POCCIANTI, Pasquale
Italian architect. After the death of his father, he came to Florence with an uncle at the age of ten. From 1791 he was enrolled there at the Accademia Fiorentina di Belle Arti in the architectural class. His teacher was Gaspare Maria Paoletti (1727-1813).
In 1794, scarcely twenty years, he finished his studies and entered the Scrittoio delle Fabbriche, a technical department, which, on behalf of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, directed both civilian and military construction projects.
From 1806 he worked for the city of Livorno, first as an assistant to Neri Zocchi, then from 1809 as an architect. From 1817, he was the first architect to be the director of Fabbriche and remained until his retirement in 1835. Afterwards, he worked as a consultant architect for the Grand Duke until 1849. From 1849 he was a member of the Direzione dei Lavori d ‘Acque e Strade e delle Fabbriche civili dello Stato and from 1849 member of the Consiglio d’Arte.
Poccianti was strongly influenced by the Florentine Renaissance. He developed a personal style, mainly through the numerous public assignments he performed. He combined the simplicity of classical architecture with abstract forms of engineering architecture, in which the structure of the building is emphasized against ornament.
The Cisternone, a water reservoir built between 1828 and 1833 in Livorno, is considered to be Poccianti’s main activity. It is part of an aqueduct, which leads from Colognole to Livorno, near Collesalvetti.
