Lorenzo Mongiardino
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Lorenzo Mongiardino | |
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interior designer, production designer | |
Years active | 1944–1998 |
Lorenzo "Renzo" Mongiardino (Italian pronunciation:
Biography
In 1936, Renzo Mongiardino moved from Genoa to Milan to study architecture; in 1942, he graduated from the Politecnico di Milano, together with
Mongiardino was responsible for creating some of the most important and enchanting houses of the second half of twentieth century, created for an international and prestigious clientele of cultured collectors and entrepreneurs including
In 1993, Rizzoli published “Roomscapes”, a lessons-learned monograph about Mongiardino in which revealed some of his standards of interior design, without forgetting his irreplaceable craftsmen and assistants able to transform his aesthetic dreams into reality; united to his “elective affinity that arrives after years of cooperation and in continuous exercise of affectionate understanding”.
After the arson of theatre "La Fenice" in 1996, Gae Aulenti assigned Mongiardino the project for the interior theatre refurbishment, a project which he was not able to complete.
Mongiardino died in Milan on 16 January 1998.
Style
The years of Mongiardino’s debut are those of the Modern Movement, but he resisted this new wave, fearing its effects, and perceiving an intrinsic lack of feeling. Instinct took him elsewhere, to seek the harmony of the antique that draws on and re-invents itself in a completely new way. The private nature of his projects and their nature, in the sense that they are an ends unto themselves, and will most likely not survive beyond the lives of their owners, brings with it the risk that Mongiardino’s name may not correspond to anything definite, but true only as evocation of the rich and famous world.
There are in fact several public works of Mongiardino, including two buildings built in Milan (in Via Donizetti and in via Borgonuovo), the restoration of several important hotels (the lobby bar at The Carlyle in New York, The Hotel Kulm in St. Moritz, The Plaza in Rome), as well as the restaurant ("Da Giacomo" in Milan) and several shops, including Sabbadini Jewelers on Milan's Via Montenapoleone. But these works are the exception that the primary focus of Mongiardino’s research, which was addressed almost exclusively to the preparation of domestic spaces, through a careful combination of the search for harmonious proportions and a love for the meticulous execution of every detail.
Before Mongiardino, houses were built in a particular historical style. Mongiardino revolutionized this methodology. He writes: "The houses are furnished, are created considering the structure, the skeleton, the intrinsic beauty, when there is. We believe we can invent a new house, a universal model that could be replicated identically in Naples as in Stockholm. But the house is not an invention, it is always the same shelter that man needs because he is tired, because he's hungry, because he has to sleep. Older houses were built on the extent of these practical needs, they expressed the authenticity of the goods and used the same limits imposed by available materials and technologies called for the pursuit of beauty in function. Skilled creator of spectacular spaces, he has been able to juxtapose ordinary objects and antiques, in a masterly game of fabrics or painted, and sculptured panels and a range of trompe-l'œil, whereby he obtained masterpieces with poor materials.
Fundamental in his work, however, is the determination of space, the search for a balance of proportions that must precede the decoration. Precisely this is his book "Roomscapes”. Only later Mongiardino inserted, with the sensitivity set designer, fakes and real objects presented without any hierarchy of values in a setting in which each subject was taking its natural space.
Set designs for theatre
- "Don Pasquale" (1958) Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa
- "Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
- "Comedie Française Paris
- "Tosca" (1964) directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Covent Garden, London
- "L'occasione fa il ladro" (1962), directed by Beppe Menegatti, Teatro alla Piccola Scala, Milan
- "The Great Gala" (1962), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Royal Albert Hall, London
- "Non si sa come" (1966–67), directed by Luigi Squarzina, Teatro Stabile in Genoa
- "Il Furioso all'isola di san Domingo" (1967), directed by Giancarlo Menotti, Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto
- "Nutcracker" (1967), choreography by Rudolf Nureyev, Kungliga Operan, Stockholm
- "Don Pasquale" (1968), directed by Giancarlo Menotti, Staatsoper, Hamburg
- "L'uomo più importante" (1971), directed by Giancarlo Menotti, Teatro Verdi, Trieste
- "Teatro La Fenice, Venice
- Teatro alla Scala, Milan
- "Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto
Film sets
- "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967), directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction[1]
- "Romeo and Juliet" (1968), directed by Franco Zeffirelli
- "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" (1972), directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction[2]
- "Beyond Good and Evil" (1977), directed by Liliana Cavani
Design objects
- Door handles etc., for the firm "Valli & Valli," M98 series
- Designed and re-designed Rattan and rattan-core sofas, chairs and armchairs for the company "Vittorio Bonacina", series Fidia, Crochet, Lisippo, 978, Arpa, Hall, Bourlon, Talide, Champagne Bar, Violet, Radiant, Elle, Astrea, Brando and Bramdo Bicolor, Valentino, Pan-Cake, Pashmina.
Selected filmography
Mongiardino was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction:
- The Taming of the Shrew (1967)
- Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
References
- ^ "The 40th Academy Awards (1968) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
- ^ "The 46th Academy Awards (1974) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
External links
- Lorenzo Mongiardino at IMDb
- Lorenzo Mongiardino at AllMovie