By Livia Lupi
Architect Tito Azzolini died on 8 December 1907 in his home town of Bologna. He studied architecture and perspective at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Bologna, and apart from a few architectural commissions he dedicated his career primarily to theatre scenography, realising numerous sceneries for the Argentina and Apollo theatres in Rome between 1862 and 1894. Azzolini also taught architectural ornament, perspective and scenography at the Accademia di Belle Arti, where he was made professor of architecture in 1897 and then director in 1904.
Azzolini’s most important work are the stairs and porticoes of the Montagnola in Bologna, which he designed in collaboration with engineer Attilio Muggia between 1893-96. The Montagnola stairs were the last of a series of projects that Azzolini brought to completion, and that were aimed at renovating Bologna and surrounding towns and hamlets. After the success of the Montagnola stairs, Azzolini won the competition for the new palace of the Cassa di Risparmio in Pistoia, presenting a project inspired by Palazzo Strozzi in Florence.
Reference: Paola Barocchi, “Azzolini, Tito,” Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Enciclopedia Treccani
Tito Azzolini in 1905.
(with Attilio Muggia), Stairs of the Montagnola Park, 1893-96, Bologna.
Project for the Cassa di Risparmio of Pistoia, 1897, Museo del Risorgimento di Bologna.
Piazza del Nettuni in Bologna, 1857, Fondazione Collegio Artistico Venturoli, Bologna. Gouache?