) is an architect. He graduated in architecture in 1957 from the Politecnico di Milano, where Ernesto Nathan Rogers

Ernesto Nathan Rogers

Ernesto Nathan Rogers was an Italian architect, writer and educator.-Biography:Born in Trieste, Italy he graduated from the Politecnico di Milano, Italy in 1932...

 was a major influence. Guido Canella and Gae Aulenti

Gae Aulenti

Gae Aulenti is an Italian architect, lighting and interior designer, and industrial designer. She is well known for several large-scale museum projects, including Musée d'Orsay in Paris , the Contemporary Art Gallery at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Palazzo Grassi in Venice , and the Asian Art...

 were his classmates. In that same year, Garatti departed for Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, where he found employment in the Banco Obrero project led by architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva

Carlos Raúl Villanueva

Carlos Raúl Villanueva was the most prominent Venezuelan architect of the 20th century and one of the great Modernists. He played a major role in the development and modernization of Caracas, Maracay and other cities across the country...

, and began teaching at the University in Caracas. Garatti, like fellow architect and Banco Obrero project mate Roberto Gottardi

Roberto Gottardi

Roberto Gottardi is an Cuban architect. He graduated in architecture from the Instituto Superiore di Architettura di Venezia in 1952, the same class as Massimo Vignelli...

, had been a young participant in the post-war debate in Italy against Rationalism

Rationalism (architecture)

The intellectual principles of rationalism are based on architectural theory. Vitruvius had already established in his work De Architectura that architecture is a science that can be comprehended rationally. This formulation was taken up and further developed in the architectural treatises of the...

, a critique that was led by such figures as Ernesto Nathan Rogers, Carlo Scarpa

Carlo Scarpa

Carlo Scarpa , was an Italian architect, influenced by the materials, landscape, and the history of Venetian culture, and Japan. Scarpa was also a glass and furniture designer of note....

, Mario Ridolfi, Giuseppe Samoná

Giuseppe Samonà

Giuseppe Samonà was an Italian architect and urban planner, whose notable works include the post office in the Appio quarter of Rome , the Banca d'Italia in Padua and a theatre in Sciacca, Sicily ....

 and Bruno Zevi

Bruno Zevi

Bruno Zevi was an Italian architect, historian, professor, curator, author and editor. Zevi was a vocal critic of 'classicising' modern architecture and postmodernism.-University years:...

.

Following the victory of the Cuban Revolution

Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...

, Cuban-born architect (and Banco Obrero participant) Ricardo Porro

Ricardo Porro

Ricardo Porro is a Cuban-born architect . He graduated in architecture from the Universidad de la Habana in 1949, following which he spent two years in post-graduate studies at the Institute of Urbanism at the Sorbonne. By the mid-1950s, his work took on distinctive Organic tendencies...

 invited Garatti and Roberto Gottardi to join him in Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

 in early 1961. Garatti soon began work with Porro and Gottardi on the ambitious project of Havana's new National Art Schools

National Schools of Art, Havana

Cuba's National Art Schools are considered by historians to be one of the most outstanding architectural achievements of the Cuban Revolution...

, commissioned by Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

. Garatti designed the School of Music and the School of Ballet. Garatti fled Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 in the late 1960s, following a political shift which deemed the architecture and architects of Cuba's National Art Schools to be a politically incorrect

Politically incorrect

The phrase "politically incorrect" may refer to:* Someone or something which does not meet a standard of political correctness* Politically Incorrect, a late-night U.S. political talk show* Politically Incorrect, a German political blog...

 counter to the Soviet Functionalist

Functionalism (architecture)

Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...

 building style that was rapidly gaining dominance in the country. Today Garatti lives and practices architecture in Milan.

External links

• Revolution of Forms website, a book about the Cuban National Art Schools
  National Schools of Art, Havana
  Cuba's National Art Schools are considered by historians to be one of the most outstanding architectural achievements of the Cuban Revolution...
  
  
• Vittorio Garatti page on ArtFacts.net