My Roots
I was born in the ancient part called ‘castle’ of a small town in central Abruzzo, in the province of L’Aquila. A section surrounded by uninhabited walls no longer able to defend. A farming area where oil, wine, and wheat are still the precious elements around which the village lives.
My parents, Sabatino and Antonia, taught me the value of the land, and the hard work, remembering one’s roots and helping the less fortunate.
My childhood was marked by the time of the seasons. Ever since, imaginative power has been my constant companion. As a child I used to play alone on the barn’s small terrace, which faced Morrone, a mountain ridge with a strong physical and spiritual presence.
Every now and then, a ‘silver bird’ with a long white tail would emerge from it, and I’d wonder where it came from and where it was going. Its slow, sure, silent movement reminded me of undiscovered journeys.
Migrating
In December of my eleventh year, I was on the ship Olympia with my mother, heading to Canada to join my father, who had already been there for a year, during which he had a serious accident that rendered him semi-invalid.
We travelled from Naples across the calm, blue Mediterranean to the grey, stormy Atlantic.
The story from Cuore’s book ‘From the Apennines to the Andes’ became more than real on the ship, thanks to the old gentleman in the black hat, who was returning to Argentina.
We landed in Halifax and took the train to Toronto, arriving just before Christmas.
I immediately noticed the difference between this city’s straight, wide, flat streets and the small native town’s short, narrow, bristling alleys.
I felt a chill run through me, and without realizing it, the process of fading the past and imprinting new memories began, in a new place full of uncertainty and wonder of the unknown.
A New World
My father enrolled me in public school shortly after Christmas, a new birth from ‘New Canadian.’
In about four months, I learned English and began caring for my parents, who spoke only the dialect of the country.
I went to school during the week. On Saturdays, I’d go to the library and devour books that fed my imagination.
For me, the library was a glittering open treasure chest that replaced the small terrace. During the summer, I was always looking for ways to help the family.
After learning enough English, it became necessary for me to become a spokesperson for the Italian immigrant community, initially assisting them with workplace safety issues and eventually becoming a social activist.
Mentorship: Worldly 'Angels'
I am not a believer, but I have witnessed how important encounters with what we call ‘angels’ are in life, those unknown people who begin to care for you and help you develop your potential for some reason.
I recognize that I have had such encounters in my own life.
From the old gentleman on the ship who taught me life lessons to Mr. Quinn and his family, who practically adopted me and helped me discover and realize my full potential.
From Hazel McCallion, who recognized the value of giving a migrant child a chance, to George Mann, who believed in the inexperienced. Encounters that have alleviated, and in some cases eliminated, shame and intimidation caused by prejudice against migrants based on ignorance.
An ignorance caused not only by a lack of knowledge but also by a lack of memory, a self-inflicted amnesia.
Along The Way I Met Architecture... And Italy
I was 15 years old and attending Central Technical High School, where drawing was part of the curriculum.
My father once asked me if I could draw a garage for a neighbour, and I agreed despite not knowing how. I gathered the information and asked my teacher, Mr. Hall, for assistance the following day.
I finished the floor plan and elevations and delivered them to the neighbour.
After a few days, he informed my father that he had obtained permission and handed him an envelope containing $75.
At that point, my father said, “You’re going to school,” and handed me the envelope.
This represented the change in his dream, which until then had been common for immigrants: to send his children to work to buy the ‘little Canadian house’.
Getting me to study would require significant sacrifices, but my father understood that he would have to work two weeks to accomplish what I had accomplished in three hours.
That drawing marked the beginning of my journey into architecture.
Mr. Quinn’s wife Ruth introduced me to the famous architect Ron Thom, who offered me a job as a ‘office-boy’ for the summer.
The Degree In Architecture
My summers were spent alternately with Ron Thom and the firm of WZMH Architects while studying for my degree in Architecture at the University of Toronto (1971).
While watching my history and architecture professor, James Acland, draw churches and buildings with chalk on the blackboard, I recognized in myself a strong desire to discover the unknown world that was once part of the life of that little boy sitting on the terrace.
At the time, art and architecture reconnected me with Italy, albeit through the lens of academic culture. Creating in me two visions, one of a humble and peasant culture linked to my childhood experience, and the other of an intellectual nature of enormous international respect.
My natural curiosity prompted me to travel to Phoenix in the summer of 1969 with the desire to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, but because the studio was closed due to a flood, I decided to detour to the desert where the architect Paolo Soleri was working on his synthesis of architecture and ecology called ‘Arcology.’
A significant encounter because of the themes that are important to me, such as sustainability and love of nature.
I received a scholarship shortly after graduating from Architecture.
