The contribution of Italian culture to the development of architecture and urban planning in Colombia, leaving a historical and architectural heritage of great artistic and cultural value, is now highlighted in the international exhibition “Italian engineers and architects in Colombia” hosted at the University of Boyacá, in Tunja, north of Bogotá. In cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute (IIC) and with the Italian Embassy in Bogotá, architect Elisa Violante, head of internationalisation at the Faculty of Architecture of the Colombian university, organised the exhibition which was developed and designed by architects Ruben Hernandez Molina and Olimpia Nigli.
The inauguration event included the presentation of a number of lectures and offered an interesting opportunity to exchange ideas and proposals. The director of the IIC, Uberto Malizia, made a presentation to illustrate to the University’s students and teachers some of the cultural objectives of the project, which include kicking off a cultural and academic cooperation with the University of Boyacá. The exhibition has already toured several Colombian cities, including Bogotá, Cali and Ibague, and aims to familiarise the public with the works of architecture designed by Italians who settled in Colombia between the 16th and the second half of the 20th century through a careful historic reconstruction.
The images displayed in the exhibition are also collected in the book by the same name that was awarded the Julio Gonzalez Gomez Prize by the Municipal Secretary of Culture of Bogotá in 2017 as the best book report contributing to knowledge and culture.
