Guglielmo Calderini studied engineering at the University of Turin and received a diploma in architectural engineering from the University of Rome, before working in Perugia for nine years. Calderini held a professorial appointment in architecture and art history at the Accademia di belle arti Pietro Vannucci in Perugia from 1868 to 1880, and in 1881 he became professor of architecture at the University of Pisa. From 1891 to 1912 he served as professor of architecture and the Scuola superiore di ingegneria in Rome. Throughout his career, Calderini frequently entered competitions for civic works, demonstrating sensitivity to the integration of historic and contemporary elements in both design and building techniques. Among his realized projects are the college of Nocera Umbra (1879), and the completion of the façade of Savona's 16th-century cathedral (1880-86). His project won the bid for the Palazzo delle Belle Arti in Turin (begun 1880; destroyed during World War II); he also completed the Palazzo di Giustizia in Rome (the so called Palazzaccio, 1888-1910) and the Palazzo Comunale in Messina (begun 1910). His numerous, handsomely executed, competition designs chronicle the exuberant revivalist spirit of the new Kingdom of Italy. Calderini participated in numerous expositions: he won a gold medal at the exposition of Vienna in 1867 and received a prize at the 1880 exposition in Turin. In the Paris 1900 Exposition , he won an honorary diploma. He participated in the Exposition of Turin 1911 with the design of the Pavilion of Postal and Telegraph Ministry. He was a prolific art historian, with numerous publications in his name, including: Michelangelo Buonarroti e l’architettura moderna (1875); Il campanile di San Marco ed i 72 giorni di Luca Beltrami (1903) and Il padiglione regionale dell’Umbria per le feste commemorative del 1911 in Roma.