L’esperienza progettuale di Antonio Ventura tra Roma e il golfo di Gaeta

The design experience of Antonio Ventura, between Rome and the Gulf of Gaeta The 20th-century Italian residential architecture owes its success to the bourgeoisie, which at times overlapping with the age-old prestige of the aristocracy stands side by side with it. Therefore, the rise of the political and financial bourgeoisie is accompanied – both conceptually and materially – by the definition of a new social symbolism that inevitably reverberates, in construction, in the creation of highly representative buildings, whether intended for public or private use. However, it is in the city residence of the upper class that opulence is expressed, skilfully contained in volumes designed by top-notch architects. Following a stylistic lexicon ranging from pure 19th-century-derived revival to eclecticism, the villa becomes the built legacy of such elites, enriching, among all the places on the peninsula, also Rome. Engineers and architects thus operate, adapting to the needs of the clientele, in different contexts, primarily in newly expanding areas around the perimeter of the historic city. Among them, the figure of the engineer Antonio Ventura stands out, active in the Urbe and beyond, spanning the late 19th century to the beginning of the subsequent one, with rather interesting projects, some of which are unpublished and analysed in the examination. From these, to identify, even from a chronological perspective, the ideational logics and the meanings underlying each work, is possible.