Casa Italiana

History and architecture

Casa Italiana, a neo-Italian Renaissance style institutional building, was designed as a center for Italian studies by the prestigious architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White. Built in 1926-27, it is located on the, Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University at Amsterdam Avenue and I 17th Street.

Casa Italiana had its beginnings in 1914 when a group of students of Italian descent organized an Italian club at telumbia College in an effort to promulgate knowledge of modern Italy. In 1920 a group of 25 students formalized themselves into the Circolo ItaIiano. Under the chairmanship of student Peter Riccio , they began seeking funds to establish a collection of books specializing in Italy's contribution to culture and learning and facilities to house the collection. President Nicholas Murray Butler encouraged the students in their endeavor and suggested that an Italian House be established as a center for Italian studies and activities within the university context, as the already-established Maison Francaise was a center for French studies and activities.

The construction of Casa Italiana was accomplished through the combined efforts of Americans, Italians, and ItaIian-Americans . Fundraising was begun under the leadership of Judge John Freschi, and the establishment of the Institute of Italian Culture at Columbia in 1923 with Professor John Oerlg as chairman gave further impetus to the Casa Italiana campaign. The project aroused the enthusiasm of the Italian-American community, and committees were formed throughout the United States to help raise money.

Many prominent citizens contributed time and money to the effort. The we IJ-known building contractors, Joseph Paterno, Michael Paterno, and Anthony Campagna, of the firm Paterno Bros,, Inc., ottered to build the Casa. Columbia University donated the site on the condition that the Casa be suited to the University's needs and conform in general style and structure to other campus buildings. The architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the official Columbia University architects, agreed to offer their services at cost.

Many of the workmen who were of Italian descent volunteered a portion of their tabor as a contribution to the Casa Italiana, The Italian government donated furnishings, and the Italian royal family gave two oil paintings.

The cornerstone was laid on August 5, 1926, by President Butler. The Italian Ambassador to the United States, the Italian Consul General, and representatives of Italian societies in New York City were also present. Construction proceeded rapidly, and the dedication of Case Italiana took place on Columbus Day, October 12, 1927. The Italian government sent Senator Guglielmo Marconi as their representative. President Butler, Judge Fresctii, Joseph Paterno, and Professor Dino Bigongiari delivered speeches. When opened the Case was placed under the administration of the Institute of Italian Culture with Professor Gerig as director. In 1930 Giuseppe Prezzolini, who had served as a visiting professor of Italian in 1929-30, was appointed director of Casa Italiana.

During his ten-year administration, he established a close relationship between the Casa and the Columbia Italian Department, and he furthered the role of the Casa as a center of Italian culture in the United States. Case Italiana now serves as the home of the Columbia University Italian Department, which has trained more Ph.D.* in Italian studies than any other university in the United States. The Casa also sponsors numerous conferences, seminars, congresses, and forums on a wide range of cultural subjects. Its large auditorium offers a site for many varied musical and theatrical performances. The Casa is a center for interdepartmental studies and events in such fields as art, science, architecture, and medicine, contributing to the broader understanding of Italian influence In these areas.

Casa Italiana is situated outside the boundaries of the original campus master plan which the architectural firm of McKim, Head & White had designed in 1894-1903. In 1894, Charles F. McKim had begun to lay out the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway and between 116th and 120th Streets, McKim's design was chosen for the university because of Its monumentality and its classical style. The preference for this style reflected the success of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 whose buildings had also been designed in the classical style. The axiality and symmetry of the Columbia University design were in the tradition of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where McKim had studied during the 1860s. In 1903 the firm designed an extension of the campus southward to 114th Street.