Carlo Enrico Rava (1903-1985)

Carlo Enrico Rava is a still relatively unknown architect of Italian modernism. It has only been over the last several years that life and work of this complex artist were subject of closer examination.
Rava was born in 1903 near Como and graduated from the renowned Politecnico in Milan in 1926. In the same year he was together with six young architects (e.g. Giuseppe Terragni, Luigi Figini and Gino Pollini) the co-founder of „Gruppo 7“. This group of talented young architects stood for functional and rational modernism and published its beliefs concerning a “new and true architecture” in many magazine articles. The “Gruppo 7” received international attention in the 1927 Werkbund exhibition in Stuttgart-Weissenhof and presented several projects and designs there. Even after leaving the group in 1929, Rava continued to participate in international exhibitions. In his search for an individual and human rationalism Rava was also inspired by German examples, such as Heinrich Tessenow or Emil Fahrenkamp.
At the same time, by the end of the 1920s, he started to engage in architecture for the Italian colonies. He also visited the occupied territories in Africa. He published books and articles on urban and architectural problems, which reflect his strong interest in a “modern colonial architecture”. In this context Rava also looked into African and Arabian architectural traditions. In his building projects for the colonies, local and antique elements are combined into a “Mediterranean Rationalism”.
In addition to architecture, Carlo Enrico Rava showed a life-long passion for furniture and interior design. He worked as a set designer for the Cinecittà in Rome in the late 1930s. Through his luxurious set designs he was able to continue his successful work as an interior designer. In 1928 he won a national competition with a design for a bedroom and a kitchen. Rava's furniture features an eclectic approach to the past and seems to contradict his rational and theoretical tenor. Nevertheless, his objects are inspired by Antique motifs. Likewise, aspects of usability and comfort are of central importance. He combined cubic forms with delicate details, which can be read as quotations of Baroque or Classicism. He also worked from exotic and Asian influences.
Due to his comfortable and elegant style Rava received numerous projects from wealthy clients. He was also engaged with many art collectors. It was especially in these projects that he was able to execute a perfect and extravagant integration of the artworks in a decorative but also homelike way.