Piero and Gloria Cicionesi

Mapin Publishing have just brought out the second book in their Auroville architects monograph series, featuring the work of Piero and Gloria Cicionesi.

Written by Mona Doctor-Pingel, with additional essays by Chamanlal Gupta, Pino Marchese and Poppo Pingel, the book presents the work of two pioneer architects who, along with other architectural ‘forecomers’ like Roger Anger and Poppo Pingel, have left an indelible mark upon the fabric of the community.

Piero’s major contribution was the construction of the Matrimandir, to which he devoted 21 years of his life. And this was not ‘hands-off’ work, for every day he arrived on site, often with finely drawn plans which he had made the previous evening, to allocate and supervise the activities. Although trained as an architect, in order to master all the complexities of the construction he had to teach himself astronomy, concrete technology, structural engineering, air conditioning, solar optics and soil engineering, among other things.

While a large part of this book is devoted to the Matrimandir, including Piero’s detailed drawings of elements of the space frame etc., it also includes material about Piero and Gloria’s other architectural projects. These include individual homes, like Auroson’s Home in Certitude – the first permanent residence in Auroville – as well as institutional buildings like the Health Centre, Transition School, Future School and Unity Pavilion.

There is also a fascinating section on their formative years, including their time studying architecture at the University of Florence (they first met when Gloria asked Piero to help her with her thesis drawings) and their subsequent one year stay in Finland, where they encountered at first hand the work of one of their early inspirations, Alvar Aalto.

We often think of Piero and Gloria as one architectural ‘being’, but each brings something unique to the collaboration. While Piero often worked on the larger concept, Gloria has a unique sensibility and a wonderful eye for detailing as is evident in Rika’s House, one of the few projects handled mainly by her. This project also displayed her willingness to experiment with newer, more sustainable materials like stabilized earth blocks.

The book is beautifully designed. It includes seven augmented reality interviews (available on the downloading of an app) and strikes just the right balance between technical analysis and simple explication, making interesting reading for both the architect and the general reader.

Mapin have now published monographs of Poppo Pingel and Piero and Gloria in their Auroville Architects series. I hope they will complete a comprehensive introduction to the community’s pioneer architects by publishing a monograph on Roger Anger’s and Helmut’s Auroville work in the near future.

Piero and Gloria Cicionesi: Auroville Architects Monograph Series by Mona Doctor-Pingel. Published by Mapin Publishing Pvt. Limited, 2018. Available soon on auroville.com, amazon.in and from Mapin Publishing, Ahmedabad. Price in India Rs 1,450.