Architect and historian Leonardo Benevolo dies at 93

Leonardo Benevolo, the Italian architect, urban planner, and historian, died on January 5, 2017, at age 93 after a long illness. Born in 1923 in the province of Novara, he studied at the University of Rome, earning his degree in 1946. He taught at universities in Florence, Venice, Palermo, and Rome, and served as a visiting professor internationally. As a practitioner, he consulted on urban planning and architectural projects in several Italian cities. He is best known for designing the San Polo district in Brescia, completed in the 1990s, and also worked in Bologna, Ferrara, Urbino, Modena, Venice, Rome, Palermo, and Turin. His seminal work, "Storia dell'architettura moderna," first published by Laterza in 1960, educated generations of Italian architects through multiple editions. In 2003, he received the Gold Medal for Meritorious of Culture and Art. His later books focused on Rome and Venice, with his final volume, "Il tracollo dell'urbanistica italiana," published in 2012.