Fire destroys Giacomo Leone's Cutoliscio theatre in Catania

On November 11, a massive fire destroyed the Cutoliscio theatre in Catania's Le Ciminiere complex, designed by architect Giacomo Leone (1929-2016). The fire started outside during maintenance work and spread rapidly to the wooden structure. The theatre, shaped like a smooth stone (cutoliscio in Sicilian dialect), featured two stacked halls seating 600 and 1,200, and was clad in Etna volcanic ash. Only the reinforced concrete ground floor skeleton survived. The loss highlights the neglect of 20th-century architectural heritage in Italy. Leone's work, praised by critics like Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi as "the best Sicilian postwar architect," remains understudied. The complex was originally a sulfur industrial plant converted into a cultural hub. Leone declined a monograph by Bruno Zevi, reflecting his belief that architecture belongs to the city. The fire occurred just days after another Leone work in the same complex was found destroyed and abandoned.