Fig. 1
Cologno Monzese on a Saturday afternoon in the 1960s. From Casabella Continuità, n. 282, December 1963, p. 4

Introduction

This paper investigates the role of politically engaged practitioners in shaping a shared knowledge and culture in urban planning in leftist municipalities of the Milanese periphery during the 1950s, focusing on the contribution of the self-proclaimed communist architectural collective Collettivo di Architettura. Following World War II, the outskirts of Milan faced the repercussions of rapid urbanization, real estate speculation, and substantial internal migration. These issues were exacerbated by the absence of adequate planning tools and knowledge, as well as a lack of communication between local authorities, landowners, and citizens. In response to this situation, leftist architects and planners began to support local administrations in the Milanese outskirts. Among these professionals, the members of the Collettivo di Architettura stood out for their significant contribution and overt political stance. They embraced the Gramscian concept of the organic intellectual by claiming political agency as architects and by holding political and administrative positions alongside their practice. Collettivo’s members provided professional support to the reconstruction process in the Milanese outskirts as municipal technicians and civic servants, using the expression urbanista condotto to define their work. This notion refers to architectural design and urban planning as socially relevant practices capable of effectively addressing specific issuesand generating positive societal impacts. For Collettivo’s members, this political praxis was instrumental to identify and solve social problems.

This paper explores a historical model of the construction of communities of tacit knowledge and investigates the instruments and strategies employed to establish a shared planning culture in the Milanese outskirts during the 1950s. This study is based on interviews with former members, collaborators, and local interlocutors of Collettivo, as well as archival sources documenting its political and professional work. ¹ The reconstruction of Collettivo’s professional and political activity is methodologically challenged by the lack of a common archive and consistent publications. Thus, this ongoing research project relies both on interviews with Collettivo members’ relatives, former colleagues, political and local actors, and material from local as well as private archives, including those of institutions, building cooperatives, and municipal administrations that collaborated with Collettivo. By examining the committed work of Collettivo’s urbanista condotto, this paper demonstrates how cross-disciplinary exchanges on planning issues among local authorities, citizens, economic operators, and landowners enabled the implementation of procedures and practices that eventually became part of a shared modus operandi, so effective that it exerted a lasting influence on urban planning debates and was incorporated into subsequent legislation. Thus, this paper seeks to understand the motivations behind the formation of a shared knowledge in urban planning by highlighting political commitment as a catalyst for collaboration and dialogue.

Political polarization in Milan and its periphery: the urbanista condotto

From the early 1950s architecture and planning in Italy, particularly in Milan, became increasingly intertwined with political conviction. The postwar reconstruction period sparked discussions on the responsibilities, meaning, and priorities of architectural practice, given the strong desire to renew Italian society and restore democratic participation after the fascist regime (Durbiano 2000). Against this backdrop, Milan underwent rapid economic, social, and territorial transformations that exposed the city’s government issues, particularly the political division between the center and periphery. From 1949 for nearly a decade, a centrist committee governed Milan, while left-wing parties, particularly the Italian Communist Party (PCI), asserted themselves in the peripheral municipalities. In the city, state action promoted the development of private enterprise through laissez-faire planning and construction policies, which aimed to restart the capitalist cycle after the war. The 1953 town plan was bent to serve these objectives, leading to the densification of central areas and a reduction in public services. This accelerated the process of industrial decentralization and the displacement of economically disadvantaged inhabitants due to the rising land prices (Oliva, Campos Venuti 1993). This process also affected peripheral municipalities, which were abandoned to speculation, rapid urbanization, and high internal migration rates without adequate town plans, planning tools and policies (Gabellini, Morandi, Vidulli 1980). In Milan, the debates on architecture and urban planning during the 1950s are to be placed in this context of political polarization and imbalance between the center and the periphery.
In light of this situation, leftist architects and planners associated with the Lega dei Comuni Democratici recognized the issues affecting peripheral municipalities, which were disregarded by the provincial government. ² The Lega dei Comuni Democratici (The League of Democratic Municipalities) was an advisory body for local governments in the Milanese outskirts. Its scope of interest extended to various aspects of administration, with a particular focus on urban planning. The Lega consisted of technicians, planners and politicians affiliated with the Communist Party (PCI), Socialist Party (PSI) and Republican Party (PRI). In response, these practitioners decided to actively intervene with their professional expertise and provide regular support to local administrations, defining themselves as urbanista condotto. ³ “The Lega [dei Comuni Democratici] has always emphasized the importance of practitioners not only formulating masterplans but also working as municipal technicians. In fact, we did it, and we defined ourselves as urbanista condotto.” Michele Achilli, interviewed by the author together with Andri Gerber and Maria Silvia D’Avolio, April 12, 2022. All translations by author unless otherwise specified. The term refers to the medico condotto and implies the notion of designing and planning as socially relevant practices capable of addressing specific issues, thus having a positive impact on society. ⁴ “The term ‘medico condotto’ is applied in Italy to the medical man employed to attend upon the sick poor of a commune and is derived from the ‘condotta’ or area over which his work is ‘conducted’. From ‘The “medico condotto” of Italy: (from our Rome correspondent)’. The Lancet 163, no. 4198 (13 February 1904): 470. This expression was used to

