Biography

Born in Turin in 1916, his work as an architect was, however, concentrated primarily in Milan, the capital of Lombardy. Before Eugenio Gentili Tedeschi embarked on his professional career, he was shaped by his experiences as a partisan fighter during the final two years of World War II alongside his friend, the writer Primo Levi. Gentili Tedeschi was Jewish and, after the war, played a key role in the reconstruction of Jewish sites such as the synagogue, retirement homes, and schools of the Jewish community in Milan.

His work is characterized by Italian Rationalismo, a movement formed in the 1920s and 1930s by Gruppo 7 that emphasized functionalism and a clear, abstract, and geometric formal language. A 1935 lecture by its most prominent advocate, Edoardo Persico, on the future of architecture had a lasting influence on Gentili Tedeschi. Gentili Tedeschi began his career with Gio Ponti until 1943. After the war, he founded his own architectural firm and participated in numerous reconstruction projects, such as the design of the square in front of the main train station and the station at Porta Garibaldi. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was entrusted with major commissions, such as the construction of the ItalFarmaco industrial complex. His work as an architect and designer spanned numerous fields: public and private housing, industry, urban planning, industrial engineering, shipbuilding, design, and above all public buildings for schools and research institutions, as well as transportation infrastructure, hotel construction, and cinema design. Of particular importance are the new construction and restoration works carried out for the universities of Milan and Pavia.

Gentili Tedeschi passed on his knowledge as a teacher at the University of Venice and at the Politecnico di Milano as a professor of architectural design (1964–1986). He also wrote for numerous magazines such as CasaBella and Metron Magazine for Architecture, which he co-founded. One of his last projects, which was realized after his death, was the Holocaust memorial “Binario21” (Platform 21) at Milan Central Station, from where the deportations trains of Jews departed.

Objects by Eugenio Gentili Tedeschi