Vittorio Gregotti, the Italian architect who designed Palermo’s ZEN neighbourhood and the Barcelona Olympic Stadium, has passed away at the age of 92 from coronavirus.

Gregotti died at the San Giuseppe hospital in Milan on 15 March 2020. His wife is still being treated for Covid-19 at the same hospital.
The architect, who founded his practice Gregotti Associati International in 1974, designed buildings including the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Stadium, Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence, the Arcimboldi Opera Theatre in Milan, Lisbon’s Belém Cultural Centre and the Università Bicocca in Milan. In 1975 Gregotti curated an exhibition on architecture for La Biennale di Venezia, laying the foundations for the establishment of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 1980. Born in Novara in 1927, Gregotti started working at his father’s textile factory at the age of 14. From this early experience, his interest in worker’s rights and the collective interest led to him becoming a member of the Italian Communist Party.
He pursued architecture following a visit in 1947 to the Paris studio of French architect Auguste Perret and his brothers. Back in Italy he studied at the Politecnico di Milano. A principal figure in the Italian neo-avant garde movement, Gregotti was also a respected architectural theorist. He focused on examining the modernist and post modernist movements of the 20th century,
He published many books, including Inside Architecture, which examined the theoretical debates on modernism and how mass culture has negatively impacted the environment. As posted on dezeen.com