designate the role that practitioners assumed in the activities that at the time were coordinated in the Province of Milan within the Lega dei Comuni Democratici. These activities implied an active role in the management of these municipalities, carried out in close contact with the local administrators, often as militant. ⁵ Acuto, Federico. Lucio Stellario D’Angiolini. Un’altra prassi urbanistica. Milano: Libreria Clup, 2004, 195, note 8.

Fig. 2
First scheme of the Intercommunal Plan of Milan’s territory, known as “modello a turbina”. Centro Studi PIM, 25 July 1963. From Urbanistica, n. 50-51, October 1967, p. 34

The approach of Collettivo di Architettura

Among the urbanista condotto of the Lega dei Comuni Democratici, the members of the communist architectural collective Collettivo di Architettura stood out for their overt political stance and substantial contribution. Born under the fascist regime and raised during the war on the Resistance side, Collettivo’s members viewed the prevalent approach to practice at the time as overly abstract, superficial, and detached from reality. ⁶ See the speeches by Sansoni and Tutino, both Collettivo’s founding members, delivered during the 1st Siena conference on the teaching urban planning, in: Urbanistica 9 (1952), 73-79. They participated in the reconstruction of Milan as engaged architects, combining the profession with active involvement in the ranks of the PCI. For them, being a communist practitioner meant “contributing as professional to the renewal of society in a socialist sense.” ⁷ Alessandro Tutino, conference ‘Collettivo di Architettura’, Ordine degli Architetti di Milano, 30.05.2013. Drawing from Gramsci’s concept of the organic intellectual, Collettivo’s members saw the profession as an extension of their militancy – a tool to achieve political, social, and cultural goals by actively building the emancipation of the working class, aligning as intellectuals with society rather than being detached from it. ⁸ “The new intellectual’s mode of being can no longer rely on eloquence, an outward and momentary mover of the affections and passions, but on actively engaging with practical life, as builder, organizer, as ‘permanent persuader’…” Antonio Gramsci. Quaderni del carcere. Torino: Einaudi, 1975, 1550-1551.
As urbanista condotto, Collettivo’s members provided regular assistance to local administrations with the support of the PCI and planning institutions, particularly in the municipalities of Rozzano, Bollate, Novate Milanese, San Giuliano Milanino, and Cormano. ⁹ Giuliano Rizzi, interviewed by Elettra Carnelli, August 29, 2022 and Manuele Salvetti. “Il Collettivo Di Architettura 1949-1973” (Master thesis, Politecnico di Milano, 2010), 54. This assistance involved helping with day-to-day tasks, such as verifying building permits and existing infrastructure. However, of greater significance was their contribution to building a shared urban planning culture. ¹⁰ “…for years we really did this: I remember ending up in the lowlands of Milan in the evening fog to go and tell the municipal administrators how we should go about urban planning matters.” Interview with Achille Sacconi in Manuele Salvetti, “Collettivo di Architettura” (Master Thesis, Politecnico di Milano, 2010), 204. The purpose was to strengthen the decision-making capacities of local authorities and articulate them democratically, following the principles of the PCI. This was not an easy task, as these municipalities not only lacked plans and policies but also the awareness of the importance of planning as a tool for governing the city democratically. Alessandro Tutino, one of Collettivo’s founding members, remembered their approach to the situation as urbanista condotto as follows:

