Duilio Torres Biography
Duilio Torres was born in Venice in 1882. After obtaining the diploma of professor of architectural drawing at the Academy of Venice in 1903, the following year he began his professional career collaborating with his older brother, Giuseppe, also an architect. Together they signed numerous works, including a patent for an anti-seismic circular house (1909), which could be assembled as a cell with others and which was designed for the reconstruction of Messina and Reggio Calabria, destroyed by the earthquake of the previous year.
In 1911, as group leader, he was commissioned by the Municipality of Venice to design the master plan and construction of the island of Sant'Elena in Venice. In 1912 he won the competition for the creation of the garden city at the Quattro Fontane on the Lido of Venice. After his return from the Great War in 1918, he independently resumed his professional activity which had been interrupted, participating in various competitions in the early twenties. Among these competitions, we remember the one for the Monument to the infantryman on the hill of San Michele al Carso, promoted by the Italian Touring Club Ercole Marelli for the reconstruction of the farmhouses in the areas devastated by the war, and the one by invitation for the arrangement of the Piazzale Bucintoro at Lido of Venice. In the latter competition he managed to win, also creating the new bathing establishment. Furthermore, he took care of various restorations and restorations of Venetian homes damaged by the war.
Torres participated in several important architectural competitions. In 1928 he applied for the construction of the post office building in Naples, in 1930 for the cathedral of La Spezia, in 1933-34 for the façade of the basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, in 1934 for the town hall of Pesaro, in 1934 for the Palazzo del Littorio in Rome, in 1935 for the Venice station, in 1936 for the bridges over the Tiber at S. Paolo and at Magliana in Rome, in 1937 for the monument to Victory in Milan, in 1938 for Piazza Imperiale and the Palazzo della 'Water and Light at the Universal Exhibition in Rome.
In addition to his work as an architect and urban planner, Torres also dedicated himself to scenography. Worth mentioning are the sets created for the Merchant of Venice, directed by Max Reinhardt, a performance which was held in Venice in Campo S. Trovaso from 27 July to 4 August 1935. Like his older brother, Torres carried out an intense activity of teaching. On 2 July 1934 he obtained the teaching qualification in general architecture, confirmed on 21 February 1940. After the Second World War, he continued both his professional and political-union activities and, at the same time, continued to teach at the University Institute of Architecture of Venice until the end of his life. He died in Venice in July 1972.
