Building and Re-Building a Nation’s Identity: Israeli and Italian Architectural Culture, Their Representation and the Role of Bruno Zevi (1918–2000)

The presentation of Israeli architecture in major Italian journals may appear simply as one of many cultural exchanges in the post-war search of alternatives for Italian renewal. However, the chief proponent of Israeli architecture was the Jewish architectural critic and historian Bruno Zevi (1918–2000), who embraced the Zionist cause both politically and culturally. Zevi presented projects developed in Israel in L’architettura. Cronache e storia, the periodical founded by him in 1955, attempting an analysis that would illustrate Jewish thought regarding architecture Thus, the contribution of Jewish architectural culture, in the work of one of its protagonists, plays a decisive role in the historiography of Italian architecture. For Zevi, identity was intrinsically linked to historiographic research, which expanded beyond Italian geographical boundaries so as to acquire an international perspective.