There were no rules, no parameters, and no indications of modes of intervention. We had to invent the discipline, starting from the fact that at that time we were not only concerned with the problem of urban planning but also with urban management issues: that means, how to indicate to the administrations what they should do. Those were issues that the discipline of urban planning, as it was taught in universities, did not explore at all. ¹¹ Alessandro Tutino and Gianni Beltrame, interviewed by Centro Studi PIM, February 16, 2012, video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpzXgLd9ZGk&t=2s.

How to establish a shared planning culture: strategies and instruments

Collettivo’s urbanista condotto and local administrations worked together to develop policies, conventions, and practices from the ground up, driven by political commitment and the desire to improve living conditions in the periphery. This emerges in Tutino’s detailed account in the publication Urbanistica a Milano. 1945-1980, where he reflects on the activity of the urbanista condotto, highlighting the context in which they operated, the strategies they employed, and the challenges they faced. ¹² Alessandro Tutino, “I primi problemi legati alla pianificazione intercomunale e l’attività della Lega dei comuni democratici” in Urbanistica a Milano. 1945-1980, ed. Patrizia Gabellini, Corinna Morandi, Paola Vidulli, (Roma: Edizioni delle autonomie, 1980), 115-122. From Tutino’s account, is possible to identify the key instruments and strategies used to establish a shared planning knowledge. In the first stance, what distinguished the practice of the urbanista condotto was on-site commitment: they had a deep understanding of the local context, enabling them to engage in a direct dialogue with local interlocutors regarding the problems and needs of peripheral municipalities. This aspect should not be underestimated, given that debates on urban planning in postwar Milan primarily took place within specialized associations and publications, with limited impact on public opinion. ¹³ Eugenio Tedeschi, “Politica urbanistica e partecipazione culturale: il dibattito sugli sviluppi di Milano” in Gabellini 1980, 112. Therefore, the urbanista condotto regarded on-site dialogue and discussion as essential for establishing a shared planning culture, especially Collettivo’s members, who believed that all involved parties should participate in the planning process. By doing so, they aimed to raise awareness among local actors about the importance of planning, since at that time, as Tutino remembered, “the rhetoric of development and construction at any cost was dominating, and even demographic development was seen by municipalities as an incentive factor for economic and social promotion.” ¹⁴ Alessandro Tutino, “I primi problemi legati alla pianificazione intercomunale e l’attività della Lega dei comuni democratici” in Gabellini 1980, 119.
Hence, it was crucial to initiate dialogue not only with local authorities but also with the economic operators and landowners interested in building in peripheral municipalities: the urbanista condotto believed that “planning had to be an operation conducted by explicitly addressing, and not evading, the economic interests that planning itself entails.” ¹⁵ Tutino, 118. Thus, regular negotiations between local administrations, landowners, and economic operators became a customary practice for granting building rights in those municipalities lacking town plans and updated building regulations. This procedure allowed municipal administrations to authorize construction while maintaining control over building activities, in exchange for infrastructure or direct contributions. In this negotiation process, the urbanista condotto played a pivotal role as mediator. By approaching local administrations and discussing with landowners, the urbanista condotto facilitated decision-making processes and compromises. In addition to this role, the urbanista condotto was responsible for formulating plans that served as the foundation for negotiations between administrations, landowners, and economic operators. These proposals underwent modifications based on the needs and objectives of all involved parties, ultimately leading to the finalization of a binding master plan.

