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Torre Velasca under heavy restoration, Milan, Italy.

 

Design (1956): BBPR.

180715_122442_oly-PEN-f_Italië

 

Torre Velasca

Via Pantano

Via Osti

Missori

Milano

Lombardy

Italy

180715_124936_oly-PEN-f_Italië

 

Torre Velasca

Corso di Porta Romana

Missori

Milano

Lombardy

Italy

quando penso a Milano puntualmente mi vieni in mente tu, Pigi.

mi viene in mente questa foto, e l'ultima frase della sua didascalia; te l'ho mai detto che mi commuove ogni volta che la leggo?

Die Torre Velasca im Hintergrund ist ein markantes Hochhaus in Mailand im Stil des Brutalismus und wurde vom Büro BBPR entworfen. Die Realisierung des umstrittenen Baus gelang 1956–1957. Die unteren 18 Stockwerke enthalten Geschäfte und Büros, in den oberen Stockwerken des pilzkopfartig verbreiterten Querschnitts befinden sich Wohnungen. Die auskragende Form zitiert die Torre del Filarete des Castello Sforzesco.

 

Im Vordergrund die historistische Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, in der Mitte ein Bau aus dem Faschismus, der Palazzo dell’Arengario, der das Museo del Novecento beherbergt.

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The Torre Velasca in the background is a skyscraper built in 1950s by the BBPR architectural partnership, in Milan, Italy. The Velasca Tower is part of the first generation of Italian modern architecture. The shape of this building is the result of a modern interpretation of the typical Italian medieval castle, especially the Torre del Filarete of the Castello Sforzesco.

[ENG]

Milan - Torre Velasca (1957)

  

[ITA]

Titolo: Incontri ravvicinati del terzo tipo.

Notte bianca di Milano appena conclusa, alba sulla torre Torre Velasca (1957).

 

Dedicata a sarmax (che mi ha messo la pulce nell'orecchio di provare il grandangolo per scovare scorci architettonici inusuali ;)

 

The Torre Velasca / Velasca Tower is a skyscraper built in the 1950s by the BBPR architectural partnership, in Milan, Italy. The tower is part of the first generation of Italian modern architecture

Torre Velasca, by BBPR (1958).

 

Milan, Italy.

 

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ELSEWHERE | Lisbon | LIGHT | Saudade

 

Elevador de Santa Justa | Ing. Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard | 1874 - 1902

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The 98 m high edifice was raised between 1956 and 1958, on the designs of the BBPR architectural partnership (the four letters cover four leading architects of the era who founded the studio back in 1932, with the initial letters of their family names, namely Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti, and Ernesto Nathan Rogers). It is located in the centre of Milano, even the taller buildings in its surroundings are halves of its height. The picture was taken from the roof of the "duomo". Torre Velasca houses offices and apartments at the same time, and has been selected as a listed building, as an important example of 20th mid-century modernism since 2011. However, the shape of the building reflects the Lombard traditions of architecture.

© All Rights Reserved. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my prior permission.

The Castello Sforzesco is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Extensively rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

The original construction was ordered by Galeazzo II Visconti, a local nobleman, in 1358 – c. 1370; this castle was known as the Castello di Porta Giova (or Porta Zubia), from the name of a gate in walls located nearby. It was built in the same area of the ancient roman fortification of Castrum Portae Jovis, which served as castra pretoria when the city was the capital of the Roman Empire. It was enlarged by Galeazzo's successors, Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti, until it became a square-plan castle with 200 m-long sides, four towers at the corners and up to 7-metre-thick walls. The castle was the main residence in the city of its Visconti lords, and was destroyed by the short-lived Golden Ambrosian Republic which ousted them in 1447.

In 1450, Francesco Sforza, once he had shattered the republicans, began reconstruction of the castle to turn it into his princely residence. In 1452 he hired the sculptor and architect Filarete to design and decorate the central tower, which is still known as the Torre del Filarete. After Francesco's death, the construction was continued by his son Galeazzo Maria, under the architect Benedetto Ferrini. The decoration was executed by local painters. In 1476, during the regency of Bona of Savoy, the tower bearing her name was built.

In 1494 Ludovico Sforza became lord of Milan, and called on numerous artists to decorate the castle. These include Leonardo da Vinci (who frescoed several rooms, in collaboration with Bernardino Zenale and Bernardino Butinone) and Bramante, who painted frescoes in the Sala del Tesoro; the Sala della Balla was decorated with Francesco Sforza's deeds. Around 1498, Leonardo worked at the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse, painting decorations of vegetable motifs. In the following years, however, the castle was damaged by assaults from Italian, French and German troops; a bastion, known as tenaglia, was added, perhaps designed by Cesare Cesariano. After the French victory in the Battle of Marignano in 1515, the defeated Maximilian Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the castle. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated. In 1521, in a period in which it was used as a weapons depot, the Torre del Filarete exploded. When Francesco II Sforza returned briefly to power in Milan, he had the fortress restored and enlarged, and a part of it adapted as residence for his wife, Christina of Denmark.

