Nello Baroni Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Nello Baroni was born on 27 October 1906 in Florence in Via Coluccio Salutati 11, in the   Colonna-Gavinana, from the second marriage of Niccolò Baroni, theatrical lighting technician, with Anna Benedetti, originally from   Santa Fiora   on the   Mount Amiata. He completed his studies in Florence at the Technical Schools and from 1922 attended the Art School, where he became friends with   Italo Gamberini. Read the full biography

Nello Baroni was born on 27 October 1906 in Florence in Via Coluccio Salutati 11, in the   Colonna-Gavinana, from the second marriage of Niccolò Baroni, theatrical lighting technician, with Anna Benedetti, originally from   Santa Fiora   on the   Mount Amiata. He completed his studies in Florence at the Technical Schools and from 1922 attended the Art School, where he became friends with   Italo Gamberini. Not being able to study mechanical engineering, for which there is no teaching in Florence, in 1927 he enrolled at the Royal School of Architecture in Florence, where he was a student, among others, of   Raffaello Brizzi,   Raffaello Fagnoni   And   Giovanni Michelucci.

In 1931 he took part in the V Tuscan Regional Art Exhibition in Florence and presented a project, in collaboration with   Italo Gamberini, in the competition for an Italian-style public garden, as part of the Italian Garden Exhibition, which takes place in   Palazzo Vecchio. In the same year some of his woodcuts were presented in Florence at the Black and White Exhibition, while his school projects were published in "La Casabella" by   Giuseppe Pagano.

In March 1932 he collaborated with   Giovanni Michelucci   And   Adalberto Libera   to the preparation of the III National Exhibition of Rational Architecture, held in Florence at the Galleria Bellini in   Feroni Palace; on this occasion he exhibited drawings and models in the section dedicated to "certain types of airplanes, ships, machines and their parts".

In December 1932 he participated as a member of the   Gruppo Toscano, in collaboration with   Pier Niccolò Berardi,   Italo Gamberini,   Sarre Guarnieri,   Leonardo Lusanna   And   Giovanni Michelucci, in the competition for the new Travelers Building of the   Florence Santa Maria Novella station.

In the same month he was appointed assistant to   Brunetto Chiaramonti   to the Chair of Applications of Descriptive Geometry and Scenography of the School of Architecture of Florence, a position that was confirmed annually until 1944.

On 1 January 1933 he was among the signatories of the founding manifesto of the Futurist Initiative Groups, directed by Antonio Marasco of Independent Futurist Block of Florence. On the 25th of the same month, having as speaker   Raffaello Brizzi graduated with honors from the School of Architecture of Florence, discussing the thesis of the project for the Florence Airport. He then obtained the qualification to practice the profession at the School of Architecture of Naples.

In February 1933 the project of   Tuscan Group   is proclaimed the winner of the competition for the new Traveler Building of the   Florence Santa Maria Novella station. After bitter controversies, which found ample space in the local and national press, in June 1933 the project was definitively approved and   Tuscan Group   the direction of the works was also entrusted (1933-35).

Together with   Tuscan group, made up of soloists   Pier Niccolò Berardi,   Italo Gamberini   And   Leonardo Lusanna also carried out a series of important interventions: the project for the Compartmental Palace (1934) and the connecting building between the Royal Pavilion and the   Palazzo Giuntini   (1935), both works linked to the construction of the new Florence station; the project of the Giuseppe Mancini Gold Medal Stadium (1934), the Training Field (circa 1934), the Casa del Balilla (1934-37) and the project of the new building for the Italian Youth of Littorio (1937), all   Arezzo; the project for the Casa del Balilla by   Pisa   (1935); the competition project for the Stadium and Swimming Pool   Reggio Emilia   (1935), which obtained the first prize ex aequo, and the one for the new Fabbricato Viaggiatori of the   Venice Santa Lucia station   (1935).

The first works carried out independently in Florence were the Cavaciocchi Store (1933), the reorganization of the Annibale Foscari Local Group Headquarters (1934) and the Mazzoni Gelateria Bar Counter (1935).

In the same years he took part in conferences, conventions and exhibitions: he was a   Milan   at the Triennale of 1933 and that of 1936; in Florence he participated in the III National Agricultural Exhibition in 1934   Cascine Park   and at the 1st Exhibition of Scenography and Stagecraft, as part of the larger 7th Exhibition of the Tuscan Fine Arts Union; in 1935 he went to   Rome   at the XIII International Congress of Architects; in 1937 in Florence he took care of the setting up of the environments of the ENAPI Competitions at the VII National Craft Market Exhibition.

In 1935 he married Rita Ciardetti, from whom his two daughters Fiorenza and Ilaria were born.

