disappea , he
olume ic pu i y o Villa La ina’s pe ec geome ies gi es way o a so e wo k on
a chi ec u al ype a ia ions. In he plans, a so o ‘La in’ gene pool is s ill pe cei able
bu now any monumen ally is los . In he acades, he la colou o he plas e is
eplaced by he wa me ex u e o he s one mason y, as in many modes coun y
buildings nea by.7
Figu e 4. Villa Ludol , Ma ina di
Massa, I aly, 1941. (A chi io Pie o
Bo oni, Das u, Poli ecnico di Milano)
Wha emains is he ixed idea o a building shaped on he dialogue wi h he landscape,
wi h he Apuan Moun ains and he Ty henian Sea b ough inside he Villa. En e ing in
he building om he eas , in he la ge en ance hall he e a e in ac wo la ge windows,
one o he sou h and one o he no h, and he e - o welcome us- a e he Ty henian
Sea o ou le and he Apuan Moun ains o ou igh . Bo oni delibe a ely aises he
en i e building on a base so i 'allows he sea iew o be abo e he line o ehicle
6 Re e ence is made o he 'I alian house' desc ibed by Gio Pon i in he i s issue o Domus in
1928.
7 In he 1930s hese cos a eas we e almos unde eloped, behind a i s line o summe illas and
pinedwoods, and be o e a se ies o small owns a he oo o he Apuan Alps, he e we e only
u al and li le popula ed plains, ew and small a mhouses buil wi h local s ones.
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encumb ance along he coas ’ (Bo oni, 1943 b, p.395) and places a la ge cou ya d wi h
a pano amic iewpoin o e he sea. On his e ace, he opens he la ge li ing oom: a
big loggia -o exed a- om which you can see sou h and wes . In Villa Ludol he con ac
wi h he landscape becomes a so o e y p ecise d i ing o ce, no mo e gene ic, bu
ca e ully poin ed in mul iple and selec ed di ec ions. Bo oni ies o build a mode n,
unc ional illa wo king wi h local con ex , a chi ec u al adi ion and landscape; his
sea ch o laying oo s in he place is explici : Villa Ludol seems o be made almos
exclusi ely o simple local s one walls, i could be almos a uin, le he e om imes
long gone by.
A Ronchi di Ma ina di Massa, a ew hund ed ya ds om he Villa Ludol lo , in 1945
Bo oni buil a house o himsel . A ew yea s ea lie , in he documen a ached o
Casabella 187, some wo ds by Bo oni himsel po ayed a condi ion o change in he
alues o a gene a ion in he ace o he d ama o wa and i s consequen implica ions on
a chi ec u e. The house was conside ed he ounding heme om which o s a :
We needed wa , his agedy ha has become uni e sal and aw oday, which is
g adually disco e ing and dis inguishing he ills o con en ions om uly
human a i udes; e e nal alues om ic i ious ones, o b ing back o i s p ope
alue as an al a , a domes ic al a , he house o man. [...] hei unc ion as a
collec ion, a e uge, a mee ing place o li e coun s, and hey a e emembe ed,
hough ou , longed o in he anguish o a ench o in he p esence o he uins
o he ci y. (Bo oni, 1943 a, p.229)
A e he wa anyone wi h a modicum o ci il conscience could no help bu conside
scandalous e e y sel ishness and e e y exhibi ion o luxu y. I was a ime o sel -
c i icism, in ospec ion, ‘humili y (p ide), high spi i ’ (Bo oni, 1943 a, p.229). I was on
his land ha Bo oni buil his house by he sea, ‘a oiding any abs ac ion [...] wi hou
yielding o he exp essions o he alse u al, bu espec ing he landscape, adap ing i ,
as i he illa we e bo n om he land on which i s ands, pa o he na u e ha
su ounds i ’ (Bo oni, 1995, p.38). Almos as i hey we e pa o a single body, wo o
he s one walls o Villa Ludol s and he e na ow among he pines o his small o es
nea he sea8, inside hem, inally inds ligh he loggia ha has been pu suing since he
ea ly s udies o Villa La ina, a loggia ha his ime mus be spli in o heigh o mas e
he sea iew. A oom ha looks ou on o he sea, a minimal dwelling, well beyond a
8 Bo oni, in an a icle on he a chi ec u al magazine Me on, explains how he dimensions o his
small e ea a e in luenced by he possibili y o ‘keep un ouched he dense wood o holm oaks
and pines’ (Bo oni, 1948, p.32).
