Ottavio Cabiati Biography
Ottavio Cabiati (1889 - 1956) graduated in architecture in 1913 and at the same time obtained a diploma from the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. In 1919 he opened the studio with Alberto Alpago Novello and Guido Ferrazza. Together they created: the Dante Alighieri Institute in Treviso (1920), the churches of Ponte di Piave and Sernaglia (1922), the General Regulatory Plans and various public buildings in the Colonies of Benghazi and Tripoli (1928-35). Participates in numerous architecture competitions (1913, Royal Palace of Sofia, with Alpago Novello; 1915, Seveso cemetery, first prize with Minali; 1935, tower in Piazza del Duomo in Milan) and urban planning (1926, General Town Plan of Milan , second prize with the Urbanists Club, of which he is the founder). In Milan he created: the War Memorial (1925-27, with Alpago Novello and the Muzio group), the Cinema Reale (1925, with Gadola), the Pavilion of Home Industries for the Fair (1928, with Alpago Novello), the residential house and atelier in via Melzi d'Eril (1931, with Alpago Novello, Ferrazza and Minali), the church of the Santo Volto, the Smeraldo cinema (1935-39), the Leone XIII Institute. He dedicated a lot of care to places of worship, liturgical furnishings and noble chapels. We remember: the parish church of Giussano (1927-32), the façade of the basilica of Desio (1936) and that of Seregno (1941-42). Bibliophile, he wrote Note to Palladio for the reprint of the Four Books of Architecture (Milan 1945), executed fine watercolors and engravings, designed furniture and objects. His works, in continuity with the Lombard tradition, also have new characteristics. He took part in the Rome Biennial (1921), and in the Monza and Milan Biennials and Triennials (of which he was responsible for the sacred art section in some editions). From 1950 he was a member of the Pontifical Commission for sacred art.