In recent years he collaborated in the activities of the Teatro Sperimentale of Via Laura in Florence, where he most likely met   Maurizio Tempestini. Particularly significant is his work in the field of scenography and theatrical stagecraft, subjects which he taught at the Art School and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence until 1944. In this sense we remember the stage setting in Florence, in collaboration with Mario Chiari , for La Tancia di   Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger   In the   Boboli's Garden   (1936); those for The Hypocrite of   Pietro Aretino   and for I due Stenterelli Gemelli by Luigi Del Buono al   Pergola Theatre   (1939); the one for La Clizia di   Niccolo Machiavelli   at the   Villa Medici in Poggio a Caiano, then re-proposed to   Saint Gimignano   and at the Pergola (1939); that for   Turandot   Of   Giacomo Puccini   at the Teatro Comunale, for the VI   Maggio Musicale Fiorentino   (1940), in collaboration with Umberto Brunelleschi; the one not performed for The King and the Wise Woman by   Carl Orff, again at the Comunale for the X Maggio Musicale (1944).

In 1936 he made a trip to Germany, where he visited the cities of   Monk,   Berlin   And   Hamburg   and goes as far as the island of   Helgoland.

In the years 1936-38, in collaboration with Vincenzo Cinelli, he designed the Edil-Iso perforated block construction system, for which he also obtained the patent, which was intended for the construction of integral circulation insulating walls in the territories of the Italian colonies.

Commissioned by Riccardo Castellani, he created the Cinema-Teatro Rex (1936-37) in Florence, which marked his debut in the field of cinematographic and theatrical architecture and is unanimously considered his most representative work.

Since 1937 he has had a studio in Florence in Via dei Sassetti 1, together with   Pietro Porcinai, with whom he carried out the renovation of Villa Fassia a   Gubbio   (1937-38) and the restoration project of   Villa La Sfacciata   in Florence (1939), created only after the war.

Among the numerous shop layouts carried out in Florence we remember the Latteria Nistri (1938), the Galligani shop (1938), the Poggiali shop (1938-39), the Settepassi shop on   Old Bridge   (1939-40), the latter in collaboration with   Maurizio Tempestini.

At the end of the 1930s he also created the decoration of the Palace of the Corporations for the visit of   Hitler   in Florence (1938) and the reorganization of the headquarters of the Gastone Bartolini neighborhood group al   Galluzzo   (1939-41); with   Pietro Porcinai   And   Maurizio Tempestini   carries out the renovation of Villa Benelli in Florence (1938-41) and the MARMAR Villas in   Tirrenia   (1940-41), destroyed during the war; other significant works are the industrial plant Cereria Triestina a   Trieste   (1939-41), the arrangement of the facades of the Valdarno Electric Company building in Florence (1940) and the Bianchi Chapel in the Misericordia Cemetery in   Pistoia   (1941-42), performed in collaboration with   Pietro Porcinai.

In 1940 he moved with his family to the new home in Via dei Bardi 33 in Florence, where he personally took care of the furnishings. In the same year he opened the new studio in Lungarno Corsini 6, together with   Pietro Porcinai   And   Maurizio Tempestini; With his two colleagues he made a trip to 1941   Vienna.

During the war years, forced into forced inactivity, he dedicated himself to photography with notable results and published some of his articles accompanied by images in the magazine "La Strada". He also made a series of documentary films and created the Sigma cinema projector for 8 and 16 mm short-pitch films, for which he obtained the international patent in 1944, which was published in 1946 by Ernesto N. Rogers in "Domus".

Between 1944 and 1946, on behalf of the Superintendence of Monuments of Florence, he carried out appraisals, consolidations and restorations of buildings damaged by war events in the provinces of Florence, Pistoia and Arezzo; in this sense we remember in Florence the Palazzo and the Acciaioli Tower, the Amidei, Baldovinetti, Carducci or dei Consorti, Gherardini, Mannelli, Tolomei Towers; to   Badia a Settimo   the Church of Saints Salvatore and Lorenzo, where he had the poet's tomb relocated   Dino Campana; in Lastra a Signa the Baccio Tower and the Church of San Martino a Gangalandi; to   Pistoia   the Church of San Giovanni al Corso.

In 1945 he created the illustrations and photographs for the book The wool industry in Prato at the end of the war.

With   Lando Bartoli, Mario Focacci,   Italo Gamberini   and Carlo Maggiora won the competition for the new Ponte della Vittoria in Florence (1945-46), which was built but the finishing works remained unfinished.

The reconstruction activity carried out on behalf of the Superintendency marked a new interest in issues related to urban planning: in 1946 he was in fact among the organizers of the Tuscan Conference for Building Reconstruction; it also carries out the Reconstruction Plan of   Castiglion Fiorentino   (1946-47), in collaboration with Ferdinando Rossi; that of   Forte dei Marmi   (1946-48), in collaboration with Domenico Cardini, Romolo Galeotti, Franco Grana; finally draws up the new Master Plan of   Lawn   (1946-54).

After the war he participated in the activities of numerous cultural associations in Florence: in 1945 he was among the founders of the Florentine section of the APAO Association for Organic Architecture; since 1945 he has also been a member of the Circolo Antichità e Belle Arti, of the Amici del Paesaggio Society and of the Leonardo da Vinci Society; since 1947 he has been a member of the Photographic Group of the Italian Optical Association; since 1948 of the Italian Studio of Art History; since 1951 of the Fiorentina Union; since 1952 he has been Resident Academic of the Academy of Drawing Arts in Florence.

