Raffaele Contigiani

Raffaele Contigiani (1920–2008) was an Italian architect and painter. He qualified as an architect in 1947 and designed pavilions for the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a consultant for the Italian television broadcaster RAI in the 1960s but is best known for his design for Hotel du Lac (1970–1973) in Tunis which he designed in the brutalist style.

Early life Contigiani was born in Turin in 1920. He served in the military during the Second World War and was a prisoner of war in Germany.

Career Contigiani qualified as an architect from the Faculty of Architecture at Rome in 1947. He designed buildings in Italy, Eastern Europe, and in North Africa. Among these were pavilions for the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Libya and Tunisia in the 1950s

He was a consultant to the Italian television broadcaster RAI

Among his notable works is the Hotel du Lac in Tunis (1970–1974) which he designed in a brutalist style Its distinctive shape has been described as the inspiration for the sandcrawler vehicle of the Star Wars films, as significant parts of the first trilogy were filmed in the country.

Contigiani also painted scenes from prisoner of war camps in Germany and published a number of collections of his paintings.

Death Contigiani died in 2008.

Selected publications Ecologia e Urbanistica. Edizioni Mediterranee, Rome, 1978. (Paintings) Invito Alla Bici. Edizioni Mediterranee, Rome, 1981. (Paintings)