L’architetto come artista. Spazi della promozione e atti identitari fra cultura, istituzioni e società

In the period spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, exhibitions played a crucial role in establishing architecture as an autonomous artistic practice. From academic contexts to pro- fessional congresses, from cultural associations to large-scale national events, architectural models, drawings, thematic pavilions, and personal retrospectives, they fostered new forms of representation and enhanced public visibility. Often accompanied by catalogues and awards, these exhibitions consolidated identity strategies and sustained the debate on a “national style,” intertwining aspirations of modernity, heritage preservation, and formal experimentation. In associative and congress settings, as well as in major national events such as the 1902 Turin Exhibition or the one held in Milan in 1906, a path toward cultural and professional recognition took shape – one destined to change profoundly with the advent of the World War I.