Ticinese architects
in Ukraine
Starting from the experiences and the results achieved in this field of study by the Archivio del Moderno of the Università della Svizzera italiana, the project and the site that documents it intend to offer a platform around which to federate present and future research on the work of architects from Ticino in Ukraine: architects who offered, even in this geographical context, a significant contribution to the construction of cities and the territory, over a prolonged period of time that reaches the threshold of the 20th century.
The site, destined to further developments, is centred on two main pages: one dedicated to the Biographies of architects from Ticino (but also of engineers, master builders, craftsmen and artists working in the building sector) active in Ukraine and the one presenting their Works (completed or not, and therefore also including projects considered significant but which remained on paper). The entries that make up this last page will be accompanied by an iconographic apparatus and essential bibliographical references. The first entries present a selection of buildings designed by Ticinese architects in Odesa: a choice suggested by the particular extent and relevance of the contribution they made to the construction of this city with a cosmopolitan vocation, a place of encounter and exchange between different cultures and at the same time unique for its peculiar physiognomy.
The starting team of this research project, promoted by the Archivio del Moderno of the Università della Svizzera italiana, consists of Nicola Navone, Deputy Director of the Archivio del Moderno and project leader, and Guillaume Nicoud, an aggregate researcher at the Archivio del Moderno, who were later joined by Iryna Balmeli, research assistant at the Archivio del Moderno (for more details see the Research Team page), and will be expanded to include the contribution and expertise of Ukrainian and other research institutions active in this field of study.
