Leoni Giovanni

Giovanni Leoni (b. 1958)

1984 Ma, IUAV, Venice, Italy

1988 PhD in History of Architecture, IUAV, Venice, Italy

1996-99 Assistant Professor, Politecnico di Bari, Italy

1999-2002 Associate Professor, Politecnico di Bari, Italy

2002-05 Full Professor, Politecnico di Bari, Italy

2006-present Full Professor, chair in History of Architecture, Università di Bologna, Italy

2006-12 Vice-Dean and Coordinator of Master in Architecture, Facoltà di Architettura “Aldo Rossi”, Università di Bologna

2011-12 Member (Engineering and Architecture area), Research Evaluation Board, Università di Bologna

2012-15 Director, Department of Architecture, Università di Bologna

2016-present Coordinator, PhD Program in Architecture, Università di Bologna

He has researched on architecture of the sixteenth century in Ferrara (Christ the Gardener and the chain of symbols: the gardens around the walls of sixteenth-century Ferrara, J. D. Hunt, ed., The Italian Garden, Cambridge University Press, 1996; Ferrara: una capitale in declino, in: L'architettura del secondo Cinquecento in Italia, a cura di C. Conforti e R. Tuttle, Electa, Milano 2001; La fortuna critica di G. B. Aleotti, in: C. Cavicchi, F. Ceccarelli, R. Torlontano, Giovan Battista Aleotti e l'architettura, Diabasis, Reggio Emilia 2003).

He works on art and architecture theory in 19th century, particularly on John Ruskin (J. Ruskin, Opere, a cura di G. Leoni, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1987; J. Ruskin, Turner e i Preraffaelliti, a cura di G. Leoni, Einaudi, Torino 1992; J. Ruskin, Pittori moderni, 2 voll., traduzione e cura di G. Leoni, Einaudi, Torino 1998; Architecture as Commentary: Ruskin's Pre-Modern Architectural Thought and its Influence on Modern Architecture in: AA.VV., Ruskin and Modernism, G. Cianci, P. Nicholls, ed., Palgrave, Houndmills, Basingstoke-New York, 2001). Most recent publication on this topic: Il comandamento scritto nelle cose. Sul problema del restauro in John Ruskin / The Commandment Written within Things. John Ruskin and the Issue of Restoration, in J. Ruskin, Il riposo di S. Marco / St. Mark's Rest, M. Pretelli, a cura / ed., Collana Politecnica, Maggioli Editore, S. Arcangelo di Romagna 2010). He is working on a book about the figures of architectural creativity in John Ruskin’s writings.

He works on contemporary architecture, especially on Portuguese and Italian Post-War Architecture.

He is chief editor of the academic review Histories of Postwar Architecture (hpa.unibo.it)

Main publications on Portuguese Post-War Architecture: Eduardo Souto Moura (with A. Esposito, Electa, Milano 2003; Spanish and Portuguese ed. Gili, Barcelona 2003; English ed. Phaidon, London 2004; 2006; Italian extended ed. Electa, Milano 2012; English extended ed. Phaidon, Londra 2013); Fernando Távora; Opera completa (con A. Esposito, Electa, Milano 2005); Cosmopolitism vs Internationalism in Contemporary Portoguese Architecture: Távora, Siza and Souto Moura in F. Bethencourt ed., Cosmopolitanism in the Portuguese-Speaking Countries, Brill, Leiden 2017. Main publication in progress: Italian edition of Fernando Távora’s Diary (1960) with A. Esposito, R. Maddaluno (supported by Fundação Gulbenkian, Lisbon and Fundação Marques da Silva, Porto).

From 2002 to 2009 he has been chief editor of the Italian/English review “d'Architettura” (Motta Architettura, Gruppo Sole 24 Ore), a journal specifically devoted to Italian architecture, current and of the 20th century. As part of this commitment he was curator of many exhibitions (I linguaggi alti della architettura italiana / I linguaggi altri della architettura italiana, with A. Trentin, Festival dell’Architettura, Parma, S. Ludovico, Oct. 23-29, 2006; Laboratorio Italia, Roma, Ex Casa di Correzione del San Michele, Sala Clementina, May-Jun. 2006), conferences and other publications.