Conclusion: the impact of a “practical experimentation”

In his account, Tutino describes the urbanista condotto experience as a “practical experimentation” that differed from the laissez-faire planning attitude prevalent in Milan. Despite initial challenges and misunderstandings, this experimentation enabled the empirical and collective development of a shared modus operandi. On-site commitment, dialogue, negotiation, and plans were key tools for establishing effective planning methods and procedures, as exemplified by the municipality of Rozzano: there, the willingness of landowners to engage in negotiations, combined with the long-lasting political continuity of the PCI within the local administration, supported the work of the urbanista condotto of Collettivo. This collective effort successfully steered private intervention towards the public interest, safeguarding Rozzano from speculation and uncontrolled expansion coming from neighboring Milan (Erba, Tutino 1989). The impact of the urbanista condotto’s work extended beyond the municipalities they served: at the provincial level, the experimentations initiated by the urbanista condotto highlighted the relevance of peripheral municipalities, fostering inter-municipal debates and leading to the establishment of the Centro Studi PIM. ¹⁶ The Centro Studi PIM, established in 1961, is a voluntary association of local authorities that offers operational and technical support to the city of Milan and its province. Its activities include conducting studies and developing plans and projects related to urban and territorial planning, infrastructure and mobility services, environment and landscape, as well as local socio-economic development. Nationally, some of the procedures and tools tested in the Milanese periphery were eventually incorporated into subsequent laws. Notably, the 1967 “Legge Ponte” and the 1977 “Legge Bucalossi” introduced urban standards and negotiation and planning processes similar to those tested and implemented by the urbanista condotto in Milan’s periphery during the 1950s. ¹⁷ Tutino, 119-122.
In conclusion, the paper argues that the political commitment of the urbanista condotto was the vector for building and sharing knowledge on urban planning and management in Milanese leftist municipalities during the 1950s. These engaged architects were motivated by their political conviction to demonstrate that democratic societal renewal could be achieved through planning. They introduced innovative and pragmatic approaches as a collective effort to compensate for incomplete town plans and deficient laws at the local level. Among these engaged planners, the members of Collettivo di Architettura played a significant role in shaping Milanese postwar planning culture and practice through their extensive on-site contribution as embedded agents of change within local administrations and communities.

References

Achilli, Michele. Interview by the author together with Andri Gerber and Maria Silvia D’Avolio, April 12, 2022.
Acuto, Federico. Lucio Stellario D’Angiolini. Un’altra prassi urbanistica. Milano: Libreria Clup, 2004.
Durbiano, Giovanni. I nuovi maestri: Architetti tra politica e cultura nel dopoguerra. Venezia: Marsilio, 2000.
Erba, Valeria, and Alessandro Tutino. L’intervento urbanistico nella periferia metropolitana: Analisi e proposte per il Comune di Rozzano. Milano: F. Angeli, 1989.
Gabellini, Patrizia, Corinna Morandi, and Paola Vidulli, eds. Urbanistica a Milano 1945-1980. Roma: Edizioni delle autonomie, 1980.
Gramsci, Antonio. Quaderni del carcere. Torino: Einaudi, 1975.
“L’insegnamento dell’urbanistica al primo convegno di Siena”. Urbanistica, no. 9 (1952): 64 – 81.
Oliva, Federico, and Giuseppe Campos Venuti. Cinquant’anni di urbanistica in Italia: 1942-1992. Roma: Ed. Laterza, 1993.
Rizzi, Giuliano. Interview by the author, August 29, 2022.
Salvetti, Manuele. “Il Collettivo Di Architettura 1949-1973”. Master thesis, Politecnico di Milano, 2010.
‘The “Medico Condotto” of Italy (from our Rome correspondent)’. The Lancet 163, no. 4198 (13 February 1904): 470.
Tutino, Alessandro and Gianni Beltrame. Interview by Centro Studi PIM, February 16, 2012. Video,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpzXgLd9ZGk&t=2s
Tutino, Alessandro, Giuliano Rizzi, Vincenzo Montaldo, and Alfredo Viganò. “Collettivo di Architettura”. Interview by Ordine Architetti Milano e Fondazione OAMi, May 30, 2013. Video, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzMtDk2VOV4MctkOG_8l8wBoQ2uBuvb1H