Under the Spanish domination which followed, the castle became a citadel, as the governor's seat was moved to the Ducal Palace. Its garrison varied from 1,000 to 3,000 men, led by a Spanish castellan. In 1550 works began to adapt the castle to modern fortification style, as a hexagonal (originally pentagonal) star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25.9 hectares. The castle also remained in use as a fort after the Spaniards were replaced by the Austrians in Lombardy.

Most of the outer fortifications were demolished during the period of Napoleonic rule in Milan under the Cisalpine Republic. The semi-circular Piazza Castello was constructed around the city side of the castle, surrounded by a radial street layout of new urban blocks bounded by the Foro Buonoparte. The area on the "country" side of the castle was laid out as a 700-by-700-metre square parade ground known as Piazza d'Armi.

After the unification of Italy in the 19th century, the castle was transferred from military use to the city of Milan. Parco Sempione, one of the largest parks in the city, was created on the former parade grounds.

The government of Milan undertook restoration works, directed by Luca Beltrami. The Via Dante was cut through the medieval street layout in the 1880s to provide a direct promenade between the castle and the Duomo on an axis with the main gate. Between 1900 and 1905 the Torre del Filarete was rebuilt, on the basis of 16th-century drawings, as a monument to King Umberto I.

Allied bombardment of Milan in 1943 during World War II severely damaged the castle. The post-war reconstruction of the building for museum purposes was undertaken by the BBPR architectural partnership.

The Castello Sforzesco is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Extensively rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

The original construction was ordered by Galeazzo II Visconti, a local nobleman, in 1358 – c. 1370; this castle was known as the Castello di Porta Giova (or Porta Zubia), from the name of a gate in walls located nearby. It was built in the same area of the ancient roman fortification of Castrum Portae Jovis, which served as castra pretoria when the city was the capital of the Roman Empire. It was enlarged by Galeazzo's successors, Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti, until it became a square-plan castle with 200 m-long sides, four towers at the corners and up to 7-metre-thick walls. The castle was the main residence in the city of its Visconti lords, and was destroyed by the short-lived Golden Ambrosian Republic which ousted them in 1447.

In 1450, Francesco Sforza, once he had shattered the republicans, began reconstruction of the castle to turn it into his princely residence. In 1452 he hired the sculptor and architect Filarete to design and decorate the central tower, which is still known as the Torre del Filarete. After Francesco's death, the construction was continued by his son Galeazzo Maria, under the architect Benedetto Ferrini. The decoration was executed by local painters. In 1476, during the regency of Bona of Savoy, the tower bearing her name was built.

In 1494 Ludovico Sforza became lord of Milan, and called on numerous artists to decorate the castle. These include Leonardo da Vinci (who frescoed several rooms, in collaboration with Bernardino Zenale and Bernardino Butinone) and Bramante, who painted frescoes in the Sala del Tesoro; the Sala della Balla was decorated with Francesco Sforza's deeds. Around 1498, Leonardo worked at the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse, painting decorations of vegetable motifs. In the following years, however, the castle was damaged by assaults from Italian, French and German troops; a bastion, known as tenaglia, was added, perhaps designed by Cesare Cesariano. After the French victory in the Battle of Marignano in 1515, the defeated Maximilian Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the castle. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated. In 1521, in a period in which it was used as a weapons depot, the Torre del Filarete exploded. When Francesco II Sforza returned briefly to power in Milan, he had the fortress restored and enlarged, and a part of it adapted as residence for his wife, Christina of Denmark.

Under the Spanish domination which followed, the castle became a citadel, as the governor's seat was moved to the Ducal Palace (1535). Its garrison varied from 1,000 to 3,000 men, led by a Spanish castellan. In 1550 works began to adapt the castle to modern fortification style, as a hexagonal (originally pentagonal) star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25.9 hectares. The castle also remained in use as a fort after the Spaniards were replaced by the Austrians in Lombardy.

Most of the outer fortifications were demolished during the period of Napoleonic rule in Milan under the Cisalpine Republic. The semi-circular Piazza Castello was constructed around the city side of the castle, surrounded by a radial street layout of new urban blocks bounded by the Foro Buonoparte. The area on the "country" side of the castle was laid out as a 700-by-700-metre (2,300 by 2,300 ft) square parade ground known as Piazza d'Armi.

After the unification of Italy in the 19th century, the castle was transferred from military use to the city of Milan. Parco Sempione, one of the largest parks in the city, was created on the former parade grounds.

The government of Milan undertook restoration works, directed by Luca Beltrami. The Via Dante was cut through the medieval street layout in the 1880s to provide a direct promenade between the castle and the Duomo on an axis with the main gate. Between 1900 and 1905 the Torre del Filarete was rebuilt, on the basis of 16th-century drawings, as a monument to King Umberto I.

Allied bombardment of Milan in 1943 during World War II severely damaged the castle. The post-war reconstruction of the building for museum purposes was undertaken by the BBPR architectural partnership.

torre velasca

Designed by BBPR, 1964. Modena, Italy.

Photo: Stefano Perego.

www.facebook.com/stepegphotography

Must be cold...on the roof of the Duomo.

But he has an excellent view on the Torre Velasca under restoration.

 

Design (1956): BBPR.

 

Milan, Italy.

  

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

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

 

Duomo.

Tra i pinnacoli del Duomo si scorge la Torre Velasca.

