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Missori | Piazza Velasca
The Torre Velasca is a skyscraper with mixed functions of residential and commercial use.
Arch. BBPR architectural partnership (Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers)
1956-58.
Milano, piazza Velasca, Torre Velasca (BBPR- Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti ed Ernesto Nathan Rogers, 1951-58)
D994_276b
21/04/2022 : Milano, via Cavalieri di San Sepolcro/via dei Chiostri/via Solferino: complesso residenziale in via Cavalieri di San Sepolcro (BBPR, 1961-68)
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;[1] this castle was known as the Castello di Porta Giova (or Porta Zubia), from the name of a gate in walls located nearby.[2] 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 (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 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 on 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 a 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 Buonaparte. 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.
The castle has a quadrangular plan, on a site across the city's walls. The wall which once faced the countryside north of Milan has square towers and an ogival gate. This was once accessed through a drawbridge. The northern tower is known as the Torre della Corte, and its counterpart to the west the Torre del Tesoro; both received wide windows during the Sforza age.
The corner defended by the Torre Ducale is characterized by a loggia bridge, attributed to Bramante, and commissioned by Ludovico Sforza in the late 15th century to connect the Corte Ducale (the court in the area used as a ducal residence) and the Cortile della Ghirlanda. This ghirlanda refers to a wall, protected by a ditch filled with water, built under Francesco Sforza, of which few traces remain today, including the Porta del Soccorso. Remains of two later ravelins can be seen in correspondence of the point in which the castle was joined by the city walls (near the Porta Comasina gate) and the Porta del Carmine. The Porta della Ghirlanda gate was entered through a ravelin (now lost) and had two entrances accessed through runways, which lead to an underground passage which continued along the walls.
The external side which once faced the walled city has two round towers, commissioned by Francesco Sforza to replace the former square ones, which had become less suitable to defend against fire weapons. The central tower, called the Torre del Filarete, is a modern reconstruction. The round towers lost their upper parts under the Austrians, who needed open space for their artillery; the towers' present-day upper sections are modern reconstructions. The Torre del Filarete and the Porta del Santo Spirito, located further to the south, are both preceded by a ravelin.
The main gate leads to a large court from which several internal features can be seen. These include the Tower of Bona of Savoy (1476) and the Rocchetta, a sort of internal defensive ridotto with a gate of its own. At the right of the Porta del Carmine are the remains of two 15th-century courts. The Rocchetta, whose access gate from the main court (a modern addition) features the Sforza coat of arms, has an internal court with, on three sides, a portico with 15th-century arcades. The Corte Ducale is the wing of the castle originally used as a ducal residence; it features a court with two loggias, a smaller one on the left and a larger one at its end, called Loggiato dell'Elefante due to the presence of a fresco of an elephant.
Milan is a city in Northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has 3.22 million residents The urban area of Milan is the fourth largest in the EU with 5.27 million inhabitants. According to national sources, the population within the wider Milan metropolitan area (also known as Greater Milan), is estimated between 4.9 million and 7.4 million making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and one of the largest in the EU. Milan is the economic capital of Italy and is a global financial centre. Milan is, together with London, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Paris, one of the six European economic capitals.
Milan is a leading alpha global city, with strengths in the fields of art, chemicals, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media (communication), services, research and tourism. Its business district hosts Italy's stock exchange (Italian: Borsa Italiana), and the headquarters of national and international banks and companies. In terms of GDP, Milan is the wealthiest city in Italy, has the third-largest economy among EU cities after Paris and Madrid, and is the wealthiest among EU non-capital cities. Milan is viewed along with Turin as the southernmost part of the Blue Banana urban development corridor (also known as the "European Megalopolis"), and one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is one of the international tourism destinations, appearing among the forty most visited cities in the world, ranking second in Italy after Rome, fifth in Europe and sixteenth in the world. Milan is a major cultural centre, with museums and art galleries that include some of the most important collections in the world, such as major works by Leonardo da Vinci. It also hosts numerous educational institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total of enrolled students.
