Giovanni Battista Basile

(b Palermo, 1825; d 16 June 1891). He was primarily a Neo-classical interpreter and theoretician, as is shown by his scrupulous archaeological studies. These qualities are demonstrated in his designs for a Greek Revival museum in Athens (1859; unexecuted) and his most important executed work, the huge Teatro Massimo (1875-97), Palermo, using the Corinthian order throughout the building. It was finished by his son, (2) Ernesto Basile. The Teatro Massimo symbolized the ambitions of Palermo, then a provincial city lacking adequate facilities, to copy the kind of Modernist architecture built in the great cities of Europe, especially Paris. It has remained a symbol, and its stage, the largest in Europe after the Paris Opera, has been one of the least used. English influence is marked in his designs for urban spaces in Palermo; the Giardino Inglese (1851-3) and Piazza Marina (1861-4) were set with trees and statues, creating a sense of spontaneity and the presence of nature. It was in his last work, Palazzina Favaloro (1889-91), Palermo, where Arab-Norman arches are used with modern construction methods and materials, that Sicilian Art Nouveau emerged. He was made Professor of Architecture at the University of Palermo in 1863.

Part of the Basile family

See the Abbreviations for further details.