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Carlo Mollino

Carlo Mollino

Carlo Mollino (May 6, 1905 - August 27, 1973) was an Italian architect and designer.

Born in Turin, Italy, Carlo Mollino was the son of Eugenio Mollino, an engineer.
As he grew up, Carlo Mollino became interested in a variety of topics that were
as outrageous as his art, such as design, architecture, the occult, and race cars.

He was once credited as saying, "Everything is permissible as long as it
is fantastic." That credo was certainly reflected throughout his body of
work. Mollino's architecture and furniture are famous for their ability to enable
occupants to manipulate volumes at a whim.

Carlo Mollino died in 1973, while still working.

In 1930, Carlo Mollino started his career as an architect designing a house in
Forte dei Marmi and receiving the G.Pistono prize for architecture. Between 1933
and 1948, he worked in his father's office, and took part in several architecture
competitions (e.g. the Farmers Association Building in Cuneo, the Fascist House
in Voghera, and, after World War II, the Monument to the Partisan, which was created
in collaboration with the sculptor Umberto Mastroianni. The Monument to the Partisan
was placed in the Generale cemetery of Torino after winning the competition.

Between 1936 and 1939, Mollino designs, in collaboration with Vittorio Baudi di
Selve, the Società Ippica Torinese building in Torino, considered his masterpiece.
However, this building was destroyed in 1960. This work breaks with the past and
the regime, refusing the rationalist school and taking inspiration from Alvar
Aalto and Eric Mendelsohn.

Carlo Mollino loved the mountains and was a ski enthusiast; he wrote the book
"Trattato sul Discesismo" where he explained his personal skiing technique
with many illustrations. He designed some mountain houses like the Casa del Sole
in Cervinia, Italy and the Slittovia of Lago Nero in Sauze d'Oulx, Italy. In this
work, all the art of Mollino is shown: a large, modern terrace protruding from
the main volume contrasts with the traditional materials of the building. This
building, placed on the ski runs and reachable during the winter only by ski,
has been restored in 2001 and now contains temporary expositions.

In 1952, Mollino designed the RAI Auditorium in Torino, which was radically restored
bringing big changes to the original structure in 2006.

In the first half of the sixties, he directed the team of architects responsible
for the design of the INA-Casa district in Torino and he is placed second in the
competition for the design of the Palazzo del Lavoro building in Torino, won by
Pier Luigi Nervi, for the 100th anniversary celebration of the unification of
Italy (1961).

In the last years of his life (between 1965 and 1973) he designed the two buildings
that made him famous: the Camera di Commercio building and the Teatro Regio Torino
(Regio Theater), both in Torino. Before his death he completes the projects for
the FIAT Directional Centre in Candiolo, the AEM building in Torino, and the Club
Mediterranèe in Sestriere.