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Details
SOCIETÀ IPPICA, Turin (1937)
A large quantity of photographic documentation, to include (a) a contemporary cardboard box, the cover with handwritten label Ingr Ippica, containing approximately 44 black & white photographs documenting the interior and exterior or the building, some details of staircases, stabling and other features, many photographs with pencil or ink annotations to reverse, some with sketched modifications to the image, or with re-touching to the image, many photographs with the stamp of Mollino's office, some with the stamp of other commissioned photographers; to also include (b) a re-touched photograph of an internal stadium, with the stamp of Mollino's office and with various handwritten ink or pencil annotations to the reverse, now framed and glazed in later limed oak frame; and (c) another similar photograph, featuring a roof perspective, similarly marked and later framed (latter two items not illustrated)
9¼in.(23.5cm.) x 6¾in.(17cm.) photograph (b)
11½in.(29.5cm.) x 7 7/8in.(19.5cm.) photograph (c) (3)
A large quantity of photographic documentation, to include (a) a contemporary cardboard box, the cover with handwritten label Ingr Ippica, containing approximately 44 black & white photographs documenting the interior and exterior or the building, some details of staircases, stabling and other features, many photographs with pencil or ink annotations to reverse, some with sketched modifications to the image, or with re-touching to the image, many photographs with the stamp of Mollino's office, some with the stamp of other commissioned photographers; to also include (b) a re-touched photograph of an internal stadium, with the stamp of Mollino's office and with various handwritten ink or pencil annotations to the reverse, now framed and glazed in later limed oak frame; and (c) another similar photograph, featuring a roof perspective, similarly marked and later framed (latter two items not illustrated)
9¼in.(23.5cm.) x 6¾in.(17cm.) photograph (b)
11½in.(29.5cm.) x 7 7/8in.(19.5cm.) photograph (c) (3)
Literature
Carlo Mollino: Architecture as Autobiography, Brino, T&H, London, 1987, pp.63-65
Carlo Mollino: Cronaca, Ferrari, SAN, Turin, 1985, pl. 81-90 Carlo Mollino, Electa, 1988, pp.92-95
L'Architettura Italiana, February 1941, pp.45-62
Costruzioni Casabella, Domus 157, January 1941
Le Arti, A, 1941, pp.117-118
Documenti Architettura, No.14, c.1941, pp.108-109
Carlo Mollino: Cronaca, Ferrari, SAN, Turin, 1985, pl. 81-90 Carlo Mollino, Electa, 1988, pp.92-95
L'Architettura Italiana, February 1941, pp.45-62
Costruzioni Casabella, Domus 157, January 1941
Le Arti, A, 1941, pp.117-118
Documenti Architettura, No.14, c.1941, pp.108-109
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Further details
The Sede della Società Ippica was Mollino's first work, a complex of buildings and racecourses built on the outskirts of Turin for the city's Horseracing Association. Stylistically, the formal outline of the complex's buildings owe allegience to the European modernist tendencies, and in particular to Alvar Aalto, the Finnish architect whom Mollino much admired. However, Mollino's inimitable and persuasive identity is confirmed by his inspired handling of surface treatment and line, notably evident in the main staircase of the club, which features a sensuously meandering wooden balustrade over thick plate glass flanks. Unlike subsequent architectural projects, Mollino did not, with the exception of the banquettes overlooking the inner courtyard, design the furnishings for this commission, however he did specify the lighting, which included an unexpected pair of Baroque chandeliers to one of the internal balconies. Ippica was immediately hailed as a masterpiece, and was to be widely praised and documented in numerous specialist peridicals, however in 1961 the club was demolished, and is today known only through photographs.