Francesco Fichera Collection

The Fichera collection, consisting of approximately 1600 design plates, including originals and heliographic copies, was donated in 1976 by the family of architect Francesco Fichera to the Departmental Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning (IDAU) of the University of Catania. Fichera served there as an Extraordinary Professor, and later a Full Professor, of the Chair of Ornamental Drawing and Architecture.

Francesco Fichera (Catania, 1881-1950), an eclectic engineer and architect, was constantly in search of a modern style that maintained historical continuity with the past and previous generations - historicist, traditionalist, classicist, and academic; through his architecture, he explored various stylistic languages.

The exhibition in the two rooms dedicated to the Catanese designer is organized by typology: in the first room, where the dark tones of wood and paint prevail, several examples of residential architecture are on display. Some of these were commissioned by private clients, while others were designed for the architect's personal use. Certain projects were successfully realized, while others remained only in the design phase. In the second room, where light colors predominate, design plates of various public works are exhibited. These were commissioned by both private individuals and public entities and are arranged not chronologically, but according to typology - including schools, performance venues, monuments, and rural villages.

• Pencil (and India ink) on tracing paper or graph paper;
• India ink on tracing paper;
• Graphite and colored pencils on tracing paper;
• India ink and watercolor on graph paper.