Gino Valle

Born in Udine, Italy in 1923, Gino Valle was one of the most original and creative figures to emerge in post-war European architecture. He studied at the IUAV in Venice before receiving a Fulbright Scholarship for Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, USA. He later became a consultant in product design at Solari and Zanussi, where he won the Golden Compass prize in 1956, 1962 and 1963 for his projects. 

Throughout his career he was associated with a great intellectual curiosity and had a genuine passion for experimentation with new construction systems which led to the development of an architectural work resolutely open and multiform. Whether in the smaller towns of Friuli and Veneto or in metropolitan centres such as New York, Paris or Berlin, Valle realised a wide range of important works: social housing and banks, factories and offices, town halls and courthouses. These buildings make valuable contributions to debates concerning the relationship between new architecture and historic surroundings, between industrial and open landscape, and urban design and architectural intervention.

Our book Modern and Site-Specific: The Architecture of Gino Valle, 1946-2003 is the first monograph in English to provide insightful analysis on Valle's complete architectural work as well as a critical biography.