Romaldo Giurgola
Romaldo (Aldo) Giurgola (1920, Rome, Italy – ) is an Italian-American academic architect, professor, and author.
Giurgola was educated at the University of Rome La Sapienza, received a master's degree in architecture from Columbia University, and has been a partner in Philadelphia firm Mitchell/Giurgola Architects since 1958. He has been a professor at Cornell and at the University of Pennsylvania, then at Columbia, before becoming chair of the Columbia architectural department in 1966. He was awarded the AIA Gold Medal in 1982.
The first important building of Mitchell/Giurgola was the Wright Brothers Memorial Visitor Center (1957) for the US National Park Service, a building that brought them national attention for three reasons. It was among the first of those NPS visitors' centers, which became an building type unto itself. The design was consonant with a certain aesthetic preoccupation with aviation, flight, technology and space travel of the time, the same Zeitgeist that produced Saarinen's TWA Terminal at Kennedy International Airport. And it was seen as a break with strict modernism tenants in its respect for the site and the program, as opposed to what Guirgola called "the imposition of abstract forms".
In Philadelphia Guirgola had formed a relationship with Louis I. Kahn, who held simliar views. In April 1961 the architectural critic Jan Rowan grouped Guirgola, Kahn, Robert Venturi, George Qualls, Robert Geddes and others into "The Philadelphia School". Guirgola has published several books on Kahn's work and philosophy.
After winning the 1980 international competition for the landmark Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Guirgola moved to Australia and practices there.
Major projects:
- United Fund Headquarters Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1971)
- Columbus East High School, Columbus, Indiana (1972)
- Lang Music Building, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania (1973)
- Tredyffrin Public Library, Strafford, Pennsylvania (1976)
- Life Sciences Building, on the campus of Columbia University (1977)
- Australian Parliament House, Canberra, Australia (1981-1988)
- INA Tower, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Layfayette Place (now Swissotel), Boston, Massachusetts (1985)
- Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasilia, Brazil
- Penn Mutual Tower, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania