Torre Velasca
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| Torre Velasca | |
|---|---|
 Torre Velasca seen from the roof of Duomo | |
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| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Location | Milan, Italy |
| Coordinates | 45°27′36″N 9°11′26″E / 45.46000°N 9.19056°E |
| Construction started | 1956[1] |
| Completed | 1958[1] |
| Height | |
| Roof | 106 m (348 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 26[2] |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | BBPR |
| Main contractor | Società Generale Immobiliare |
The Torre Velasca (Velasca Tower, in English) is a skyscraper built in 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
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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 wooden boards or stone beams.
As a consequence, the shape of this building is the result of a modern interpretation of the typical Italian medieval castle.[citation needed] 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.
- The tower during construction, seen from the Duomo of Milan. Photo by Paolo Monti
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Urban context
The tower is located in the city centre of Milan, Italy, near the Duomo (Milan Cathedral) and the headquarter 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
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La torre vista dal basso -
I piani superiori -
See also
References
- ^ a b "AD Classics: Torre Velasca / BBPR". ArchDaily. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
- ^ "Torre Velasca". Housing Prototypes. Retrieved 13 November 2011.