Mellon Lecture - Maristella Casciato




Canadian Centre for Architecture / Centre Canadien d’Architecture show

Summary: Maristella Casciato, 2010 CCA Mellon Senior Fellow and Professor of Architectural History, School of Architecture "Aldo Rossi" at Cesena, University of Bologna, speaks on the important contribution of Swiss born architect Pierre Jeanneret to the construction of Chandigarh, India. Jeanneret is mostly known to the public as the cousin of Le Corbusier. This lecture takes out of the shadows his skill as designer, planner, technician, manager, and educator facing the construction of Indian post-colonial new architecture. Maristella Casciato’s scholarly studies focus on the history of twentieth century European architecture with an emphasis on the Dutch contribution, on Italian domestic culture from the nineteenth century onward, and on the architectural culture of post WWII reconstruction in Italy. She was a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship (1992) and a Visiting Professorship at the Institut national d’historire d’art in Paris (2004). She has served as chair of Docomomo International from 2002 until 2009. She has taught at MIT, Harvard University, Cornell University, Universidad de Navarra and Università di Roma Tre. Her recent publications include: "A New Town Planned Literally from A to Z", in Chandigarh 1956. Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Jane B. Drew, E. Maxwell Fry, with photographs by Ernst Scheidegger (2010); "Chandigarh, Brasilia: Two Modern Capital Cities. Model, Landscape, Monument", in Twilight of the Plan: Chandigarh and Brasilia(2007); "I concorsi per gli edifici pubblici: 1927-36", in Storia dell’Architettura Italiana; Il primo Novecento (2004); Il Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana. Architettura e Costruzione del Colosseo Quadrato (2002). The CCA Mellon Foundation Senior Fellowship Program was established in 2001 to encourage advanced research in architectural history and thought. With the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, distinguished scholars of international repute are appointed Mellon Senior Fellows and join others in residence at the CCA Study Centre for extended periods each year. Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, 18 November 2010