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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Basiles, three Generations of Architects. Basile's Atelier.

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In the mid-Nineteenth century young Giovan Battista Filippo Basile decided to pursue his career of architecture. He didn’t know he was going to be the founder of a dynasty of professionals. A dynasty that characterized the artistic culture of Sicily for about a century. His son, Ernesto, can be inserted between the genial personalities of the European art scene of all time. He will be the protagonist of Italian Art Nouveau. Grandsons, Roberto and Giovan Battista Filippo Jr., carry the paternal language to contemporary in many works at the turn of the Second World War. From Neoclassicism to Rationalism, through Eclecticism and Modernism, Basile architects and engineers have followed the evolution of styles from the Nineteenth to the Twentieth century. They captured significant architectural works, some of which remain among the most symbolic and representative architectures of the Italian Reign. Among them, there are great works such as the Massimo Theater in Palermo by Giovan Battista Filippo Basile, the most monumental of the peninsula, or the palace of Parliament in Rome, entirely designed by Ernesto, except for the Bernini’s facade. In particular, Ernesto proved his talent as contemporary pioneer of design from magnificent buildings to individual pieces of furnishings. In addition to this official productions there are other theaters, many buildings with offices for different institutions (like municipalities, prefectures, banks and insurance companies), private residences, noble tombs, monasteries, memorials, exhibition halls, hospitals, but also furnitures. The successful activities of these three generations of architects is documented by the materials of the Basile Archive, one of the richest in Europe with 8000 drawings and 13000 cards of documents.