 Without
going back as far as the Etruscans, one could say that apart from
the numerous testimonies of Medieval castles and extremely ancient
churches, the urban architecture of Toscana began in the 1200s
with the construction of the tower-houses, more like fortresses
than private residences. With the economic prosperity of the region, taste
changed, in the following century the city became rich with Nobles'
houses, the stone buildings became more elegant and extended
horizontally. In the 1400s other than the construction of ever
more refined genteel buildings there was also the necessity to
construct more solid housing for the poorer people, to prevent
the frequent fires which destroyed the wooden shanties. At this point
the 1500s saw an ideal architectural organisation for the
urban setting, and it was in this century that not only the Nobility
but also the rich middle classes who built their own houses, instructing
able and refined architects like Simone del Pollaiolo, Buontalenti
and Giambologna. At the end of this century several new trends appeared,
among which was the balcony. The 1600s brought the Baroque opulence,
best expressed in religious architecture. The end of the 1700 coincided
with the construction of elegant bourgeois detached houses on the
outskirts of the city and cleaner lined buildings and churches.
The most radical urban transformation, especially in Firenze, was
in the 1800s, when old houses were knocked down to make way for
imposing buildings worthy of the new born Capital of Italy, often
designed by Baccani and Poggi. Lastly the 1900s opened with
the decorative “art nouveau”, of which we have notable examples
of buildings in Versilia and Montecatini. Unfortunately
the “great war” destroyed many, and after 1950 there was a
rapid reconstruction of the city, simplifying the architecture
of the buildings, thereby officially affirming the social function
of the architect, less artist, more technician. We Toscani should remember
the architect Giovanni Michelucci (1891-1991) born in Pisa but
Fiorentino by adoption, well known in all the world, who in his very long
life had projected, especially in Toscana, numerous public, private and
religious works, adapted to the life and living space of man.
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