Starting with the first exhibition dedicated to Andrea Palladio, "The Portico and the Farmyard," this project aims to highlight an unpublished and unjustly overlooked subject in historiography: the pseudo-fortified villa in 16th-century Northern Italy.
This exhibition delves into the architectural production of the Cremonese territory during the 16th century, specifically exploring the experiments of architects Francesco and Giuseppe Dattaro and pseudo-fortified examples such as the Marmirolo building, which was the subject of my first book. We previously organized three successful exhibitions at the Musée National de la Renaissance in Paris, the Casa del Mantegna in Mantua, and San Vitale in Cremona. These exhibitions featured significant contributions from scholars including Robert J. Knecht, Aurora Scotti Tosini, David Ekserdjian, Alain Erlande Brandenburg, and Richard Ingersoll, with Mr. Ingersoll attending the Cremona inauguration. The exhibition also showcased wooden models built by Ivan Simonato, a colleague from the Centro Studi Andrea Palladio, Vicenza.
In parallel, we organized a series of conferences exploring the ephemeral world of scenography and contemporary architecture, with a focus on the fantastical aspect of fortified villas. These conferences featured esteemed speakers such as Oscar winners Dante Ferretti and Luigi Marchione (a collaborator of Ermanno Olmi), Malcolm Hadley (Tim Burton's Lighting Cameraman), and emeritus professors Joseph Rykwert, Mina Gregori, Vittorio Gregotti, and Augusto Cagnardi.
The exhibition catalogue, published by Electa Mondadori, includes contributions from Prof. Paul Davies, Prof. David Hemsoll, Prof. Chantal Grell, and Prof. Richard Ingersoll. We extend a special thank you to Spartaco Cadioli for his design suggestions; we later dedicated a book to him.
Our sincere gratitude goes to Autostrade Centropadane Stradivaria, Giovanni Arvedi, Francesco Acerbi, Roberto Ghizzoni, A2A, Luciano Pizzetti, Silvana Costa, Elena Dagani, and Tommaso Tagliabue for their support. The website and printed advertising layout were designed by Gianluca Signaroldi from Parma. Finally, we thank Marco Savini from BigRock Treviso for the digital three-dimensional interactive animations with touchscreen.
