About the Author

Gulio Carlo Argan (was an art historian, and professor at the University of Rome 1959-76, Mayor of Rome between 1976-79, and an Italian Senator. He was elected Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992. Gabriele Basilico (b. 1944) is one of today's best known documentary photographers in Europe. In 1996 he was awarded the top prize by the international jury of the Sixth Exhibition of Architecture of Venice Biennial Event, for his photographs of contemporary architecture. In the spring of 2000, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam presented a retrospective of his work.