The Atelier Segantini was initially erected in Soglio in 1897 as a model for the large Engadine Alpine panorama that Giovanni Segantini planned for the 1900 Paris World Exhibition. The model was then rebuilt behind the Casa Segantini in Maloja. The pavilion has the typical features of a panoramic building: the light coming in from above through clerestory windows and the sloping roof with its decorative shape. Segantini's huge project with a magnificently staged Engadine mountain landscape, which would have been "experienced" from a hill with a platform built in the middle, could not be realized for financial reasons. The Segantini studio was subsequently employed by the artist primarily to house his library. Segantini hardly ever used it as a painting studio because he preferred to work outdoors. In 1986, the Studio was renovated by architect Bruno Giacometti and opened to the public as a memorial and small museum. The Atelier Segantini is run by the association Segantini Maloja.
Segantini's Pavilion of Light
This summer, the Atelier Segantini displays a special research project on selected works by Giovanni and Gottardo Segantini - chosen for the central theme of light. The curators have found a collection of photographs by Giovanni Segantini, which complement the light tour in the studio.