Founded around 590 BC under the name Medhelanon by a Celtic tribe belonging to the Insubres group and belonging to the Golasecca culture, it was conquered by the ancient Romans in 222 BC, who latinized the name of the city into Mediolanum. The city's role as a major political centre dates back to the late antiquity, when it served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire. From the 12th century until the 16th century, Milan was one of the largest European cities and a major trade and commercial centre; consequently, it became the capital of the Duchy of Milan, one of the greatest political, artistic and fashion forces in the Renaissance. Having become one of the main centres of the Italian Enlightenment during the early modern period, the city subsequently became the industrial and financial capital of modern Italy. Capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, after the Restoration it was among the most active centres of the Risorgimento, until its entry into the unified Kingdom of Italy.
Milan has been recognized as one of the world's four fashion capitals. Many of the most famous luxury fashion brands in the world have their headquarters in the city, including: Armani, Prada, Versace, Moschino, Valentino and Zegna. It also hosts several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair, which are among the world's biggest in terms of revenue, visitors and growth. The city is served by many luxury hotels and is the fifth-most starred in the world by Michelin Guide. It hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. In the field of sports, Milan is home to two of Europe's most successful football teams, AC Milan and Inter Milan, and one of Europe's main basketball teams, Olimpia Milano. Milan will host the Winter Olympic and Paralympic games for the first time in 2026, together with Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Milan, Italy is an ancient city in northern Italy first settled under the name Medhelanon in about 590 BC by a Celtic tribe belonging to the Insubres group and belonging to the Golasecca culture.[1][2] The settlement was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC and renamed it Mediolanum. Diocletian divided the Roman Empire, choosing the eastern half for himself, making Milan the seat of the western half of the empire, from which Maximian ruled, in the late 3rd and early 4th century AD. In 313 AD Emperors Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, which officially ended the persecution of Christians. In 774 AD, Milan surrendered to Charlemagne and the Franks.
During the Middle Ages, the city's history was the story of the struggle between two political factions: the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Finally the Visconti family took power (signoria) in Milan. In 1395 Emperor Wenceslas made Milan a duchy, thus raising the dignity of the city's citizens. In the mid-15th century the Ambrosian Republic was established, taking its name from St. Ambrose, a beloved patron saint of the city. The two rival factions worked together to create the Ambrosian Republic in Milan. However, the republic fell apart in 1450 when Milan was conquered by Francesco Sforza of the House of Sforza, which ushered Milan into becoming one of the leading cities of the Italian Renaissance.
From the late 15th century until the mid 16th century, Milan was involved in The Italian Wars, a series of conflicts, along with most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, the Republic of Venice and later most of Western Europe. In 1629 The Great Plague of Milan killed about 60,000 people out of a total population of about 130,000, by 1631 when the plague subsided. This event is considered one of the last great outbreaks of what was a pandemic that ravaged Europe for several centuries, beginning with the Black Death. In 1713-1714 treaties gave sovereignty to Austria over most of Spain's Italian possessions, including Lombardy and its capital, Milan. Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, and later declared Milan the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. After Napoleon's occupation ended the Congress of Vienna returned Lombardy and Milan to Austrian control in 1815. This is the period when Milan became a center for lyric opera.
The Milanese staged a rebellion against Austrian rule on March 18, 1848. The Kingdom of Sardinia joined the rebels, and a vote was held in Lombardy which voted to unify with Sardinia. The Austrians defeated the Sardinians on 24 July and reasserted their domination over Milan and northern Italy. Just a few years later another insurgency by Italian nationalists succeeded in ousting the Austrians with the help of Sardinia and France in 1859. Following the Battle of Solferino Milan and the rest of Lombardy joined the Kingdom of Sardinia, which soon achieved control of most of Italy. In 1861 the re-unified city-states and kingdoms became the Kingdom of Italy once again.