Realizzata nel 1955 su disegno dello Studio BBPR, l'edificio rappresenta uno dei pochi esempi italiani di architettura post-razionalista brutalista, un razionalismo dallo stile non ben definito, ascritto sia al Neoliberty sia al Postmodernismo.

Il suo nome è dovuto alla piazza in cui si trova, toponimo a sua volta derivante dal nome del politico spagnolo Juan Fernández de Velasco che nel XVII secolo governò il Ducato di Milano.

Per il suo interesse storico e artistico dal 2011 l'edificio è un bene architettonico sottoposto a vincolo e tutelato dalla Soprintendenza ai Beni Culturali.

 

Duomo.

Among the pinnacles of the Duomo you can see the Torre Velasca.

Built in 1955 and designed by Studio BBPR, the building represents one of the few Italian examples of post-rationalist brutalist architecture, a rationalism with an undefined style, ascribed to both Neoliberty and Postmodernism.

Its name is due to the square in which it is located, a toponym in turn deriving from the name of the Spanish politician Juan Fernández de Velasco who governed the Duchy of Milan in the 17th century.

Due to its historical and artistic interest, since 2011 the building has been an architectural asset subject to constraints and protected by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.

 

IMG20250218104047m

Torre Velasca, by BBPR (1958). Milan, Italy.

 

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Torre Velasca:

erbaut 1956-58, Architekten: BBPR

Höhe bis zum Dach: 106 m

Etagen: 26

 

Centro Diaz:

Internationaler Stil, erbaut 1953-57, Architekt: Luigi Mattioni

Höhe: 65 m

...the other side of Piazza del Duomo in Milan...

IMAGINE TO BE HERE....

the new century architecture was coming....

 

EVERYTHING IS REAL HERE

(texture added only) !

 

*************************************************************************************

 

The Palazzo dell'Arengario

is a Fascist-era complex of two symmetrical buildings in Piazza del Duomo, the central piazza of Milan, Italy. It was completed in the 1950s and currently houses the Museo del Novecento, a museum dedicated to 20th-century art. The word "arengario" refers to its original function as a local government seat in the Fascist period.

The Arengario was designed by Piero Portaluppi, Giovanni Muzio, Pier Giulio Magistretti e Enrico Agostino Griffini. Construction began in 1936, but experienced several delays and suffered from the World War II bombings; it was eventually completed in 1956. The façade is decorated with reliefs by Arturo Martini.

In the 2000s, the palace was restored and adapted by Italo Rota and Fabio Fornasari to house the Museo del Novecento, a museum of twentieth-century art inaugurated in 2010, especially renowned for its unique collection of Futurist paintings. During the restoration works, a "media façade" (i.e., a 487 m2 LED screen displaying news on upcoming events, advertising, and more) was affixed to the façade of the left-hand building.

For more informations:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_dell%27Arengario

******

 

The Torre Velasca

(located, in my photo, on the background, between the two towers of Arengario complex)

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

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).

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. 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.

For more informations:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_Velasca

*************************************************************************************

 

FOR THE PLACE:

wikimapia.org/#lang=it&lat=45.463605&lon=9.190037...

*************************************************************************************

 

“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera…

 

they are made with the eye, heart and head.”

 

[Henry Cartier Bresson]

 

*************************************************************************************

  

Please don't use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission.

 

© All rights reserved

Milan is a beautiful city - chic, elegant and delightful. Its architecture is also wonderful, and yet in the 1950s the powers that be in Milan allowed BBPR to construct the brutalist Torre Velasca in the centre of the city, almost within spitting distance of the wonderful Duomo.

 

Even its fans struggle to find good things to say struggle to find good things to say about it:

 

"Although the Torre Velasca has been criticized for the building’s heavy feeling and for the intricate details that get lost because of it, many people have praised the way in which the tower has managed to connect Milan’s past to its present. Its functionality paired with the architects’ attention to the surrounding environment made the Torre Velasca a seamless, as well as functional addition to the ancient city of Milan."

Foto scattate in occasione del CONVEGNO INTERNAZIONALE

"FOTOGRAFIA PER L'ARCHITETTURA

DEL XX SECOLO IN ITALIA"

Costruzione della storia, progetto, cantiere

 

24-25 Novembre 2016 Milano (Italy)

 

© 2016 GAZ BLANCO | www.gaZblanco.com | facebook.com/gaZblanco

The Torre Velasca, designed by BBPR was an important addition to Milan’s skyline in the late 1950s.

 

The building can be seen as a manifestation of one of the key ideological dichotomies of 20th century architecture - representing those who defended a strict modernism (the International Style) and those who were open to a Regional Modernism which incorporated local or historic references within the design.

 

In this respect, the upper third of the building, which protrudes outwardly from the lower levels, was designed to resemble medieval watchtowers such as those found in the nearby Sforza Castle, whilst the skeletal supporting elements and projecting wall buttresses recalled the architecture of the gothic Duomo di Milano.

 

Copyright Neil Mair 2019. All rights reserved.

 

Use of my images without my explicit written permission is an infringement of copyright law.

