Synergic Authorship: The role of Building Companies in Milanese Modernism, 1930-1960

Modern architecture has been characterized by numerous technological innovations that changed not only the architectural lexicon, appearance, and functioning of buildings but also the organization of the design activity and the construction process1. More than in the past, the complexity that architectural design has reached requires collaboration between architects and construction companies, which support the former with technical and professional offices capable of developing their ideas at an executive level. Without denying the fundamental role of the architect/author of masterpieces, it is necessary to broaden the concept of authorship by recognizing the parallel roles and responsibilities. The case study of the new Montecatini headquarters (hereinafter also referred to as “Montecatini”) in Milan, inaugurated in 1937, and designed by Gio Ponti, Antonio Fornaroli, and Eugenio Soncini, is emblematic in this sense: the architectural design integrates into numerous projects resulting from the research and innovative experimentation of the specialized companies involved. The publication presenting the new Montecatini headquarters represents this complex system of responsibilities and roles well, presenting both the architectural design and those of the individual technological systems developed by the professional technical offices of the companies. This paper focuses on the contribution of company A. Bombelli that, led by well-known authors, designed on an executive level and realized the innovative Anticorodal window system, subsequently patented and presented in publications that recognize the authorship of the company in the development of this technology.