Ercole Manfredi
Ercole Manfredi | |
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Villa Norasingh (1923–25, collaboration) |
Ercole Pietro Manfredi (2 July 1883 – 9 June 1973) was an
He made significant career progress through the court of King
Early life
Ercole Pietro Manfredi was born on 2 July 1883 in Turin, Italy to Luigi Manfredi and Caterina Bo. He attended the Lagrange Royal Technical School starting in 1894 and the San Carlo Technical School from 1898 to 1899. At the age of sixteen, he was admitted into the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts, where during his studies he received a first prize in architecture, design, perspective and painting. He received a diploma in 1907 and subsequently attended the Higher Course in Architecture. During this time he also worked for Turin's Public and Municipal Works Department, where he supervised constructions and patented an earthquake engineering system. In 1909, he graduated with a High Qualification as painter and architect, receiving a gold medal first prize in addition to fifteen other prizes won during his studies.[1]
Career
In 1909, Manfredi was selected by the academy to fill an architect position for the government of Siam (now Thailand). Sailing from Genoa, he arrived in Bangkok on 1 December. He was placed under the Architectural Section of the Ministry of Public Works working under engineer-in-chief Carlo Allegri and Minister Prince Nares Varariddhi. He collaborated with many Italian architects employed by the government including Mario Tamagno, who was the department's chief architect, and others who were involved in the construction of Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. Many of these architects were in fact also from Turin or alumni of Albertina.[2]
In 1912, Manfredi was promoted to a position in the Ministry of the Royal Household, where he worked closely with King
In 1930, during the period of political turmoil leading up to the abolition of
In 1939, Manfredi became a lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture of Chulalongkorn University, where he taught for eight years. He also served as a lecturer in the Signalling Division of the Royal Thai Navy from 1944 to 1950 before retiring from public life.[6]
Personal life
While in Turin, Manfredi married his first wife, by whom he had two children—Luisa (1906–1990) and Gabriele (1914–2016)—both of whom would later become active in the partisan resistance against Mussolini during 1943–1945. Luisa would marry writer Robin Victor Lethbridge Raleigh-King in 1950.[7]
In Siam, Manfredi adopted the local culture and way of life. He dressed and ate like a Thai, mingled with Thai friends, and used an abacus to calculate. His government contract had required him "to be able within one year to converse in Siamese in a tolerable way," but he went further and became fluent in both the spoken and written language.[4][8]
Manfredi married a Thai wife, Thongmuan (Thai: ทองม้วน), with Buddhist rites in 1913, while his pregnant first wife returned to Italy. He and Thongmuan had two daughters and lived together in what he described as "years of paradise".[9] He left the country only twice, in 1925 and 1928, to represent Siam at the second and third International Book Fairs in Florence.[6]
Manfredi was involved in various humanitarian and cultural organisations. He was a member of the
Manfredi has been described as rather eccentric for a foreigner in Siam at the time. In an interview, his daughter Maly Manfredi remarked that he was "an odd number".[11] He was also noted to be impulsive and stubborn, often ignoring his wife's sensible advice to do what he wanted, including leaving his official post to pursue archaeology. According to Maly, "as court architect, he used to fly into a rage at the suppliers' gifts," and "Papa needed a big organisation to discipline him, like the Court or Chulalongkorn University."[12] At the age of seventy-five, Manfredi realised his dream project of building a boat; to finance, he had to sell his entire collection of Siamese art. He named the boat Mammino, and used it mostly for pleasure cruises to Pattaya.[13][14]
Manfredi lived in Thailand until his death on 9 June 1973. He and his wife (who died six years later) were interred at the Christian cemetery at
Works
Manfredi contributed to much of Bangkok's architecture and also produced works of painting and sculpture. However, he did not keep a record of his contributions, and his employment by the government means that many of his designs were not attributed. He also produced architectural works during his time in Turin, but his work during the brief period make up only a minority of his accomplishments.[15]
Architecture
Manfredi's architectural works involve both Thai and Western designs, which he adapted and developed to suit the local tradition.[16] The more notable of these consist of royal palaces and villas; he also designed buildings for various public institutions.
