L'illuminazione elettrica nell'architettura del XX secolo. Un nuovo "materiale da costruzione"

The volume deals with a particularly exciting moment in the history of architecture, when, starting in the early 20th century, electric lighting became part of architectural design. The idea of electric lighting as a “building material” stimulated research, sparked debate, and led to a change in design thinking and, consequently, in the architecture that was built. The continuous intertwining of technical and technological innovations, which had already begun in the previous century, and formal experimentation, increasingly supported by architects with the help of the new professional figure of the lighting engineer, as well as by the emerging electricity distribution and light source production companies and the various industry associations that appeared at national and international level, allowed electric lighting to become the very emblem of modernity. This modernity took shape in urban areas in the form of exceptional architectural lighting for existing buildings and the construction of new illuminated or even luminous architecture. At the same time, when designing interior spaces, the fundamental aspect becomes the balance between the function and aesthetics of lighting and between the use and abuse of light. Through a reinterpretation of the design and construction of some of the most significant buildings from the first and second post-war periods, the book ultimately seeks to highlight how specific knowledge of the materiality of architecture, aimed at conservation, restoration or reuse projects, cannot be separated from an analysis of the use that has been made of light.