 

Tagged with #architecture #skyscraper #milano #milan #BBPR #tower #torre #torrevelasca #modernism #concrete #residential #light #shadow #structure #design #urban #skyline #contrast #context #lombardy #italy #italia #city

IMAGINE TO BE HERE...

close your eyes and forget to be in a very big and modern city...

imagine this place in the 15th century... battles, political business, courts and Princes and dames...

it is like a magic tale...

 

Sforza Castle

is a castle in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remains of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Extensively rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

The original construction was ordered by local lord Galeazzo II Visconti in 1358–c. 1370;[1] this castle was known as Castello di Porta Giova (or Porta Zubia), from the name of a gate in walls located nearby.[2] His successors Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti enlarged it, until it became a square-plan castle with 200 m-long sides, four towers at the corners and up to 7-metre-thick (23 ft) walls.[2] The castle was the main residence in the city of its Visconti lords, and was destroyed by the short-lived Golden Ambrosian Republic which ousted them in 1447.

 

In 1450, Francesco Sforza, once he shattered the republicans, began reconstruction of the castle to turn it into his princely residence. In 1452 he hired sculptor and architect Filarete to design and decorate the central tower, which is still known as Torre del Filarete. After Francesco's death, the construction was continued by his son Galeazzo Maria, under architect Benedetto Ferrini. The decoration was executed by local painters. In 1476, during the regency of Bona of Savoy, the tower with her name was built.

  

The castle in the 16th century.

In 1494 Ludovico Sforza became lord of Milan, and called numerous artists to decorate the castle. These include Leonardo da Vinci (who frescoed several rooms, in collaboration with Bernardino Zenale and Bernardino Butinone) and Bramante, who painted frescoes in the Sala del Tesoro;[3] the Sala della Balla was decorated with Francesco Sforza's deeds. Around 1498, Leonardo worked at the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse, painting decorations of vegetable motifs. In the following years, however, the castle was damaged by assaults from Italian, French and German troops; a bastion, known as tenaglia was added, perhaps designed by Cesare Cesariano. After the French victory in the 1515 Battle of Marignano, the defeated Maximilian Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the castle. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated. In 1521, in a period in which it was used as a weapons depot, the Torre del Filarete exploded. When Francesco II Sforza returned briefly to power in Milan, he had the fortress restored and enlarged, and a part of it adapted as residence for his wife, Christina of Denmark.

  

Coat of arms of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, painted on an interior ceiling.

Under the Spanish domination which followed, the castle became a citadel, as the governor's seat was moved to the Ducal Palace (1535). Its garrison varied from 1,000 to 3,000 men, led by a Spanish castellan.[2] In 1550 works began to adapt the castle to modern fortification style, as an hexagon (originally pentagon)-shaped star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25.9 hectares.[4] The castle remained in use as a fort also after the Spaniards were replaced by the Austrians in Lombardy.

  

Journal of Jean-Claude Locquin describing the trenches made around the castle during the Napoleonic rule. Archives nationales de France.

Most of the outer fortifications were demolished during the period of Napoleonic rule in Milan under the Cisalpine Republic. The semi-circular Piazza Castello was constructed around the city side of the castle, surrounded by a radial street layout of new urban blocks bounded by the Foro Buonoparte. The area on the "country" side of the castle was laid out as a 700-by-700-metre (2,300 by 2,300 ft) square parade ground known as Piazza d'Armi.

 

After the unification of Italy in the 19th century, the castle was transferred from military use to the city of Milan. Parco Sempione, one of the largest parks in the city, was created on the former parade grounds.

 

The government of Milan undertook restoration works, directed by Luca Beltrami. The Via Dante was cut through the medieval street layout in the 1880s to provide a direct promenade between the castle and the Duomo on axis with the main gate. The central tower, known as the Torre Filarete, above the main city entrance was rebuilt, on the basis of 16th-century drawings, between 1900 and 1905 as a monument to King Umberto I.

 

Allied bombardment of Milan in 1943 during World War II severely damaged the castle. The post-war reconstruction of the building for museum purposes was undertaken by the BBPR architectural partnership.

 

FOR A DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sforza_Castle

 

FOR THE PLACE:

wikimapia.org/#lang=it&lat=45.470281&lon=9.180381...

 

*************************************************************************************

 

“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera…

 

they are made with the eye, heart and head.”

 

[Henry Cartier Bresson]

 

*************************************************************************************

  

Please don't use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission.

 

© All rights reserved

IMAGINE TO BE HERE...

while sun is setting on the big city...

past present and future closed in one magic light...

the miracle of a moment, the enchanting view of infinite ...

a dream with opened eyes...

while the day was going to be over...

********************************************************

Sforza Castle

is a castle in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remains of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Extensively rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

The original construction was ordered by local lord Galeazzo II Visconti in 1358–c. 1370;[1] this castle was known as Castello di Porta Giova (or Porta Zubia), from the name of a gate in walls located nearby.[2] His successors Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti enlarged it, until it became a square-plan castle with 200 m-long sides, four towers at the corners and up to 7-metre-thick (23 ft) walls.[2] The castle was the main residence in the city of its Visconti lords, and was destroyed by the short-lived Golden Ambrosian Republic which ousted them in 1447.

