European contributions in the development of the Modern Project in Latin America. Mario Bianco
and Peru
This article is one of the preliminary results of the research carried out in
La Sapienza
in collaboration
with the
Università della Svizzera Italiana
(2015-2020). The work focused on the historical relationship
between Latin America and Western Europe and its repercussions on Peruvian culture. The migratory
phenomena of the mid-twentieth century contributed to the consolidation of urbanism and modern
architecture in Peru.
The experience of Mario Bianco, an engineer from Turin who moved to Lima
between 1947 and 1960, is representative of a larger number of Europeans who emigrated to the
Andean country. Their vast works and, more generally, Peruvian architecture of the last century, have
been seriously threatened over the last fifty years. The study for the recognition of the values of this
heritage constitutes a fundamental action for its protection. In this context, this essay is proposed as
a contribution to the construction of the history of twentieth-century Peruvian architecture and the
preservation of its heritage.