Edoa do C esci, Pie o Bo oni. Th ee houses on he Ty henian Sea
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ma u e exe cise o exis enzminimum, he cons uc ion o his shel e means he
sublima ion o e e y abs ac and heo e ical p emise o he mode nism and cons i u es
he inding o a sen imen al adhe ence wi h he body o he wo ld.
Figu e 5. Villa nella Pine a, Ma ina di Massa, I aly, 1945.
(A chi io Pie o Bo oni, Das u, Poli ecnico di Milano)
The ma e ials, solu ions and dimensions o he p ojec educe almos a ze o he
dis ances be ween man and he su oundings, he e he con ac wi h he landscape
becomes skin o skin and i is pe cei able he in en o he a chi ec o li e no only
close, bu eally inside he na u e. A cabanon, a pulsing 'House like me' o which
Malapa e himsel could p o ide alid wo ds abou his amous illa on he Island o
Cap i: 'sec e o m o my spi i , ha d, se e e [...] sec e image o my p ison [...] o my
nos algia' (Ma ellini, 1991). Bo oni seems o build his li le house looking a many o
he u al buildings in his coas al a ea, wi h one o wo s o eys ye o en consis ing o a
single oom p o ec ed by s one walls; he builds his mode n lodge using almos only local
adi ion, mo ing away om e en he mos digni ied e e ences o a ce ain 'La in'
a chi ec u e s ill p esen in he p ojec s o Villa La ina and Villa Ludol . Bo oni ealised
ha he ‘in imacy, se eni y and welcome’ o a shel e (Bo oni, 1949, p.34) lou ish
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maybe mo e easily in modes and anonymous buildings, as long as a en ion is paid o
es ablishing a espec ul dialogue wi h he na u al landscape and wi h he buil
landscape, and as long as ha a chi ec u e had ‘a leas he me i o wan ing o look like
wha i is... and no hing mo e’. (Bo oni, 1932 b, p.149). Wi h Villa nella pine a,
Bo oni’s a ional a chi ec u e inds a ull co espondence wi h he impe ishable needs o
man, h ough he lesson o adi ion, and " he poe y and sensi i i y o he a is " i
eally sa is ies ‘ he o emos and mos impo an ’ need o li e (Bo oni, 1932 a, p.147)
demons a ing how can no exis eal a chi ec u e ha is no an e hical e lec ion o he
human soul o ha p escinds om he c ea ion o a since e physical and emo ional
ela ionship be ween space, body o man and body o he place.
Re e ences
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i aliani. A cu a dell’Esposizione T iennale In e nazionale delle A i Deco a i e Indus iali
Mode ne alla Villa Reale di Monza. Milan, IT: Bas e i e Tuminelli, p.33
Bo oni, P. (1931). L’abi azione del nos o empo. In Tonon, G. (1995). Una nuo a
an ichissima bellezza. Rome, IT: La e za, p.120.
Bo oni, P. (1932 a). Due lamapada i. In Tonon, G. (1995). Una nuo a an ichissima
bellezza. Rome, IT: La e za, p.147.
Bo oni, P. (1932 b). In luenze na u is iche e nuo e endenze nell’a chi e u a in
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p.149-161.
Bo oni, P. (1933). Un p og amma di a chi e u a. In Con ospazio, 4, p.84.
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nuo a an ichissima bellezza. Rome, IT: La e za, p.225-234.
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Milan, IT: Hoepli, pp. 350-353.
Consonni, G. (1973). Pie o Bo oni: Qua an ’anni di ba aglie pe l’a chi e u a. In
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Ma ellini, L. (1991). Il meglio dei accon i di Cu zio Malapa e. Milan, IT: Mondado i.