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Torre Velasca

Coordinates: 45°27′36″N 9°11′26″E / 45.46000°N 9.19056°E / 45.46000; 9.19056
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Torre Velasca
Torre Velasca seen from the roof of Duomo
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
LocationMilan, Italy
Coordinates45°27′36″N 9°11′26″E / 45.46000°N 9.19056°E / 45.46000; 9.19056
Construction started1956[1]
Completed1958[1]
Height
Roof106 m (348 ft)
Technical details
Floor count26[2]
Design and construction
Architect(s)BBPR
Main contractorSocietà Generale Immobiliare

The Torre Velasca (Velasca Tower, in English) is a skyscraper built in the 1950s by the BBPR architectural partnership, in Milan, Italy.

Architects

BBPR is an acronym from the name of its designers: Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers. At the time of the construction of the Torre Velasca, Banfi was already dead (in 1945 in an Internment camp in Gusen).

Description

Details of the scaffolds and armor of the concrete during construction, photographed by Paolo Monti in 1956.
The Torre Velasca photographed by Paolo Monti in 1973

The Velasca Tower is part of the first generation of Italian modern architecture, while still being part of the Milanese context in which it was born, to which also belongs the Milan Cathedral and the Sforza Castle.

The tower, approximately 100 metres tall, has a peculiar and characteristic mushroom-like shape.

It stands out in the city skyline, made of domes, buildings and other towers. Its structure recalls the Lombard tradition, made of medieval fortresses and towers, each having a massive profile. In such fortresses, the lower parts were always narrower, while the higher parts propped up by wood or stone beams.

As a consequence, the shape of this building is the result of a modern interpretation of the typical Italian medieval castle.[3] At the same time, BBPR in this building satisfied the functional needs of space: narrower surfaces on the ground, wider and more spacious ones on the top floors.

The town planning laws, then, imposed specific volumes (depending on the buildings' purpose); in this tower, the latter being the mixed functions of residential and commercial use.

In 2011, the tower was placed under protection as a historic building.[1]

  • The tower during construction, seen from the Duomo of Milan. Photo by Paolo Monti

Urban context

The tower is located in the city centre of Milan, Italy, near the Duomo (Milan Cathedral) and the headquarters of the University of Milan, between the streets "corso di Porta Romana" and "via Larga". One of the exits of the Missori metro station is located right in front of it.

  • Photo by Paolo Monti
  • The tower seen from below
    The tower seen from below
  • Upper floors
    Upper floors

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Stella, Armando (18 November 2011). "La soprintendenza mette il «vincolo» sulla Torre Velasca" [Superintendent protects the Velasca Tower]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Torre Velasca". Housing Prototypes. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  3. ^ "AD Classics: Torre Velasca / BBPR". ArchDaily. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
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