 

In 1450, Francesco Sforza, once he shattered the republicans, began reconstruction of the castle to turn it into his princely residence. In 1452 he hired sculptor and architect Filarete to design and decorate the central tower, which is still known as Torre del Filarete. After Francesco's death, the construction was continued by his son Galeazzo Maria, under architect Benedetto Ferrini. The decoration was executed by local painters. In 1476, during the regency of Bona of Savoy, the tower with her name was built.

  

The castle in the 16th century.

In 1494 Ludovico Sforza became lord of Milan, and called numerous artists to decorate the castle. These include Leonardo da Vinci (who frescoed several rooms, in collaboration with Bernardino Zenale and Bernardino Butinone) and Bramante, who painted frescoes in the Sala del Tesoro;[3] the Sala della Balla was decorated with Francesco Sforza's deeds. Around 1498, Leonardo worked at the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse, painting decorations of vegetable motifs. In the following years, however, the castle was damaged by assaults from Italian, French and German troops; a bastion, known as tenaglia was added, perhaps designed by Cesare Cesariano. After the French victory in the 1515 Battle of Marignano, the defeated Maximilian Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the castle. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated. In 1521, in a period in which it was used as a weapons depot, the Torre del Filarete exploded. When Francesco II Sforza returned briefly to power in Milan, he had the fortress restored and enlarged, and a part of it adapted as residence for his wife, Christina of Denmark.

  

Coat of arms of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, painted on an interior ceiling.

Under the Spanish domination which followed, the castle became a citadel, as the governor's seat was moved to the Ducal Palace (1535). Its garrison varied from 1,000 to 3,000 men, led by a Spanish castellan.[2] In 1550 works began to adapt the castle to modern fortification style, as an hexagon (originally pentagon)-shaped star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25.9 hectares.[4] The castle remained in use as a fort also after the Spaniards were replaced by the Austrians in Lombardy.

  

Journal of Jean-Claude Locquin describing the trenches made around the castle during the Napoleonic rule. Archives nationales de France.

Most of the outer fortifications were demolished during the period of Napoleonic rule in Milan under the Cisalpine Republic. The semi-circular Piazza Castello was constructed around the city side of the castle, surrounded by a radial street layout of new urban blocks bounded by the Foro Buonoparte. The area on the "country" side of the castle was laid out as a 700-by-700-metre (2,300 by 2,300 ft) square parade ground known as Piazza d'Armi.

 

After the unification of Italy in the 19th century, the castle was transferred from military use to the city of Milan. Parco Sempione, one of the largest parks in the city, was created on the former parade grounds.

 

The government of Milan undertook restoration works, directed by Luca Beltrami. The Via Dante was cut through the medieval street layout in the 1880s to provide a direct promenade between the castle and the Duomo on axis with the main gate. The central tower, known as the Torre Filarete, above the main city entrance was rebuilt, on the basis of 16th-century drawings, between 1900 and 1905 as a monument to King Umberto I.

 

Allied bombardment of Milan in 1943 during World War II severely damaged the castle. The post-war reconstruction of the building for museum purposes was undertaken by the BBPR architectural partnership.

 

FOR A DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sforza_Castle

 

FOR THE PLACE:

wikimapia.org/#lang=it&lat=45.470281&lon=9.180381...

 

*************************************************************************************

 

“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera…

 

they are made with the eye, heart and head.”

 

[Henry Cartier Bresson]

 

*************************************************************************************

  

Please don't use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission.

 

© All rights reserved

Torre Velasca, Studio BBPR

2017

IMAGINE TO BE HERE...

close your eyes and forget to be in a very big and modern city...

imagine this place in the 15th century... battles, political business, courts and Princes and dames...

it is like a magic tale...

 

Sforza Castle

is a castle in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remains of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Extensively rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

The original construction was ordered by local lord Galeazzo II Visconti in 1358–c. 1370;[1] this castle was known as Castello di Porta Giova (or Porta Zubia), from the name of a gate in walls located nearby.[2] His successors Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti enlarged it, until it became a square-plan castle with 200 m-long sides, four towers at the corners and up to 7-metre-thick (23 ft) walls.[2] The castle was the main residence in the city of its Visconti lords, and was destroyed by the short-lived Golden Ambrosian Republic which ousted them in 1447.

 

In 1450, Francesco Sforza, once he shattered the republicans, began reconstruction of the castle to turn it into his princely residence. In 1452 he hired sculptor and architect Filarete to design and decorate the central tower, which is still known as Torre del Filarete. After Francesco's death, the construction was continued by his son Galeazzo Maria, under architect Benedetto Ferrini. The decoration was executed by local painters. In 1476, during the regency of Bona of Savoy, the tower with her name was built.

  

The castle in the 16th century.

In 1494 Ludovico Sforza became lord of Milan, and called numerous artists to decorate the castle. These include Leonardo da Vinci (who frescoed several rooms, in collaboration with Bernardino Zenale and Bernardino Butinone) and Bramante, who painted frescoes in the Sala del Tesoro;[3] the Sala della Balla was decorated with Francesco Sforza's deeds. Around 1498, Leonardo worked at the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse, painting decorations of vegetable motifs. In the following years, however, the castle was damaged by assaults from Italian, French and German troops; a bastion, known as tenaglia was added, perhaps designed by Cesare Cesariano. After the French victory in the 1515 Battle of Marignano, the defeated Maximilian Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the castle. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated. In 1521, in a period in which it was used as a weapons depot, the Torre del Filarete exploded. When Francesco II Sforza returned briefly to power in Milan, he had the fortress restored and enlarged, and a part of it adapted as residence for his wife, Christina of Denmark.

