Palazzo della Rinascente by Giulio de Angelis, Rome, Italy (1886/1887).

The study of 19th century buildings in which the outside brickwork served not only as a stopping device, but also as insulation and fire protection, while the iron framework served a purely structural purpose, involves a return to the origins of such building techniques without considering formally aesthetic implications. Viollet-le-Duc in volume II of Conferences states that, “a good architect could, not without logic, conceive the idea of a vast building with a structure made entirely of iron.... protecting it with a cover of stone”. Among brick buildings with iron frameworks constructed in Italy in the second half of the 19th century, Giulio de Angelis’ Palazzo della Rinascente, constructed in Via del Corso in Rome between 1885 and 1887, is of particular importance. “The Rinascente building”, says the bond laid down by the Monuments and Fine Arts Office, “represents the first use of a metal framework with glass walls...and other innovations of 19th century Roman architecture”. The building was designed following a competition won by Giulio de Angelis and Sante Bucciarelli.The firm Mora and Bossi began its construction on 15th December 1885.The chosen site measured almost 1000m and was reclaimed from the demolition of a building near the present day site of Palazzo Chigi, situated between Via San Claudio and Via Caccia Bove. The then exorbitant price of 900,000 lire was paid for the site. It is also for this reason that the dimensions of the plot (which was in fact a trapezium of sides 30.2m; 28.3m; 30.3m; and 27.9m in length) had a large part to play in the typological solution: a relatively compact volume in which it was necessary to balance spaces destined for sale and those dedicated to production.