The first part the article relates the presence of Italian engineers and architects that had arrived to Ecuador in the first half of the XX century. Their presence contributed to change the city image in Guayaquil, Quito and Riobamba with the application of Academicist principles in art and architecture. The second part presents a selection of the most relevant work of five Italian architects that imprinted a new urban image in Quito: Lorenzo and Francisco During; Antonino and Paolo Russo. From 65 buildings bearing their names, all can be attributed to the Academics influence, almost all of them located in the colonial downtown of Quito. Finally, as a contrast to the work of the first generation of migrant architects, the article briefly describes the works of Giovanni Rota who, incorporated technological and architectural innovations. Rota´s and other architects works initiated the path to the Modern Style in Quito. One of the intentions of this article is to show the contribution of the Italian architects and engineers in local society: the opportunity to develop new architectural and urban proposals and show a new image of a renovated city entering a new century. The application of the principles of Academicism in architecture allowed the formation of new construction workers and application of new building technologies. Most of the professionals above mentioned had a Beaux Arts education with a stress in architecture, other in engineering and the latter with a mix in architecture and engineering as Giovanni Rota. Their professional works reflect their educational formation: the artist-architect, the engineering-specialist, and the confluence of both.
Keywords: Italians, architecture, modern city, construction, Academicism, Ecuador.