With the unification of the country, Milan became the dominant commercial center of northern Italy. In 1919 Benito Mussolini rallied the Blackshirts for the first time in Milan, and later they began their March on Rome from Milan. During World War II Milan was extensively damaged by Allied bombings. Upon the surrender of Italy in 1943 German forces occupied northern Italy until the end of the war in 1945. Members of the Italian resistance in Milan took control of the city and executed Mussolini, his mistress, and other leaders of his Fascist government by hanging in Piazzale Loreto, Milan.
Since the end of World War II, Italy experienced an economic boom. From 1951 until 1967 the population of Milan grew from 1.3 million to 1.7 million. The city was reconstructed, but in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the city suffered from a huge wave of street violence, labor strikes and political terrorism during so called Years of Lead. During the 1980s, Milan became one of the world's fashion capitals. The rise of financial services and the service economy during the late 20th century further strengthened Milan’s position as the Italian economic capital. The city’s renewal in the 21st century was marked, among others, by hosting of the World Expo 2015 or big redevelopment projects such as Puorta Nuova or CityLife.
Antiquity
Around 590 BC, a Celtic tribe belonging to the Insubres group and belonging to the Golasecca culture settled the city under the name Medhelanon. According to Titus Livy's comments, the city was founded around 600 B.C. by Belloveso, chief of the Insubres. Legend has it that Belloveso found a mythological animal known as the scrofa semilanuta (in Italian: "half-woollen boar") which became the ancient emblem of the city of Milan (from semi-lanuta or medio-lanum). Several ancient sources (including Sidonius Apollinaris, Datius, and, more recently, Andrea Alciato) have argued that the scrofa semilanuta is connected to the etymology of the ancient name of Milan, "Mediolanum", and this is still occasionally mentioned in modern sources, although this interpretation has long been dismissed by scholars. Nonetheless, wool production became a key industry in this area, as recorded during the early Middle Ages (see below).
Milan was conquered by the Romans in 222 B.C. due to its strategic position on the northern borders of the Empire and was renamed Mediolanum. When Diocletian decided to divide the Empire in half choosing the Eastern half for himself, Milan became the residence of Maximian, ruler of the Western Roman Empire. The construction of the second city walls, roughly four and a half kilometers long and unfurling at today's Foro Bonaparte, date back to his reign. After the abdication of Maximian (in 305 A.D.) on the same day on which Diocletian also abdicated, there were a series of wars of succession, during which there was a succession of three emperors in just a few short years: first Severus, who prepared the expedition against Maxentius, then Maxentius himself in a war against Constantine, and finally Constantine himself, victor of the war against Maxentius. In 313 A.D. the Emperors Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan (Edict of Constantine), ending the persecutions against Christians.
The beginning of the 5th century was the start of a tortuous period of barbarian invasions for Milan. After the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. An age of decadence began which worsened when Attila, King of the Huns, sacked and devastated the city in 452 A.D.
Middle Ages
In 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Germanic tribe, the Lombards (from which the name of the Italian region Lombardy derives), conquered Milan, overpowering the small Byzantine army left for its defense. Some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule, but the city was eclipsed by the nearby Lombard capital of Pavia during the next two centuries.
Milan surrendered to Charlemagne and the Franks in 774. The aristocracy and majority of the clergy had taken refuge in Genoa. In 774, when Charlemagne took the title of "King of the Lombards", he established his imperial capital of Aachen in what is today Germany. Before then the Germanic kingdoms had frequently conquered each other, but none had adopted the title of King of another people. The Iron Crown of Lombardy (i.e. referring to Charlemagne's kingdom and not to the Italian region), which was worn by Charlemagne, dates from this period. Milan's domination under the Franks led by Charlemagne did nothing to improve the city's fortune, and the city's impoverishment increased and Milan became a county seat.
