Lucio Passarelli: The Architect Who Shaped Rome

Lucio Passarelli, a prolific Roman architect who designed over 100 major works in the capital, is reassessed by critic Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi. Passarelli's career spanned from the 1940s to the 2010s, marked by collaborations with Bruno Zevi and participation in the InArch association. His most celebrated work is the palazzina on Via Campania, a building that combines rationalist and organic languages, influenced by Eero Saarinen and Kevin Roche. Despite his output, Passarelli's legacy was overshadowed by the Tendenza movement and anti-Zevi currents. He served on Rome's urban planning commission in 1991 alongside figures like Masino Valle and Vanna Fraticelli. Passarelli died in 2019, leaving behind a body of work that includes the Vatican Museums extension, the Massimo school, the Sheraton hotel, and public housing at Vigne Nuove.