Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda: design drawings compared

Abstract

Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda is among the most important designers, architects, engineers and designers at the end of '800. He has participated in numerous architectural competitions, both at Palermo in Sicily and again in Italy. He has conducted numerous studies on the identification of significant types of construction from coffee house to the shrines cemeteries, the decorative detail to the urban study on a large scale. Of course He is remembered in our city, especially as the designer of the Politeama, an imposing structure that dominates the central square of Palermo. Very old city, whose roots, evidenced by the presence dating back to the Punic, have never found a break until the present day, offering a repertoire of great architectural prestige and international reputation. Moreover, capital, enjoys a privilege that few other cities can boast: it has two of the most important theaters in the history of Architecture: the Politeama and the Teatro Massimo. And our dear Almeyda participated in both competitions, winning one and losing the second. But what were the real reasons why he did not win the second project? Perhaps the town is terrified of being left with a certified copy of the already made Politeama? Or, participation in the race by Giovan Battista Filippo Basile unquestionably compromised the expert advice? Or perhaps, again, the second project did not meet in style, beauty and greatness, the grandeur of the former? These and more are the questions we have approached the study of two extraordinary projects proposed architectural competitions with only one signature, but hides itself, strange stylistic mechanisms but also social, historical, political.