The 11th century saw a reaction against the control of the Holy Roman Emperors. The city-state was born, an expression of the new political power of the city and its will to fight against feudal overlords. Milan was no exception. It did not take long, however, for the city states to begin fighting each other to try to limit neighbouring powers. The Milanese destroyed Lodi and continuously warred with Pavia, Cremona and Como, who in turn asked Frederick I Barbarossa for help. In a sally, they captured Empress Beatrice and forced her to ride a donkey backwards out through the city. These acts brought the destruction of much of Milan in 1162. A fire destroyed the storehouses containing the entire food supply: and within just a few days Milan was forced to surrender.
A period of peace followed and Milan prospered as a centre of trade due to its position. As a result of the independence that the Lombard cities gained in the Peace of Constance in 1183, Milan returned to the commune form of local government first established in the 11th century. In 1208 Rambertino Buvalelli served a term as podestà of the city, in 1242 Luca Grimaldi, and in 1282 Luchetto Gattilusio. The position was a dangerous one: in 1252 Milanese heretics assassinated the Church's Inquisitor, later known as Saint Peter Martyr, at a ford in the nearby contado; the killers bribed their way to freedom, and in the ensuing riot the podestà was almost lynched. In 1256 the archbishop and leading nobles were expelled from the city. In 1259 Martino della Torre was elected Capitano del Popolo by members of the guilds; he took the city by force, expelled his enemies, and ruled by dictatorial powers, paving streets, digging canals, and taxing the countryside. He also brought the Milanese treasury to collapse; the use of often reckless mercenary units further angered the population, granting an increasing support for the della Torre's traditional enemies, the Visconti. The most important industries in this period were armaments and wool production, a whole catalogue of activities and trades is given in Bonvesin della Riva's "de Magnalibus Urbis Mediolani".
On 22 July 1262, Ottone Visconti was made archbishop of Milan by Pope Urban IV, against the candidacy of Raimondo della Torre, Bishop of Como. The latter started to publicise allegations that the Visconti had ties to the heretic Cathars and charged them with high treason: the Visconti, who accused the della Torre of the same crimes, were then banned from Milan and their properties confiscated. The ensuing civil war caused more damage to Milan's population and economy, lasting for more than a decade. Ottone Visconti unsuccessfully led a group of exiles against the city in 1263, but after years of escalating violence on all sides, in the Battle of Desio (1277) he won the city for his family. The Visconti succeeded in ousting the della Torre permanently, and proceeded to rule Milan and its possessions until the 15th century.
Much of the prior history of Milan was the tale of the struggle between two political factions: the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Most of the time the Guelphs were successful in the city of Milan. Eventually, however, the Visconti family were able to seize power (signoria) in Milan, based on their "Ghibelline" friendship with the Holy Roman Emperors. In 1395, one of these emperors, Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (1378–1400), raised Milan to the dignity of a duchy. Also in 1395, Gian Galeazzo Visconti became Duke of Milan. The Ghibelline Visconti family was to retain power in Milan for a century and a half from the early 14th century until the middle of the 15th century.
In 1447 Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, died without a male heir; following the end of the Visconti line, the Ambrosian Republic was enacted. The Ambrosian Republic took its name from St. Ambrose, popular patron saint of the city of Milan. Both the Guelph and the Ghibelline factions worked together to bring about the Ambrosian Republic in Milan. Nonetheless, the Republic collapsed when, in 1450, Milan was conquered by Francesco Sforza, of the House of Sforza, who made Milan one of the leading cities of the Italian Renaissance.
Early modern
The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, and later most of the major states of Western Europe. Milan's last independent ruler, Lodovico Sforza, called French king Charles VIII into Italy in the expectation that France might be an ally in inter-Italian wars. The future King of France, Louis of Orléans, took part in the expedition and realised Italy was virtually defenceless. This prompted him to return a few years later in 1500, and claim the Duchy of Milan for himself, his grandmother having been a member of the ruling Visconti family. At that time, Milan was also defended by Swiss mercenaries. After the victory of Louis's successor Francis I over the Swiss at the Battle of Marignan, the duchy was promised to the French king. When the Habsburg Emperor Charles V defeated Francis I at the Battle of Pavia in 1525, northern Italy, including Milan, returned to Francesco II Sforza, passing to Habsburg Spain ten years later on his death and the extinction of the Sforza line.
