The Italian Legacy in the Dominican Republic

THE ITALIAN LEGACY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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prepared the field for reflection in all subse-

quent contributions of a global scope by Italian

theorists in the 1970s.

Buildings for commercial firms, housing

groups, public buildings by architects such as

Ernesto N. Rogers and his group BBPR, Gar-

della, Moretti, Ridolfi, Quaroni, Albini, Figi-

ni-Pollini and Michelucci that, together with

the strength of Italian design that it exports to

the entire world and the power of the Italian

specialized press as a means of international

reflection, all contributed in making this stage

of Italian architecture one of the most fruitful

episodes of European architecture in the sec-

ond half of the twentieth century. Significant

works such as the BBPR Velasca tower, the

“Girasole” residential building in Moretti or

the residential neighborhoods of Ridolfi, Albi-

ni and Figini-Pollini.

Such was the panorama in Italy. In a parallel

reality, the Dominican Republic was experiencing the outset of the Trujillo regime. Within this scheme of

things, there were various Italians present in the Dominican Republic who excelled within the context of ar-

chitecture. Alfredo Scaroina had already participated decades before in various public works, including the San

Cristóbal City Council building. Amadeo Campagna (1893-1962) from Santo Domenica Talao, who had stud-

ied engineering in Naples, launched and carried out works in Santiago and Puerto Plata. In 1927, the engineer

Guido D’Alessandro Lombardi settled in Montecristi. He would undertake many important works during the

era, including the National Palace of the government. In 1927, the engineer Baldassare Guaschino (1898-1950)

also made his mark at the Ingenio Angelina sugar mill, and in installing the cable car over the Higuamo River,

as well as in infrastructure works.

Around 1950, when this story actually begins, there were still eleven years remaining to the Trujillo era.

Young people seeking a career in architecture had no other alternative than to attend classes at the Universi-

ty of Santo Domingo (USD) and pursue a degree in architectural engineering, as it was understood in those

years, until the curriculum was changed after the Reform Movement of 1965. It was not until 1966 that Pedro

Henríquez Ureña National University (UNPHU) was founded, and there were no other possibilities aside

from the USD, later UASD. When Trujillo was assassinated on May 30, 1961, Dr. Joaquín Salazar was the

Dominican ambassador to Rome, and he managed to successfully steer a course through the strong winds of

this transition.

Italy, as noted, already excelled as an icon of postwar architecture worldwide, and therefore architecture

and Italy seemed to be an inevitable equation. The schools of Rome and Milan were of great renown, boasting

the greatest academic talent in Italian design. This was how this pilgrimage of young Dominicans to the Italian

academies began, and it was Calventi who broke the ice. According to M.S. Gautier, “Calventi was never calm;

he was always very restless; and he achieved what he set out to do.” It is to this spirit of achievement that we

owe the transfer of the first Dominican to the Italian classroom, a journey that has been repeated dozens of

times in the nearly 70 years that followed.

Below is a chronologically sequenced list of Dominican students who attended Italian schools of architec-

ture. The list may certainly not be complete; however, we should note the following interesting tendencies:

Office building of

the Shell CONALCO

complex, c. 1966, by

the Architects Manuel

Salvador Gautier and

Erwin Cott.