This book explores a uniquely Roman type of building the palazzina-a four- or five-story
residential structure of the most meticulous design built during the Italian economic miracle
between the 1950s and '70s. A Beautiful Game focuses on the extraordinarily imaginative
entrances of these buildings. Over many years Heiner Thofern photographed palazzine during his
evening wanderings throughout the north and west districts of Rome. It was the intricately
conceived and constructed entrances realized mostly through collaborations between architects
and artists that particularly caught his eye. Beautiful Games reveals the varied treasures of
Thofern's photographic archive a rich collection that allows us to examine the particular
sense of play and passion for beauty that shapes this era of Italian creativity a delight in
la bella figura and a desire to constantly reinvent the possibilities of design and
architecture.