I decided to use it to travel to Venice to study. Once there, the director of UIA, ‘Beppe’ Mazzariol, offered me a position as an assistant professor of architecture.
During this time, I dedicated myself to finding solutions to the problem of high water, proposing the concept of a ‘floating Venice,’ which was later realized and named Mose.
Some important architects of the time supported me in this, including Jose Oubrerie, one of Le Corbusier‘s last disciples, and Louis Khan, who was known for his poetics and sensitivity.
My time in Venice broadened my understanding of urban spaces capable of giving the city a sense of community. Venice became a creative laboratory for me, a constant stimulus to the imagination, an element capable of contrasting with the urbanistic logic of the modern city.
From Vittorito's Terrazzina To Harvard
When I returned to Toronto in May 1972, I resumed working with Ron Thom and WZMH to prepare for registration as an architect.
I collaborated with Ron Thom on the design of several Trent University buildings as well as the Prince Hotel.
I was responsible for the Maritime Life Insurance Office building in Halifax while working at WZMH, and I had the opportunity to contribute to the design of the Royal Bank headquarters with gold dust windows.
This gold dust in the windows created a contrast with the dust of my birthplace, an inner space where I felt neither here nor there.
In order to make sense of this disparity, and continually struggling in ‘breaking the glass ceiling’, I decided to explore this restlessness of mine in an academic context.
So, I applied for admission to Harvard.
A Turning Point
My father died unexpectedly in early 1974, forcing me to assist my mother. I decided to leave WZMH because I needed more flexibility and freedom at work. Delisle Court, my first project, was made possible thanks to the entrepreneur George Mann. It was an opportunity for me to bring ‘the plaza’ to Yonge Street in Toronto, Canada’s longest street, with adaptations to the Canadian climate and lifestyle: a three-dimensional plaza covered by generous skylight, with stores and offices integrated into a vibrant public space. This work enabled me to pay for my Master’s Degree at the Graduate School of Design.
At Harvard, I studied with Jerzy Soltan, one of Le Corbusier’s last colleagues, and with Visual Art professor Eduard Sekler, focusing on urban issues.
While studying with J.B. Jackson, I delved into the measurement and psychology of social space in the contemporary world.
I explored and formulated the concept of ‘Mobility as a public utility’ after recalling the umbrellas used by all but owned by none in St. Mark’s Square in Venice.
My inquisitive and experimental spirit earned me the epithet ‘firebrand‘.
I contributed my ideas to the Canadian intervention in the reconstruction of Friuli, Italy, following the 1976 earthquake between my first and second years at Harvard.
I declined the teaching professorship offered to me after receiving my Master of Architecture in Urban Design. Instead, I returned to Toronto to be closer to my mother.
My Career As An Architect
I established my own practice and began my formal career as an architect.
Standing on two continents, sometimes belonging to both and sometimes neither, constantly traversing the vast expanse of transculturality, I sought to leave footprints in the legacy of architectural heritage.
My Two Decades: 1977-1997
In my philosophy, architecture with its buildings is a symbol of the complexity of our society in its constant change. An art form continually exposed to the public.
During my peak production years, I did not have an easy path. Like other Italian architects who were children of immigrants, I had to rely on my own strengths and talent, lacking the capitalization of social knowledge and institutional connections.
All this has been a great stimulus for my perseverance in seeking all opportunities in generating innovative and creative paths, maintaining my freedom of expression and control over my destiny, contributing even more to cultural and social growth, through the journeys made for work. Contribution recognized through the appreciation of my work and the awards received.
A New Mission
On July 7, 1997, I was standing on the edge of Halifax’s Pier 21, the one overlooking the Atlantic to the Old World. What had been my point of entry that distant December 1958. My mind and soul were flooded, simultaneously, by the countless thresholds I had crossed since that first entry.
Each threshold tells a story and can be the story of many people, a story about dreams, departure, acceptance and belonging.
It is the story of migration.
With my clothes on moved by the Atlantic breeze, I felt that I finally belonged, I became a Canadian by choice, and it was a good choice. Soon after, I stopped building buildings out of physical materials and looked for ways to pay homage to a society that is multidimensional and encourages people to settle not as an intrusion but as an enrichment.
The story of migration is one of accretion rather than integration or ghettoization.
The coming together of disparate parts in the search for identity. This inspired me to embark on a new journey, one of exploration of migration, and the creation of the Gallery of Human Migration.
Thank You!
Thank you for sticking with me this far. If you want to learn more about me, please feel free to:
- Request a speech from me at any of your events.
- Contact me for information or specific requests.
- Get to know my work in the Portfolio section.
- Read press releases in the Media section.
- Discover the Blog section where I share my views on architecture, design, and community.