He has directed cataloguing campaigns on Italian modern and contemporary architectonic heritage, particularly in Emilia Romagna, (Teatro Storchi, Mucchi, Modena 1990; Trentacinque progetti per Fossoli, Electa, Milano 1990; "The first blow": Projects for the Camp at Fossoli, G. Hartman, ed., Holocaust Remembrance. The Shapes of Memory, Blackwell, Cambridge 1993; La casa popolare. Storia istituzionale e storia quotidiana dello IACP di Modena. 1907-1997, Electa, Milano 1998, con S. Maffei; Modena, Reggio Emilia, Parma, Piacenza, in M. Casciato, P. Orlandi, Quale e quanta architettura in Emilia-Romagna nel Secondo Novecento, CLUEB, Bologna 2005, in collaboration with Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism; Secondo Novecento a Reggio Emilia, in A. Zamboni, C. Gandolfi, L’architettura del Novecento a Reggio Emilia, Bruno Mondadori, Milano 2011; Il campo della cultura a Modena: storia, luoghi e sfera pubblica, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2011, cura, con A. Borsari, V. Borghi; Il Novecento a Modena. Le qualità dell’architettura e i processi di costruzione della città, in V. Bulgarelli, C. Mazzeri, a cura, Città e architetture. Il Novecento a Modena, Franco Cosimo Panini Editore, Modena 2013; Storia e identità dei luoghi di lavoro nella Modena del Novecento in V. Bulgarelli, C. Mazzeri, a cura, Architetture del lavoro nella Modena del Novecento, Panini, Modena 2015).

He is now working on a research about the themes of discontinuity in Italian Post-War architectonic culture (In memoria dell’altra resistenza: il Museo-Monumento dei BBPR a Carpi in AA.VV., Il Muso-Monumento del Deportato politico e razziale a Carpi, BUP, Bologna 2016; L’Anonimo come tema di discontinuità nella cultura architettonica italiana tra Primo e Secondo Novecento in Un palazzo in forma di parole. Scritti in onore di Paolo Carpeggiani, C. Togliani, a cura, Franco Angeli, 2016; Anonymous as a theme of discontinuity in the culture of Italian architecture between the first and second halves of the 20th century, CRC Press / Balkema Taylor and Francis, Group, Leiden 2017; Cosmopolitismo vs internazionalismo: la questione dello “stile” agli esordi di Gabetti e Isola in G. Canella, P. Mellano, Roberto Gabetti 1925-2000, Franco Angeli, Milano 2017).

He has worked on divulging and educational publishing about modern and contemporary architecture.

Between 2007 and 2010 he conceived and curated MINIMUM Essential Architecture Library (first two series, Motta Architettura, Gruppo Sole 24 Ore). The Italian version of the series was published, as well as in library, in attachment to the popular magazine “L’Espresso”. The series has been translated in English (Motta), Portuguese (Folha de São Paulo, 2011), French (GRANDS ARCHITECTES, Actes Sud), Chinese (Dalian University of Technology Press). Books as author in the series: Mies van der Rohe (Italian, French, Portuguese); David Chipperfield (Italian, Portuguese, Chinese); Norman Foster (Italian, French, Portuguese, Chinese) Àlvaro Siza (Italian, English, Portuguese). Between 2007 and 2010 he conceived and curated CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE, essential monographs on geographical basis (Motta Architettura, Gruppo Sole 24 Ore, French version by ACTES SUD, Italian version in attachment to the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, 2011).

Director, with Andrea Borsari, of the séminaire: Habiter le temps: dialogues d’architecture et philosophie al Collège International de Philosophie (Parigi, 2016).

Member of the Scientific Committee of the network Mapping Architectural Criticism (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Francia, partner Université Rennes 2; Archives de la critique d’art, Rennes; Bartlett School; ETH Zurigo; Columbia University; Musée d’Orsay).

He is founding member of AISTARCH Italian Society of Architectural Historians and member of the scientific committee of “Ricerche di Storia dell’Architettura”, journal of the Society.

Chief member of the Scientific Committee, Fossoli Foundation (www.fondazionefossoli.org/it/)

Member of the Scientific Committee of Urban Centre Bologna (since 2012, as representative of Bologna University).

Member of the Scientific Committee of Urban Centre Parma (since 2008).

Member of the Scientific Committee in Public Debate for the New Highway Bypass of Bologna (2016, Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport)

Member of Advisory Board of Bologna Strategic Metropolitan Plan (2017, Bologna Metropolitan City – University of Bologna)

He works as a referee for academic institutions and editorial board (SEPS for European Culture; Fundação do Ministério de Ciência e Tecnologia de Portugal FCT, adviser Triennale’s Gold Medal, Zevi Foundation).

He has directed PhD thesis co-tutoring with École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris; École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE) Paris; Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Barcelona; Faculdade de Arquitectura, Porto.

Coordinator (University of Bologna) of ROCK Regeneration and Optimisation of Cultural heritage in creative and Knowledge cities (2017-2020, Cultural Heritage as a driver for sustainable growth, Horizon 2020 SC5-21 https://rockproject.eu)