Francisco Gianotti

Who was Francisco Gianotti?

Francisco Gianotti was an architect who designed many important Art Nouveau buildings in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Born in 1881 in Lanzo, near Turin, Italy, he graduated as an architect from the Fine Arts Academy of Turin in 1904, together with his brother, Juan Bautista. In 1905 the two brothers took a post-graduate course together in Brussels and later they designed various pavilions for the 1906 International Exhibition in Milan.

Gianotti arrived in Buenos Aires, in 1909 where, together with his compatriot, Mario Palanti, he took charge of the construction and decoration of the Italian Pavilion at the International Centennial Exposition of 1910. In 1911 he opened his own studio and started to work on the design of residential houses and apartment buildings, using a mixture of Italian and French styles. Unlike his colleagues Virginio Colombo and Mario Palanti, who worked for wealthy compatriots, Gianotti was also commissioned by upper class Argentine clients for whom he undertook projects in the Beaux Arts style.