"Dalle profondità della terra, energia per il lavoro italiano". Architetti, artisti e intellettuali per l'Eni alla Fiera di Milano

Abstract

Soon after the end of the second World War, Fiera di Milano (Milan trade exhibition) was eager to demostrate the Italian spirit of rebirth. Companies and enterprises invested in the design and building of pavilions, involving artists, architects and graphic designers like Erberto Carboni, Marcello Nizzoli, Enrico Ciuti, Franco Albini. Enrico Mattei, Agip and later Eni's president wanted to emphasize Italian energy politics based on gas, and, as this essay describes, Italian gas pipelines net was the central theme of Agip and Eni's presence at the Trade Fair. The story of Agip and Eni pavilion from 1949 to 1964 involves architects like Mario Bacciocchi, who designed the building, Carlo Mollino with Franco Campo, Carlo Graffi and Max Huber, Achille and Piergiacomo Castiglioni, BBPR, Errico Ascione. Particularly important was the presence of Leonardo Sinisgalli, the engineer-poet who directed Eni's communication section from 1958 to 1963. He left the company after Mattei's death, but he was also aware that the communication in the world of mass production and culture was radically changing and poets were being substituted by copywriters.