  

Coat of arms of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, painted on an interior ceiling.

Under the Spanish domination which followed, the castle became a citadel, as the governor's seat was moved to the Ducal Palace (1535). Its garrison varied from 1,000 to 3,000 men, led by a Spanish castellan.[2] In 1550 works began to adapt the castle to modern fortification style, as an hexagon (originally pentagon)-shaped star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25.9 hectares.[4] The castle remained in use as a fort also after the Spaniards were replaced by the Austrians in Lombardy.

  

Journal of Jean-Claude Locquin describing the trenches made around the castle during the Napoleonic rule. Archives nationales de France.

Most of the outer fortifications were demolished during the period of Napoleonic rule in Milan under the Cisalpine Republic. The semi-circular Piazza Castello was constructed around the city side of the castle, surrounded by a radial street layout of new urban blocks bounded by the Foro Buonoparte. The area on the "country" side of the castle was laid out as a 700-by-700-metre (2,300 by 2,300 ft) square parade ground known as Piazza d'Armi.

 

After the unification of Italy in the 19th century, the castle was transferred from military use to the city of Milan. Parco Sempione, one of the largest parks in the city, was created on the former parade grounds.

 

The government of Milan undertook restoration works, directed by Luca Beltrami. The Via Dante was cut through the medieval street layout in the 1880s to provide a direct promenade between the castle and the Duomo on axis with the main gate. The central tower, known as the Torre Filarete, above the main city entrance was rebuilt, on the basis of 16th-century drawings, between 1900 and 1905 as a monument to King Umberto I.

 

Allied bombardment of Milan in 1943 during World War II severely damaged the castle. The post-war reconstruction of the building for museum purposes was undertaken by the BBPR architectural partnership.

 

FOR A DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sforza_Castle

 

FOR THE PLACE:

wikimapia.org/#lang=it&lat=45.470281&lon=9.180381...

 

*************************************************************************************

 

“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera…

 

they are made with the eye, heart and head.”

 

[Henry Cartier Bresson]

 

*************************************************************************************

  

Please don't use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission.

 

© All rights reserved

IMAGINE TO BE HERE...

close your eyes and forget to be in a very big and modern city...

imagine this place in the 15th century... battles, political business, courts and Princes and dames...

it is like a magic tale...

 

Sforza Castle

is a castle in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remains of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Extensively rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

The original construction was ordered by local lord Galeazzo II Visconti in 1358–c. 1370;[1] this castle was known as Castello di Porta Giova (or Porta Zubia), from the name of a gate in walls located nearby.[2] His successors Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti enlarged it, until it became a square-plan castle with 200 m-long sides, four towers at the corners and up to 7-metre-thick (23 ft) walls.[2] The castle was the main residence in the city of its Visconti lords, and was destroyed by the short-lived Golden Ambrosian Republic which ousted them in 1447.

 

In 1450, Francesco Sforza, once he shattered the republicans, began reconstruction of the castle to turn it into his princely residence. In 1452 he hired sculptor and architect Filarete to design and decorate the central tower, which is still known as Torre del Filarete. After Francesco's death, the construction was continued by his son Galeazzo Maria, under architect Benedetto Ferrini. The decoration was executed by local painters. In 1476, during the regency of Bona of Savoy, the tower with her name was built.

  

The castle in the 16th century.

In 1494 Ludovico Sforza became lord of Milan, and called numerous artists to decorate the castle. These include Leonardo da Vinci (who frescoed several rooms, in collaboration with Bernardino Zenale and Bernardino Butinone) and Bramante, who painted frescoes in the Sala del Tesoro;[3] the Sala della Balla was decorated with Francesco Sforza's deeds. Around 1498, Leonardo worked at the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse, painting decorations of vegetable motifs. In the following years, however, the castle was damaged by assaults from Italian, French and German troops; a bastion, known as tenaglia was added, perhaps designed by Cesare Cesariano. After the French victory in the 1515 Battle of Marignano, the defeated Maximilian Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the castle. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated. In 1521, in a period in which it was used as a weapons depot, the Torre del Filarete exploded. When Francesco II Sforza returned briefly to power in Milan, he had the fortress restored and enlarged, and a part of it adapted as residence for his wife, Christina of Denmark.

  

Coat of arms of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, painted on an interior ceiling.

Under the Spanish domination which followed, the castle became a citadel, as the governor's seat was moved to the Ducal Palace (1535). Its garrison varied from 1,000 to 3,000 men, led by a Spanish castellan.[2] In 1550 works began to adapt the castle to modern fortification style, as an hexagon (originally pentagon)-shaped star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25.9 hectares.[4] The castle remained in use as a fort also after the Spaniards were replaced by the Austrians in Lombardy.

  

Journal of Jean-Claude Locquin describing the trenches made around the castle during the Napoleonic rule. Archives nationales de France.

