Group 7 and the birth of Italian Rationalism
Exhibition - from friday 23 oct 2026 | to sunday 17 jan 2027
Adalberto Libera, "Scuole elementari in piazza Raffaello Sanzio a Trento", fotografia, 1934 ca.
Casa elettrica alla IV Esposizione internazionale d'arte decorativa e industriale di Monza (Luigi Figini e Gino Pollini con Guido Frette, Adalberto Libera e Piero Bottoni), 1929 – 1930, Fondo Luigi Figini- Gino Pollini © ARCHIVIO ARCHITETTO LUIGI FIGINI – AAF MILANO
- When
- from friday 23 oct 2026 | to sunday 17 jan 2027
- Cost
- Free entry
- Credits
- Curated by Archivio del '900
- Where
- Mart Rovereto
- Type
- Exhibition
To mark the centenary of Group 7’s founding, Mart explores the origins of this Italian movement through correspondence, photographs, and printed materials from the museum’s archives. The project celebrates the legacy of Mart’s 20th Century Archive and highlights a period when ideas, writings, and projects shaped new directions for architecture in Italy.
Beginning in the 1910s, the ideas and projects of Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and Peter Behrens fostered a new architectural vision across Europe—one that challenged traditional languages and redefined the relationship between form and function. Within this context, Group 7 emerged in the autumn of 1926, founded by Luigi Figini, Gino Pollini, Guido Frette, Sebastiano Larco Silva, Carlo Enrico Rava, Giuseppe Terragni, and Ubaldo Castagnoli (later replaced by Adalberto Libera).
From the late 1920s to early 1930s, theoretical publications accompanied design research, while the earliest buildings brought rationalist principles to life.
One of the era’s most notable works is the Casa Elettrica—a genuine symbol of modernity—designed by Luigi Figini and Gino Pollini for the 4th International Exhibition of Decorative and Modern Industrial Arts in Monza in 1930.
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