Italo Rota, one of the best-known architects who designed, among other things, the Museo del Novecento in Milan's Piazza Duomo, has died at the age of 70. "The passing of Italo Rota deprives us of one of the world's greatest architects, one of Milan's freest and most brilliant spirits," said Mayor Beppe Sala. One of the most interesting and multifaceted figures on the Italian architectural scene, Italo Rota graduated from Milan Polytechnic in 1982, training at Franco Albini's studio and at Vittorio Gregotti's studios. At the end of the 1980s, he moved to Paris, where he signed the renovation of the Museum of Modern Art at the Centre Pompidou with Gae Aulenti, the new halls of the French school at the Louvre's Cour Carré, the lighting of Notre Dame Cathedral and along the Seine, and the renovation of the center of Nantes. He returned to Italy in the mid-1990s and the activity of his new Milanese studio began to range from master plans to product design, in projects characterized by the choice of innovative materials, cutting-edge technologies and in-depth research on light. Prominent in his production are the Foro Italico promenade in Palermo (Gold Medal for Italian Architecture for Public Spaces 2006) and the Museo del Novecento in the Palazzo dell'Arengario in Milan's Piazza Duomo (2010). In addition to France, there are numerous international works, such as the Casa Italiana at Columbia University, New York (1997); the Hindu Temple in Mumbai (2009); and the Chameleon Club at the Byblos Hotel, Dubai (2011).
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