Monument by Giuseppe Terragni to Roberto Sarfatti
It stands on a hill in the Asiago Plateau, around pastures and meadows once upset by war. It is far from settlements and surrounded by a panorama of mountain ranges and slopes, where small objects on the horizon intrigue the observer. The plain below is a homogeneous nebula of elements lying in a slightly undulating surface. In these places the weather suddenly changes colours and atmospheres.The small monument appears almost unexpectedly. It was commissioned in the 30s by Margherita Sarfatti to Giuseppe Terragni, in memory of his son Roberto, who fell as a fighter in this place.It is a T spread on a meadow, more than two meters high and formed by local stone ashlars on a concrete structure. In front it has a staircase of 15 steps, above it has a large monolithic cube with commemorative sentences engraved on it, a small photo, an improper "fence" and nothing else.The ashlars are made of Asiago stone treated with quarry split for the base, while polished for the cubic monolith (of two blocks). The monument is oriented towards the north-south axis.
The requests of the cultured client, the impervious place, economic factors and bureaucratic issues, were what affected the thirty-year-old designer, as well as the execution and the final work.At the time, the young architect found himself grappling with this particular issue and involved - in addition to other assignments - in the competition for the Palazzo del Littorio in Rome.This project was not an opportunity to reproduce and interpret an aspect of life, but rather to reduce its complexity. Terragni developed several quite different proposals, in a sequence of ideas, considerations and alternatives typical of his approach. The design process was as troubled and complex as the result appears simple today. <<A prehistoric rock dug by a staircase to make it passable>>; a burial <<worthy of an ancient Roman soldier. Seen from above, it resembled a body lying on the ground, its arms wide open>>.
The monument appears safe, well supported, solid, massive.On sunny days the light accentuates its roughness and volume. Mist, fog, clouds reveal the patina of time, the remakes, the recent touches, the imperfections of the joints.Today, not far away, there is a curious wooden frame erected by farmers. The skeletal construction appears uncertain and precarious. It moves slightly when the wind blows.These two "objects" - solitary presences - in their contrast characterize the atmosphere.
The monument ("object" in itself, rooted in the collective memory of these places but unknown to the majority) evokes different sensations and asks questions to the observer. Who should it remember? Why is it there? Who wanted it? Who and why built it? Answering these questions, slowly, one can also understand an Architecture... Who observes and listens, participates in the infinite lives of others.
Filippo Forzato (2003).
