From March 1 to 19, 1978, "The harmonic space. Rationalist architecture and abstract painting in Como, 20-40s", curated by Alberto Longatti, was held in the church of San Francesco, where the works and artworks of a group of painters and sculptors active in Como who had come to define the “synthesis of the arts” were exhibited. The exhibition included works by Carla Badiali, Manlio Rho, Aldo Galli, Mario Radice, Cesare Cattaneo, Pietro Lingeri...
The exhibition did not have a catalogue, a lack that was made up for in 1987, when the architect Mario Di Salvo published an essay comparing images of rationalist architecture with paintings by abstract artists, investigating the connections between rationalist architecture and abstract painting. The definition of “harmonic space” in art and architecture of the 1930s was the aim of the artists of the time, a space consisting of straight lines, curvilinear movements and geometric shapes.