Most of the outer fortifications were demolished during the period of Napoleonic rule in Milan under the Cisalpine Republic. The semi-circular Piazza Castello was constructed around the city side of the castle, surrounded by a radial street layout of new urban blocks bounded by the Foro Buonoparte. The area on the "country" side of the castle was laid out as a 700-by-700-metre (2,300 by 2,300 ft) square parade ground known as Piazza d'Armi.

 

After the unification of Italy in the 19th century, the castle was transferred from military use to the city of Milan. Parco Sempione, one of the largest parks in the city, was created on the former parade grounds.

 

The government of Milan undertook restoration works, directed by Luca Beltrami. The Via Dante was cut through the medieval street layout in the 1880s to provide a direct promenade between the castle and the Duomo on axis with the main gate. The central tower, known as the Torre Filarete, above the main city entrance was rebuilt, on the basis of 16th-century drawings, between 1900 and 1905 as a monument to King Umberto I.

 

Allied bombardment of Milan in 1943 during World War II severely damaged the castle. The post-war reconstruction of the building for museum purposes was undertaken by the BBPR architectural partnership.

 

FOR A DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sforza_Castle

 

FOR THE PLACE:

wikimapia.org/#lang=it&lat=45.470281&lon=9.180381...

 

*************************************************************************************

 

“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera…

 

they are made with the eye, heart and head.”

 

[Henry Cartier Bresson]

 

*************************************************************************************

  

Please don't use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission.

 

© All rights reserved

This architectural gem is one of the first modern buildings in the city of Milan, and with its 100m height, we're witnessing a modern architectural masterpiece, erected in 1958. Starting from the top, the upper third of the building, which protrudes outside the lower levels, was designed to associate to medieval watchtowers. Such defense towers were used in times of war to protect the Italian castles from attacks. Having in mind the ideas of the ancient architecture during the design process, the authors were able to connect the modern building to its historic past and keep the design of the new addition from falling out of context. The tower’s stone material and its supporting beams, add stability to the projecting section and they look like they are directly inspired by Italy’s medieval defense towers. Gothic characteristics in the surroundings are also recognizable. One of the characteristics of this modern building is that the schemes of windows, doors, and material are repeated rhythmically. Patterns are being created using empty walls, open windows, and reflective glass surfaces, where you normally have glass windows; this is the main trait of Torre Velasca. Authors of this modern piece are BBPR (Banfi, Belgiojoso, Peressutti, Rogers), an Italian architectural partnership. Torre Velasca is a reaction against the trend of the International Style, complete with its abstract medieval references.

  

Символ итальянской послевоенной архитектуры, Башня Веласка является одним из доминирующих символов линии горизонта города. Ее монументальный профиль с выступающей передней частью узнаваем из любой точки города. Здание, построенное по проекту группы итальянских архитекторов, известных под аббревиатурой BBPR, между 1951 и 1958 годами, освободилось от канонического образа модернистского небоскреба, его форма больше напоминает скорее очертания средневековой башни. По вертикали здание достигает 106 м, и по всей ее длине проходит структурная сетка, спроектированная Артуро Дануссо: внешние прожилки разветвляются на углах, поддерживая верхнюю экспрессивную железобетонную структуру. В верхней части расположены квартиры, а в колонне расположены офисы и кабинеты. Название башни связано с испанским правителем Хуаном де Веласко, чье имя носил квартал, в котором была построена башня.

Torre Velasca - Ottobre 2016

Lens: Canon FD 50mm f/1.4

© All Rights Reserved. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my prior permission.

D815_495

20/02/2016 : Milano, via Festa del Perdono: ex Ospedale Maggiore, detto Ca' Granda, ora Università degli Studi di Milano (Filarete, Guiniforte Solari, Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, Giovan Battista Pessina, Angelo Crivelli, Francesco Maria Ricchino, Pier Giorgio Rossone, Attilio Arrigoni, Pietro Castelli, 1456-1805; distrutto nel 1943; rest. Piero Portaluppi, Liliana Grassi, 1953-2012)

cortilone e torre Velasca (BBPR, 1951-58)

IMAGINE TO BE HERE...

close your eyes and forget to be in a very big and modern city...

imagine this place in the 15th century... battles, political business, courts and Princes and dames...

it is like a magic tale...

**************************************

Sforza Family

was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. They acquired the Duchy of Milan from the previously ruling Visconti family in the mid-15th century, and lost it to the Spanish Habsburgs about a century later.

Rising from rural nobility, the Sforzas became condottieri and used this military position to become rulers in Milan. The family governed by force, ruse, and power politics, similar to the Medici in Florence. Under their rule the city-state flourished and expanded.

 

Muzio Attendolo (1369–1424), called Sforza (from sforzare, to exert or force), founded the dynasty. A condottiero from Romagna, he served the Angevin kings of Naples and became the most successful dynast of the condottieri.

 

His son Francesco I Sforza ruled Milan, having acquired the title of Duke of Milan (1450-1466) after the extinction of the Visconti family in 1447.

 

The family also held the seigniory of Pesaro, starting from Muzio Attendolo's second son, Alessandro (1409–1473). The Sforza held Pesaro until 1519, with the death of Galeazzo.

