Mario Gottardi Biography
Mario Gottardi was born in Venice in 1913. He graduated from the Polytechnic of Milan in 1939 and since then, in the Lombardy capital, he has carried out an intense and multifaceted activity. The areas of intervention range from urban planning to restoration, from public and private constructions, to naval, hotel, private and theater furnishings both in Italy and abroad. His university career, carried out at the University of Pavia, saw him engaged as early as 1949 as an ordinary assistant at the Institute of Drawing. In recent years he designed and built private villas including Villa la Caravella on Lake Garda; Villa Montanaro in Riccione and Villa Marinotti in Tai di Cadore. Freelance teacher since 1955, he is professor of Drawing at the Faculty of Science and in 1965 he becomes Director of the Institute itself. In 1973 he became a permanent professor at the Faculty of Engineering. His profession began in Venice, his hometown, with restoration works including Palazzo Mocenigo known as "il Nero" and Palazzo Contarini delle Figure on the Grand Canal. In 1951 he renovated the interiors and created the furnishings of the Hotel Bauer Grunwald. In 1958 he collaborated on the urban planning of Piazzale Roma. The church of S. Pietro Martire in Cinisello Balsamo dates back to 1965, between 1966 and 1969 he developed the project for the new Conchiglia Grand Hotel Torre di Madesimo and from 1965 to 1968 he dedicated himself to the construction of the San Babila theater and cultural center in Milan in addition to other interior projects, hotels, cinemas and various private apartments and among the design works we remember the door of the entrance to the vault of the Lips Vago Bank from 1968. In 1970 he worked on the planning of the tourist complexes of Marmaria, Kiris North and Aksu East in Turkey. The renovations of the headquarters of the Alleanza Assicurazioni in Viale Luigi Sturzo (Milan), the offices of the Zurigo group in Piazza Carlo Erba (Milan) and the construction of the parish complex of Sesto San Giovanni date back to the 1990s. Participation in competitions, which had already begun in 1953, saw him successfully involved in some projects. He won, at various times, competitions for the ships Cristoforo Colombo (1953), Leonardo da Vinci (1958), Michelangelo (1962), for which he created the furnishings. He also took part in the competition for the "Repertoire of Typical Projects" of the Lombardy Region, for the Center Pompidou in Paris, for "Three Churches for 2000" and for Piazza Duomo in Milan. His activity as an architect designer continued until his death on 18 August 2004 in Lanzo d'Intelvi (CO). In 2013, to celebrate the centenary of his birth, the "Ideas Competition" prize announced by the College of Engineers and Architects of Milan was dedicated to him for the design of a cycle/pedestrian walkway on the Naviglio della Martesana. On the occasion of the award ceremony, an exhibition of his sketches and preparatory drawings was set up in the Salone d'Onore of the Triennale di Milano.
