The Guidini Collection consists of 593 photographic prints that belonged to Augusto Guidini Sr. (1853 - 1828) and Jr. (1895-1970), father and son, both architects born in Ticino. Their descendant, Arnaldo Guidini, bequeathed to our library a part of the family archive (documents, photographs and graphic material). The photographic material exhibits the expertise of several European photographers such as Grato Brunel from Lugano, Gebr. Wehrli from Zurich, Giacomo Brogi and Fratelli Alinari from Firenze, James and Domenico Anderson from Roma, Luigi Sacchi, Pompeo Pozzi, Edmondo Guigoni, Antonio Giulio Bossi and Icilio Calzolari from Milano, Enrico Seebold from Trieste, Moritz Lotze from Verona, Carlo Ponti from Venezia, Paul Felix Bonfils and many others. The importance of this collection lies in the role of photographic prints as educational tools for architects, urbanists and landscape architects; at the same time we cannot forget that photography was also becoming a point of connection between the conservation, the study and the documentation of ancient monuments. Augusto Guidini himself used photography as an artistic and a professional tool, for architectural planning and conservation. It is therefore useful to study those photographs to better understand his buildings as well as his work method.
Augusto Guidini
Augusto Guidini Sr., was born on 1 May 1853 in Barbengo, and died on 25 December 1928 in Milan. Pupil of the Italian architect Giuseppe Mengoni, in 1877 he opened his own studio, working between Ticino and Italy; in 1912 he won the Montevideo urban development plan contest.
Augusto Guidini Jr., born on 1895, died on 2 January 1970 in Lugano, was also a Ticino architect whose activity started in 1929.
19th-20th century
Professional archive
Memoriav