 

Muzio's third son, Bosio (1411–1476), founded the branch of Santa Fiora, who held the title of count of Cotignola; the Sforza ruled the small county of Santa Fiora in southern Tuscany until 1624. Members of this family also held important ecclesiastical and political position in the Papal States, and moved to Rome in 1674, taking the name Sforza Cesarini.

 

The Sforza became allied with the Borgia family through the arranged marriage (1493-1497) between Lucrezia Borgia and Giovanni (the illegitimate son of Costanzo I of Pesaro). This alliance failed as the Borgia annulled the marriage once the Sforza's were no longer needed.

 

In 1499, in the course of the Italian Wars, the army of Louis XII of France took Milan from Ludovico Sforza (known as Ludovico il Moro, famous for taking Leonardo da Vinci into his service).

 

After Imperial German troops drove out the French, Maximilian Sforza, son of Ludovico, became Duke of Milan (1512-1515) until the French returned under Francis I of France and imprisoned him.

FOR MORE INFORMATIONS:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Sforza

*************************************

Sforza Castle

is a castle in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remains of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 16th and 17th centuries it was one of the largest citadels in Europe. Extensively rebuilt by Luca Beltrami in 1891–1905, it now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.

The original construction was ordered by local lord Galeazzo II Visconti in 1358–c. 1370;[1] this castle was known as Castello di Porta Giova (or Porta Zubia), from the name of a gate in walls located nearby.[2] His successors Gian Galeazzo, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria Visconti enlarged it, until it became a square-plan castle with 200 m-long sides, four towers at the corners and up to 7-metre-thick (23 ft) walls.[2] The castle was the main residence in the city of its Visconti lords, and was destroyed by the short-lived Golden Ambrosian Republic which ousted them in 1447.

 

In 1450, Francesco Sforza, once he shattered the republicans, began reconstruction of the castle to turn it into his princely residence. In 1452 he hired sculptor and architect Filarete to design and decorate the central tower, which is still known as Torre del Filarete. After Francesco's death, the construction was continued by his son Galeazzo Maria, under architect Benedetto Ferrini. The decoration was executed by local painters. In 1476, during the regency of Bona of Savoy, the tower with her name was built.

  

The castle in the 16th century.

In 1494 Ludovico Sforza became lord of Milan, and called numerous artists to decorate the castle. These include Leonardo da Vinci (who frescoed several rooms, in collaboration with Bernardino Zenale and Bernardino Butinone) and Bramante, who painted frescoes in the Sala del Tesoro;[3] the Sala della Balla was decorated with Francesco Sforza's deeds. Around 1498, Leonardo worked at the ceiling of the Sala delle Asse, painting decorations of vegetable motifs. In the following years, however, the castle was damaged by assaults from Italian, French and German troops; a bastion, known as tenaglia was added, perhaps designed by Cesare Cesariano. After the French victory in the 1515 Battle of Marignano, the defeated Maximilian Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the castle. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated. In 1521, in a period in which it was used as a weapons depot, the Torre del Filarete exploded. When Francesco II Sforza returned briefly to power in Milan, he had the fortress restored and enlarged, and a part of it adapted as residence for his wife, Christina of Denmark.

  

Coat of arms of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, painted on an interior ceiling.

Under the Spanish domination which followed, the castle became a citadel, as the governor's seat was moved to the Ducal Palace (1535). Its garrison varied from 1,000 to 3,000 men, led by a Spanish castellan.[2] In 1550 works began to adapt the castle to modern fortification style, as an hexagon (originally pentagon)-shaped star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25.9 hectares.[4] The castle remained in use as a fort also after the Spaniards were replaced by the Austrians in Lombardy.

  

Journal of Jean-Claude Locquin describing the trenches made around the castle during the Napoleonic rule. Archives nationales de France.

Most of the outer fortifications were demolished during the period of Napoleonic rule in Milan under the Cisalpine Republic. The semi-circular Piazza Castello was constructed around the city side of the castle, surrounded by a radial street layout of new urban blocks bounded by the Foro Buonoparte. The area on the "country" side of the castle was laid out as a 700-by-700-metre (2,300 by 2,300 ft) square parade ground known as Piazza d'Armi.

 

After the unification of Italy in the 19th century, the castle was transferred from military use to the city of Milan. Parco Sempione, one of the largest parks in the city, was created on the former parade grounds.

 

The government of Milan undertook restoration works, directed by Luca Beltrami. The Via Dante was cut through the medieval street layout in the 1880s to provide a direct promenade between the castle and the Duomo on axis with the main gate. The central tower, known as the Torre Filarete, above the main city entrance was rebuilt, on the basis of 16th-century drawings, between 1900 and 1905 as a monument to King Umberto I.

 

Allied bombardment of Milan in 1943 during World War II severely damaged the castle. The post-war reconstruction of the building for museum purposes was undertaken by the BBPR architectural partnership.

 

FOR A DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sforza_Castle

 

FOR THE PLACE:

wikimapia.org/#lang=it&lat=45.470281&lon=9.180381...

 

*************************************************************************************

 

“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera…

 

they are made with the eye, heart and head.”

 

[Henry Cartier Bresson]

 

*************************************************************************************

  

Please don't use any of my images on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit written permission.

 

© All rights reserved

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