Mario Praz

On this episode we’re discussing Mario Praz, the Italian critic and academic who wrote on English literature and, the main topic of this episode, interior design and decoration. Born in Rome in 1896, Praz studied in Bolognia, Rome and Florence, and taught at, among other places, the University of Liverpool. Praz’s writings on interior design changed the way many people thought about the subject, raising the idea of furnishings and decorations being a reflection of the individual. Whether fitting or ironic, given his scholarly work, Mario Praz’s residence in Rome has been preserved as a museum.

Our guest who’ll be arguing for Praz’s status as a revolutionary is Professor Ed Hollis, Personal Chair of Interior Design at Edinburgh College of Art. Having work with follies and ruins in Sri Lanka, modern interventions to historic buildings in Scotland, and in the discipline of Interiors, Hollis' research and theoretical thinking has moved towards building stories and narrative structures that connect time, folk tale, and the built environment.

Revolutionaries is produced and recorded at Edinburgh College of Art, and is hosted by Ardie Collins from the Engagement and Communications Team. Music is Noahs Stark by krackatoa.