_{Villa Olivastri, Porto Rafael}

We spent a week and a bit in Sardinia last month; as well as the landscape and the beaches, the thing that we enjoyed looking at the most was the architecture. After a bit of online research, we discovered that Michele Busiri Vici was the man who was responsible for many of the buildings in the area.

Rome-born Michele Busiri Vici (1894-1981) descended from generations of architects and town planners. He designed the award-winning Italian Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. He’s credited as being the creator of the ‘Mediterranean Style’ of architecture; consisting of organic, white-washed forms, terra-cotta floor and roof tiles and incorporating the landscape into the interior.

He was one of the architects commissioned by the Aga Khan to create Porto Cervo and the Costa Smeralda – a playground for the Aga Khan and his wealthy, international jet-set friends.

A few years later in the 1960s in Porto Rafael, (the village on the north eastern coast of Sardinia where we stayed) he was commissioned by Raphael Neville, Count of Berlanga de Duero to design the Piazzetta and the Chapel of Saint Rita. He also designed various private villas in the pretty coastal resort.

_{La Piazzetta, Porto Rafael}

_{Chapel of Saint Rita, Porto Rafael}

_{Church Stella Maris, Porto Cervo}

_{Hotel Romazzino, Porto Cervo}

_{Michele Busiri Vici (left) with the Aga Khan, Porto Cervo, 1963
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