Luigi Canonica

Born in the Ticino, he was trained by Piermarini. He settled in Milan, where he made his mark by creating spacious layouts, modernizing the street system, and erecting many public buildings in a refined Neo-Classical style, including the Palazzo Brentani-Greppi (1829–31) and the Palazzo Anguissola-Traversi (1829–30), both on the Via Manzoni. His largest work was the Civic Arena near the Castello (1806–13), with a Neo-Classical Roman Doric entrance of 1813, and a battered perimeter-wall pierced at intervals with semicircular arches, the whole effect being powerful, worthy of Piranesi, but probably influenced by Fischer von Erlach's Entwurff (1721) and by the projects for public spaces by Giovanni Antonio Antolini (1753–1841) and Giuseppe Pistocchi (1744–1841). With Innocenzo Giusti he enlarged La Scala Opera House in 1814.

Bibliography

• Meeks (1966)
• Middleton & Watkin (1987)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
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