Villa-Mania The Ideology of the Seaside Villa in Postwar Italy (1953-1973)

The villa can be considered one of the most archaic and enduring building types. The term evolved from a settlement form originating in ancient Rome into a more comprehensive notion that today encompasses multiple definitions but ultimately refers to a bourgeois, luxurious, detached house outside the city. In the collective imagination, the villa is a manifesto of 'The Good Life':for architects, it represents an opportunity to push boundaries - a laboratory for stylistic experimentation, often an exception in their portfolio - and for clients, it offers the promise of an isolated haven. Since the second half of the twentieth century, this building type has multiplied rapidly, especially in the form of holiday villas along the Mediterranean coastline. This included its birthplace, Italy, where rapid industrialization and increased social mobility helped democratize the concept of the summer vacation.

This dissertation examines the proliferation and ideology of seaside holiday villas in postwar Italy, a phenomenon the author refers to as Villa-Mania, reinforced and promoted by specific political factors. It focuses on a period widely discussed in architectural history - beginning with the initial phase of the Italian Economic Miracle in 1953 and ending with the first Oil Crisis in 1973 - while redirecting attention to a building type that has remained largely outside the urban-centered sphere of knowledge and critical inquiry. In this sense, the research seeks to explain the emergence of a new wave of seaside villa typologies in postwar Italy. The thesis analyzes six buildings, all widely published for their technological innovations, each located only a few meters from the sea and constructed within the period under study. Through building-centered narratives of these so-called 'architectural masterpieces', previously unexplored notions of privilege, class, labor conditions, and consumption of natural resources come to light. The project, therefore, considers the villa as a site of experimentation, conflict, and contradictions. It ultimately questions how - and whether - this building type can be understood as truly historical.