In 1556, Charles V abdicated in favour of his son Philip II and his brother Ferdinand I. Charles's Italian possessions, including Milan, passed to Philip II and remained with the Spanish line of Habsburgs, while Ferdinand's Austrian line of Habsburgs ruled the Holy Roman Empire.
Great Plague of Milan
The Great Plague of Milan in 1629–31 killed an estimated 60,000 people out of a population of 130,000. This episode is considered one of the last outbreaks of the centuries-long pandemic of plague that began with the Black Death.
War of the Spanish Succession
In 1700 the Spanish line of Habsburgs was extinguished with the death of Charles II. After his death, the War of the Spanish Succession began in 1701 with the occupation of all Spanish possessions by French troops backing the claim of the French Philippe of Anjou to the Spanish throne. In 1706, the French were defeated at the Battle of Turin and were forced to yield northern Italy to the Austrian Habsburgs. In 1713–1714 the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt formally confirmed Austrian sovereignty over most of Spain's Italian possessions including Lombardy and its capital, Milan.
Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, and Milan was declared the capital of the Cisalpine Republic. Later, he declared Milan the capital of the Kingdom of Italy and was crowned in the Duomo. Once Napoleon's occupation ended, the Congress of Vienna returned Lombardy, and Milan, along with Veneto, to Austrian control in 1814. During this period, Milan became a centre of lyric opera. Here in the 1770s Mozart had premiered three operas at the Teatro Regio Ducale. Later La Scala became the reference theatre in the world, with its premières of Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini and Verdi. Verdi himself is interred in the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, his present to Milan. In the 19th century, other important theatres were La Cannobiana and the Teatro Carcano.
Wars of the 19th century
On 18 March 1848, the Milanese rebelled against Austrian rule, during the so-called "Five Days" (Italian: Le Cinque Giornate), and Field Marshal Radetzky was forced to withdraw from the city temporarily. The Kingdom of Sardinia stepped in to help the insurgents; a plebiscite held in Lombardy decided in favour of unification with Sardinia. However, after defeating the Sardinian forces at Custoza on 24 July, Radetzky was able to reassert Austrian control over Milan and northern Italy. A few years on, however, Italian nationalists again called for the removal of Austria and Italian unification, with riots consuming the city in 1853. In 1859 Sardinia and France formed an alliance and defeated Austria at the Battle of Solferino. Following this battle, Milan and the rest of Lombardy were incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia, which soon gained control of most of Italy and in 1861 was rechristened as the Kingdom of Italy.
Early industrialization
The political unification of Italy cemented Milan's commercial dominance over northern Italy. It also led to a flurry of railway construction that had started under Austrian patronage (Venice–Milan; Milan–Monza) that made Milan the rail hub of northern Italy. Thereafter with the opening of the Gotthard (1881) and Simplon (1906) railway tunnels, Milan became the major South European rail focus for business and passenger movements e.g. the Simplon Orient Express. Rapid industrialization and market expansion put Milan at the centre of Italy's leading industrial region, including extensive stone quarries that have led to much of the air pollution we see today in the region. In the 1890s, Milan was shaken by the Bava-Beccaris massacre, a riot related to a high inflation rate. Meanwhile, as Milanese banks dominated Italy's financial sphere, the city became the country's leading financial centre.
Late modern and contemporary
In 1919, Benito Mussolini's Blackshirts rallied for the first time in Piazza San Sepolcro and later began their March on Rome in Milan. During the Second World War Milan suffered extensive damage from Allied bombings.[18] When Italy surrendered in 1943, German forces occupied most of Northern Italy until 1945. As a result, resistance groups formed. As the war came to an end, the American 1st Armored Division advanced on Milan – but before they arrived, the resistance seized control of the city and executed Mussolini along with several members of his government. On 29 April 1945, the corpses of Mussolini, his mistress Clara Petacci and other Fascist leaders were hanged in Piazzale Loreto.