1. The reconstruction of Collettivo’s professional and political activity is methodologically challenged by the lack of a common archive and consistent publications. Thus, this ongoing research project relies both on interviews with Collettivo members’ relatives, former colleagues, political and local actors, and material from local as well as private archives, including those of institutions, building cooperatives, and municipal administrations that collaborated with Collettivo.
2. The Lega dei Comuni Democratici (The League of Democratic Municipalities) was an advisory body for local governments in the Milanese outskirts. Its scope of interest extended to various aspects of administration, with a particular focus on urban planning. The Lega consisted of technicians, planners and politicians affiliated with the Communist Party (PCI), Socialist Party (PSI) and Republican Party (PRI).
3. “The Lega [dei Comuni Democratici] has always emphasized the importance of practitioners not only formulating masterplans but also working as municipal technicians. In fact, we did it, and we defined ourselves as urbanista condotto.” Michele Achilli, interviewed by the author together with Andri Gerber and Maria Silvia D’Avolio, April 12, 2022. All translations by author unless otherwise specified.
4. “The term ‘medico condotto’ is applied in Italy to the medical man employed to attend upon the sick poor of a commune and is derived from the ‘condotta’ or area over which his work is ‘conducted’. From ‘The “medico condotto” of Italy: (from our Rome correspondent)’. The Lancet 163, no. 4198 (13 February 1904): 470.
5. Acuto, Federico. Lucio Stellario D’Angiolini. Un’altra prassi urbanistica. Milano: Libreria Clup, 2004, 195, note 8.
6. See the speeches by Sansoni and Tutino, both Collettivo’s founding members, delivered during the 1st Siena conference on the teaching urban planning, in: Urbanistica 9 (1952), 73-79.
7. Alessandro Tutino, conference ‘Collettivo di Architettura’, Ordine degli Architetti di Milano, 30.05.2013.
8. “The new intellectual’s mode of being can no longer rely on eloquence, an outward and momentary mover of the affections and passions, but on actively engaging with practical life, as builder, organizer, as ‘permanent persuader’…” Antonio Gramsci. Quaderni del carcere. Torino: Einaudi, 1975, 1550-1551.
9. Giuliano Rizzi, interviewed by Elettra Carnelli, August 29, 2022 and Manuele Salvetti. “Il Collettivo Di Architettura 1949-1973” (Master thesis, Politecnico di Milano, 2010), 54.
10. “…for years we really did this: I remember ending up in the lowlands of Milan in the evening fog to go and tell the municipal administrators how we should go about urban planning matters.” Interview with Achille Sacconi in Manuele Salvetti, “Collettivo di Architettura” (Master Thesis, Politecnico di Milano, 2010), 204.
11. Alessandro Tutino and Gianni Beltrame, interviewed by Centro Studi PIM, February 16, 2012, video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpzXgLd9ZGk&t=2s.
12. Alessandro Tutino, “I primi problemi legati alla pianificazione intercomunale e l’attività della Lega dei comuni democratici” in Urbanistica a Milano. 1945-1980, ed. Patrizia Gabellini, Corinna Morandi, Paola Vidulli, (Roma: Edizioni delle autonomie, 1980), 115-122.
13. Eugenio Tedeschi, “Politica urbanistica e partecipazione culturale: il dibattito sugli sviluppi di Milano” in Gabellini 1980, 112.
14. Alessandro Tutino, “I primi problemi legati alla pianificazione intercomunale e l’attività della Lega dei comuni democratici” in Gabellini 1980, 119.
15. Tutino, 118.
16. The Centro Studi PIM, established in 1961, is a voluntary association of local authorities that offers operational and technical support to the city of Milan and its province. Its activities include conducting studies and developing plans and projects related to urban and territorial planning, infrastructure and mobility services, environment and landscape, as well as local socio-economic development.
17. Tutino, 119-122.