arnolt smead captures trieste's concrete dreams and unsung modernist landmarks

from concrete temples to residential complexes

Arnolt Smead captures the unsung modernist landmarks of Trieste — a city in the northeastern corner of Italy, best known for its illustrious past as a busy port under Austro-Hungarian rule, stately waterfront boulevards, and ornate art nouveau facades. Yet, the city is also home to some of Italy’s most remarkable and daring concrete modernist architecture. A historic crossroads of political and cultural influences, Trieste was a contested territory under American and British control after the Second World War. Upon reunification with Italy, the city embarked on ambitious building projects to reimagine its future and bring dispersed communities back together, inspired by the ideals of modernism.

Landmarks like the churches of Monte Grisa and San Luigi Gonzaga, the Brutalist Rozzol Melara housing estate, the Giuseppe Caprin public school, and the Lungomare pier are often overlooked, but emblematic of this period when architecture was adopted as a force for social cohesion, progress, and equality, to form a distinctly Italo wave of modernism across the nation.

all images by Arnolt Smead

Santuario di Monte Grisa: A Beacon of Spirituality

London-based photographer Arnolt Smead draws attention to the city’s complex identity — steeped in history, yet unafraid to embrace the future. ‘These iconic sites tell the story of Italy’s post-war hopes, fears, and ambitions, and of a city that embraced architecture as a means of rebuilding by transforming religious, social, and educational constructs,’ he notes. Dominating the mountain horizon over the Gulf of Trieste is the Monte Grisa Sanctuary with its striking geometric silhouette. Designed by architect Antonio Guacci in the 1960s, this temple was conceived by the Bishop of Trieste Antonio Santin as a place of worship and a monument to peace and unity between East and West in a time of global uncertainty.

The triangular structure, with glass and concrete as its primary materials, embodies the connection between heaven and earth. Across the walls and large windows, a design of interlocking prisms forms a honeycomb-like pattern. Upon entering the darkly gleaming lower hall, visitors ascend to the majestic main hall, which is transformed throughout the day by natural light casting angular shadows, infusing it with an almost mystical ambience. Monte Grisa’s architecture was designed to inspire awe in the great Catholic tradition, but through progressive forms of symbolic abstraction. It stands as a bold expression of modernism’s spiritual quest and holds a unique position among Europe’s Brutalist churches.

Arnolt Smead captures the unsung modernist landmarks of Trieste

Rozzol Melara: The Utopian City

Perhaps Trieste’s most polarizing modernist project is Rozzol Melara, a large-scale housing complex that evokes comparisons to Le Corbusier’s vision of the ‘Cité Radieuse’ and Rome’s Corviale. Designed in the 1970s by a collective of architects led by Carlo Celli and only completed in 1982, Rozzol Melara is a prime example of modernism’s utopian aspirations for urban expansion. Colloquially known as Il Quadrilatero, the Brutalist megastructure houses over 2,500 residents and features a labyrinthine network of apartment blocks, schools, shops, and communal spaces, all under one roof, as an experiment in collective living. Designed to foster a sense of community, the estate challenged traditional views of what makes a city and divided public opinion from the start. Due to poor maintenance and social challenges, it has fallen into rapid decline and today leaves a rather grim impression, but remains an essential site for understanding Italy’s post-war urbanism.

Rozzol Melara

Chiesa di San Luigi Gonzaga: A Church for the People

Trieste’s architectural devotion to modernism continues with the San Luigi Gonzaga parish church, found in the working-class district of Borgo San Sergio. Designed by architect Guido Pellis, the church differs significantly from the grandiosity of Monte Grisa. Completed in the late 1950s, San Luigi Gonzaga is characterized by smooth lines and the use of simple, local materials. The exterior is austere with minimalist detailing and bent, vertical lines that draw the eye upward. Inside, the design is warm and organic. Curved walls and color-stained windows projecting atmospheric light create a contemplative space for worship and reflection that also functions as a community centre — an intimate modernist space that is deeply rooted in the social fabric of the neighbourhood.

Chiesa di San Luigi Gonzaga

the city is also home to some of Italy’s most remarkable and daring concrete modernist architecture

the selected landmarks are emblematic of a period when architecture was adopted as a force for social cohesion

sacred concrete structures

the series draws attention to the city’s complex identity

a striking geometric silhouette

the Brutalist megastructure houses over 2,500 residents

project info:

name: Monte Grisa, Rozzol Melara, San Luigi Gonzaga

photographer: Arnolt Smead | @arnoltsmead
architects: Antonio Guacci, Carlo Celli, Guido Pellis

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom