L'attività dell'ingegnere Achille Viola in Sicilia tra la fine dell'Ottocento e l'inizio del Novecento

The essay intends to investigate the figure of the Sicilian engineer Achille Viola, originally from Castronovo (Palermo), but operating mainly in Palermo and in some centers of the western area of the island between the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century. Although this figure has often been ignored by architectural studies in Sicily between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the research carried out on the project production and the examination of his architectures reveals the profile of one of the most active professionals in Sicily at the time, which is part of a transitional phase of architecture, permeated by the culture of the neostyles. Viola’s linguistic references are to be found in many models, mainly taken from the Middle Ages, not only from Sicily. Among his best known projects can be mentioned Whitaker palace in Palermo (now the Prefecture), the Mother Church of San Giuseppe Jato, the Mother Church of San Cipirrello and the Mother Church of Favara, as well as numerous private residences, mainly concentrated in Palermo. Furthermore, his technical expertise prompted the Municipality of Palermo to call the engineer Viola to settle controversial issues such as those linked to the main Sicilian construction site of the second half of the nineteenth century, the Massimo theater. The contribution intends to outline the figure of this engineer, inserting him into the contemporary cultural context of the time, using a copious archival documentation, almost completely unpublished, consisting of the engineer’s private archive (currently preserved by the heirs), including drawings, photographs and some written memories, integrating it with the available bibliographic sources.