Giustini / Stagetti

Andrea Busiri Vici (Rome, 1903–1989) practiced his profession for over forty years. His family, whose history dates back to the 1700s, boasted illustrious academic architects from the San Luca Academy (he himself received this appointment in 1972).

After earning his professional degree at the Politecnico di Milano in 1929, he had already been working for some time with his older brothers, Clemente and Michele, both of whom were architect-engineers. Andrea Busiri Vici's personal career path often intertwined with that of his brothers.

Although they had very different personalities, the three brothers were united by a professional education that had been passed down from father to son for several generations. Their cultural background naturally led them toward similar concepts and aesthetic choices, with the past serving as their model.

Andrea Busiri Vici’s interiors embodied an image of rigorous sumptuousness—a balance between functionality and refinement. By categorically rejecting industrial production, he ensured that every element, both architectural and decorative, was custom-made by specialized craftsmen he personally trained. Paying close attention to every detail, he skillfully blended ancient and modern styles. This ability to harmonize the old with the new would become the unmistakable hallmark of all his future designs.

The number of his high-profile clients grew rapidly, as they saw in Busiri Vici the reassuring figure of an architect who was both cultured and stylish—an innovator and a traditionalist at the same time.

The art that interested Andrea Busiri Vici was not that of his time, but that of the past. It almost seemed as if he designed his interiors to match period paintings, which he personally sourced for his clients, as he was a passionate and avid collector of antique art. References to Greek and Roman classicism were integral to his neoclassical approach, which was widely practiced in architecture and the visual and applied arts across Europe. However, Busiri Vici's neoclassicism was not merely a product of fashion—it was a sincere expression of his culture and, as such, had a lasting character.

Among the most emblematic projects completed by Andrea Busiri Vici, often in collaboration with his brothers, both in Italy and abroad, are: the building at Via Bruxelles 47 in Rome (1931–34), a project included in the V Triennale of 1933; the interior decoration of the Roman headquarters of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1932–33); the Bises building and the interior decoration of the apartments of Carlo and Sergio Bises on Via San Valentino, as well as that of Marquis Giovanni Cassis in Piazza Santa Sabina (1935–37), all in Rome; Villa Biffo in Merate (1937–38); Villa La Busiriana in Fregene, Rome (1939); the headquarters of the Istituto Nazionale Luce in Rome (1937–40); the Italian Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair (1939); the residence of Count Rudy Crespi in Palazzo Colonna (1946); the Roman headquarters of Lux Film (1947–48); the Standard shop (1948); the Circolo del Cancello Aperto and Cinema Fiammetta (1949–50), all in Rome; Villa Paolozzi Spaulding in Rome (1949–52); Villa Matarazzo in São Paulo, Brazil (1950–51); his personal residence on Via Ludovisi 45, Rome (1950–52); the villas Zavaglia, Balella, Fre, and La Margherita in Ansedonia, Tuscany (1951–60); Villino Lia in La Spezia (1960–61); Wald House in Frankfurt (1964); and Casa Zeri in Mentana, Rome (1964–67).