Upon his arrival in Bangkok in 1909, Manfredi collaborated with other Italian architects in the construction of Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, which had begun in 1908 and lasted until 1915. Manfredi was mainly responsible for the dome and the roof of the building, which was designed in the Italian Renaissance and neoclassical styles and modelled in part after the Basilica of Superga. "Much of that copper covering the Hall, I put on with my own hands," he said in an interview with the Bangkok Post in 1967. He also contributed to the decorations and was responsible for later work on the building's foundations.[17][18]
He acted as chief architect for
Manfredi produced many
Other contributions by Manfredi include:[24]
- Chakrabongse House (1909–1910), the residence of Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath on Maha Rat Road (with later contributions by Edward Healey)[25]
- Maliwan Mansion (1917), the residence of Prince Nares Varariddhi, currently the FAO's regional office[26]
- Pibultham Villa (c.1920) the residence of M.R. Pum Malakul, the Minister of the Royal Household[27]
- Sa Pathum Palace
- The main building of Silpakorn University
- Renovation of the Borom Phiman Hall and modification of the ceiling of Dusit Mahaprasad Hall in the Grand Palace
- The bridge and gate houses at the official entrance of Chitralada Palace
- The residence of the director of the Bank of Indochina on Sathon Road
- Restoration of the Bang Pa-in Palace
- The first swimming pool in Thailand at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club.[9]
Sculpture
Manfredi did not specialise in sculpture, but two such works by him are known. They are the marble
Painting
Having focused on painting early in his studies, Manfredi produced many visual works but was not well known for them. Most of his paintings have been dispersed; he sometimes gave them freely to friends and sold most of his possessions late in life. His known painted works include the following:[29]
- Contributions to the interior decoration of the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall; Most of the work was done by Galileo Chini.
- Interior wall and ceiling designs (1912), which were presented to King Vajiravudh
- Interior of the Borom Phiman Hall (1917), in cooperation with Prince Narisara Nuvadtivongs and Carlo Rigoli
- Portraits on ivory of King Vajiravudh and the Queen, part of a collection of miniature portraits on ivory
- Watercolour of the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall (8 January 1920); This was probably a present to King Vajiravudh, and is currently displayed in the Sukhothai Palace.
Other works
Manfredi designed scenes and costumes to be used in King Vajiravudh's theatrical plays, most notably that of the king's Thai adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. He did not limit his contributions to the arts, but also worked on engineering projects. He improved on the mechanics involved in the royal funeral procession and was particularly interested in developing an irrigation system for the country.[13]
References
- ^ Bressan, pp. 1–2
- ^ Bressan, p. 2
- ^ a b Bressan, pp. 3–4
- ^ a b Bressan, p. 4
- ^ a b Noobanjong, p. 354
- ^ a b Bressan, p. 3
- ISSN 1973-0101.
- ^ De Lazara et al, pp. 119–120
- ^ a b Amranand, Amitha (4 August 2007), "Maly Manfredi Remembers: Memories of history", Bangkok Post
- ^ Noobanjong, pp. 247–249
- ^ De Lazara et al, pp. 117
- ^ De Lazara et al, pp. 117, 121–122
- ^ a b Bressan, p. 9
- ^ De Lazara et al, pp. 117–118
- ^ a b Bressan, p. 5
- ^ a b Bressan, p. 6
- ^ Bressan, pp. 1, 6
- ^ De Lazara et al, p. 122
- ^ Architectural Conservation Award: Maruekhathayawan Palace, Association of Siamese Architects, retrieved 16 February 2008[dead link]
- ^ Noobanjong, pp. 218–220
- ^ a b c Bressan, p. 7
- ^ Noobanjong, pp. 361–362
- ^ Noobanjong, p. 362
- ^ Bressan, pp. 6–7
- ^ Architectural Conservation Award: Chakrabongse House, Association of Siamese Architects, archived from the original on 9 December 2008, retrieved 16 February 2008
- ^ RAP Library, Food and Agriculture Organization, archived from the original on 30 November 2005, retrieved 18 February 2009
- ^ Malakul na Ayudhya, Pang, บ้านพิบูลธรรม (นนที) (Phibultham Villa), pangmalakul.com, archived from the original on 18 July 2009, retrieved 13 February 2010
- ^ Architectural Conservation Award: Phra Tamnak Chalimongkhon-at, Association of Siamese Architects, archived from the original on 28 February 2009, retrieved 16 February 2008
- ^ Bressan, p. 8
Bibliography
- Bressan, Luigi (1997), "Ercole Manfredi: One of the great architects of Bangkok (1883–1973)", Italian-Thai studies from the nineteenth century to present, Bangkok: Silpakorn University.
- De Lazara, Leopoldo Ferri; Piazza, Paolo; Cassio, Alberto (1992), Italiani alla corte del siam–Italians at the court of Siam–ชาวอิตาเลียนในราชสำนักไทย, Bangkok: Amarin Printing and Publishing (published 1996), ISBN 978-974-8364-60-5.
- Noobanjong, Koompong (2003), Power, Identity, and the Rise of Modern Architecture: From Siam to Thailand, USA: Universal Publishers, ISBN 978-1-58112-201-5.