curated by Gianfranco Tuzzolino and Federico Crimi
 
With a contribution: Paolo De Marco

In collaboration with

Polo Territoriale Universitario di Agrigento_Università degli Studi di Palermo

National University Lviv Polytechnic – NULP, Viktor Proskuryakov, Yuriy Dzhyhil

Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University, Tomasz Węcławowicz

Archivio dello Stato della Regione di Odessa 

Next spring, the MAN in Nuoro will pay due homage to one of Italy and Sardinia’s most illustrious sons, namely the architect Franceso Carlo Boffo, who was born on 8 September 1796 and died in Odessa on 10 November 1867. He is a very interesting figure, both because of his architectural experimentation with themes linked to urban space and because of his development of a neoclassical language in geographical contexts that are, in a certain sense, far removed from tradition. Boffo was the man behind the configuration of Odessa’s main public spaces, a number of its most representative buildings and, above all, the famous flight of steps connecting the port esplanade to the main city square.
With an exhibition and a conference, the MAN is seeking to study the work of this architect  emphasizing his contribution to the construction of Odessa’s architectural and urban identity, and his interesting personal and artistic story. Indeed, his background is characterized by an original education and a development process that takes into account the itinerant pathway steeped in “characters” and “themes” related to the discipline of design.

The first scientific tribute dedicated to Boffo will be enriched with exceptional documents found in Italian and Ukrainian archives (Odessa State Archive).
In addition to the biographical narrative, the process (which proposes a historical and critical survey) will include an annotated registry of works, a 1:100 scale reproduction of the famous Odessa steps (3D model produced by the laboratories of the University of Agrigento), drawings of the most significant buildings designed by Boffo in Ukraine, with surviving photographic evidence from the period and original correspondence. A section of the exhibition devoted to twentieth-century cinematography, which has showcased the city of Odessa and particularly its steps on numerous occasions, will feature film montages and authentic testimonies, including the famous poster for Eisenstein’s masterpiece.
There will also be plenty of contemporary plans of the city, procured thanks to thorough archival research, alongside paintings that are fundamental to restoring the face of Odessa thanks in part to the work of great nineteenth and twentieth-century artists, from Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky to Wassily Kandinsky.