Biographies

Valle, Tommaso e Gilberto

In 1957, the architect Tommaso Valle founded the Studio Valle Progettazioni. In 1960, he established, together with his engineer brother Gilberto, a professional association in which they have continued the profession handed down to them by their father, who was extremely active in the decades prior to WWII. The office has carried out an intense professional activity, both in Italy and abroad, in a wide range of sectors including architecture, urban planning and infrastructures. If, during the early years of their career, the Valle brothers were frequently abroad, working on projects in Africa and in the Persian Gulf area, as from the middle of the 1980s, they have carried out most of their work in Italy. Both brothers have succeeded in combining their project commitments with university careers at the La Sapienza University in Rome. One of Tommaso’s first projects was the Monument in memory of the victims of the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp in Poland (1958/59). The Italian Pavilion at the Expo 70 exhibition in Osaka, Japan (1968/70) marked the beginning of a phase of large-sized constructions including: the Velodrome and the Palazzo dello Sport (sports arena) in Milan (1969/75); Rome International airport (1986/2000); the new Bank of Italy office building in Frascati, Rome (1992/2001); the new Fiera di Roma (Trade show exhibition complex) (2000/06). Today, the professional association also includes the Valle brothers’ sons and daughters Emanuela, Maria Camilla, Cesare Jr., Silvano, Gianluca and Gianluigi. Tommaso is among the founders of the Italian National Architecture Institute. In 2011 he personally donated the project material relating to the Monument in memory of the victims of the Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp and that of the Italian Pavilion at the Expo 70 exhibition in Osaka to the MAXXI Architettura collection.

Tommaso e Gilberto Valle, Padiglione italiano “Expo 70”, Osaka 1968/70 (part.)