Mariateresa Grusovin (Gorizia – 1940)

Giorgio Picotti (Gorizia – 1938)

Mariateresa Grusovin and Giorgio Picotti graduated in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Turin and in 1967 opened a professional practice together in Gorizia. They won the competition for the Regional Palace with an auditorium in Gorizia (1969–1977), which was inaugurated in the summer of 1976. The complex includes a 372-seat auditorium, dressing rooms, a bar, and everything needed for cultural events of all kinds. The auditorium is uniquely integrated into the urban fabric, surrounded by greenery, with a grid of exposed metal structures modulated by panels and cladding plates. The ground floor of the three-story building is set back from the upper floors and is surrounded by pillars; this formal arrangement enhances the sense of immersion in the surrounding greenery. The linearity of the Gorizia building's façade recalls Saarinen's Deere and Company Administrative Center in Illinois, also surrounded by greenery and characterized by an exposed metal structure.