He also holds important public offices: in 1947 he is called to be part of the competition commission for the reconstruction of Via Grande and   Big Square   to   Livorno; in 1951 of the Competition Commission for the new church in the Marco Polo district a   Viareggio.

In 1946 he completed the Sbisà shop in   Piazza della Signoria   in Florence; for the same company he designed a dismantled stand at the Milan Fair in 1948. Other interesting installations include the Bechi Shop (1947) in the Gherardini Tower in Florence; the Brandini one (1947) in Via dei Calzaiuoli; those Campolmi (1950-51) and Marchi (1953-54) in Por Santa Maria; the Bigagli one (1953-54) in Via Santa Margherita.

The Lungarno Corsini 6 studio evolved with the creation in 1946 of the OP Organization of Professionals for Synthesis in Work, which aimed to achieve a perfect synthesis between the different disciplines, architecture, furniture and garden art. This phase includes important interventions carried out in collaboration with   Pietro Porcinai   And   Maurizio Tempestini: the urban planning and swimming pool project for the Lido of Florence (1946) and the subdivision of the garden of Villa Baldi in Florence (1947), with Porcinai alone; the reorganization of the Grotta Giusti a spa and hotel   Monsummano Terme   (1947); the Restaurant-Dancing   The compass   to   Le Focette   (1947-48); the Roof-Garden of the Excelsior Hotel in Florence (1951) and the Eden Roc Bar-Restaurant in   Monterinaldi   (1951-52), with Tempestini alone.

In 1947 he took the exam to qualify for teaching and became a professor in the Chair of Applications of Descriptive Geometry at the Faculty of Architecture in Florence.

In the field of cinematographic and theatrical architecture he carried out important interventions such as the reconstruction of the stage of the Apollo Cinema-Theatre (1946), destroyed by fire; the restoration of   Pergola Theatre   (1948), in collaboration with Ferdinando Rossi and Gastone R. Simonetti; the restoration of   Verdi Theatre   in Florence (1949-50), in collaboration with   Maurizio Tempestini; the Cinema Stadium in Florence (1947-51); the Cinema Don Fazzini a   Vernio market   (1952-55), at   Lawn; The   Capitol Cinema   in Florence (1953-57), in collaboration with Maurizio Tempestini; the restoration of   Metastasio Theatre   to   Lawn   (1954-58), completed by Enzo Ciardetti and Leone Trenti.

On behalf of the University of Florence, he carried out the reorganization of the former Convent of Santa Apollonia (1949-53), to house the Student Canteen, the Dance Room and the Room for Foreigners; the new headquarters of the Faculty of Law and Political Science in Via Laura (1949-56); the arrangement of the Aula Magna and the Dean's Room for the Faculty of Architecture in the former Convent of   Santa Maria degli Angeli   (circa 1951).

The production in the field of private residential construction is also very interesting: the Villino Giusti in Florence (1945-47); that Castellani a   Viareggio   (1946-48); the Villa Canale project a   Viareggio   (1947-48); the Villa Crespi a   Tirrenia   (1948-52); the Villa Generoso project a   Montecatini Terme   (1951); the Villa Benelli a   Lawn   (1951-52); the Villa Fontana in Florence (1951-54), for which he received the Golden Florin Award for Architecture in 1954; the Casa Berni in Florence (1953-55); the residential house and hotel in   Lawn   (1953-55); the Villas Magnelli (circa 1955) and Quercioli (1956-57) a   San Domenico of Fiesole; the Villa Ferrara project a   Forte dei Marmi   (1956); the Villa Klein in Florence (1956-58); the Villa all'Ugolino project (1957); the residential house of the La Primavera Cooperative in Florence (1957-58), completed by Aterino Aterini, Enzo Ciardetti, Ugo Saccardi and Leone Trenti.

He also organized the exhibition of documents on the life of Lorenzo the Magnificent in Palazzo Strozzi in Florence (1949), in collaboration with   Maurizio Tempestini; the dining room and bedroom furniture exhibited in Florence at the XIX National Crafts Exhibition (1955).

Among other interventions we highlight: the reorganization of the Headquarters of the   Rare Nantes Florentia   (1949-50) and the Garage Gavinana (1950) in Florence; the expansion of the Dessy Biological Institute in San Domenico (1952-53); the reconstruction of the Bell Tower of the Church of   Badia a Settimo   (1956-57).

Over the years he maintained friendly relationships with the sculptors Giannetto Mannucci and Mario Moschi and with the painters Giovanni Colacicchi, Rodolfo Margheri and Enzo Pregno.

Struck by an incurable disease, he died at the age of just 51, on 28 May 1958. One year after his death, the Academy of Drawing Arts pays homage to him, with a retrospective exhibition of his work in the hall of Piazza San Marco in Florence (20-30 June 1959).

From C. Cordoni,   Nello Baroni Architect (1906-1958). Archive inventory, Edifir, Florence, 2008.