During the post-war economic boom, a large wave of internal migration (especially from rural areas of Southern Italy), moved to Milan. The population grew from 1.3 million in 1951 to 1.7 million in 1967. During this period, Milan was largely reconstructed, with the building of several innovative and modernist skyscrapers, such as the Torre Velasca and the Pirelli Tower. The economic prosperity was however overshadowed in the late 1960s and early 1970s during the so-called Years of Lead, when Milan witnessed an unprecedented wave of street violence, labour strikes and political terrorism. The apex of this period of turmoil occurred on 12 December 1969, when a bomb exploded at the National Agrarian Bank in Piazza Fontana, killing seventeen people and injuring eighty-eight.
In the 1980s, with the international success of Milanese houses (like Armani, Versace, and Dolce & Gabbana), Milan became one of the world's fashion capitals. The city saw also a marked rise in international tourism, notably from America and Japan, while the stock exchange increased its market capitalisation more than five-fold. This period led the mass media to nickname the metropolis "Milano da bere", literally "Milan to drink". However, in the 1990s, Milan was badly affected by Tangentopoli, a political scandal in which many politicians and businessmen were tried for corruption. The city was also affected by a severe financial crisis and a steady decline in textiles, automobile, and steel production.
In the early 21st century, Milan underwent a series of sweeping redevelopments. Its exhibition centre moved to a much larger site in Rho. New business districts such as Porta Nuova and CityLife were constructed. With the decline in manufacturing, the city has sought to develop on its other sources of revenue, including publishing, finance, banking, fashion design, information technology, logistics, transport, and tourism. In addition, the city's decades-long population decline seems to have come to an end in recent years, with signs of recovery as it grew by seven percent since the last census.
Missori | Piazza Velasca
The Torre Velasca is a skyscraper with mixed functions of residential and commercial use.
Arch. BBPR architectural partnership (Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers)
1956-58.
D815_403
19/02/2016 : Milano, piazza Meda: palazzo Bolchini (Pier Giulio Magistretti, 1928-30; rinnov. interni: BBPR, 1973)
Biennale di Venezia 2014 - 14th International Architecture Exhibition - Fundamentals.
Fundamentals consists of three interlocking exhibitions:
1.Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014 is an invitation to the national pavilions to show the process of the erasure of national characteristics.
2.Elements of Architecture, in the Central Pavilion, pays close attention to the fundamentals of our buildings used by any architect, anywhere, anytime.
3.Monditalia dedicates the Arsenale to a single theme – Italy – with exhibitions, events, and theatrical productions.
Alongside the Central Pavilion, built in 1894 and later restructured and extended several times, the Gardens are occupied by a further 29 pavilions built at different periods by the various nations participating in the Biennale. Set amidst tall trees, the pavilions themselves form a sort of anthology of important twentieth-century architecture - given they were designed by architects of the status of Aalto, Hoffmann, Rietveld, Scarpa and Stirling.
The pavilions were built over the years, in the following chronological order (name of the architect in brackets):
1907 Belgium (Léon Sneyens);
1909 Hungary (Géza Rintel Maróti);
1909 Germany (Daniele Donghi), demolished and rebuilt in 1938 (Ernst Haiger);
1909 Great Britain (Edwin Alfred Rickards);
1912 France (Umberto Bellotto);
1912 Netherlands (Gustav Ferdinand Boberg), demolished and rebuilt in 1953 (Gerrit Thomas Rietveld);
1914 Russia (Aleksej V. Scusev);
1922 Spain (Javier De Luque) façade renovated in 1952 by Joaquin Vaquero Palacios;
1926 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic (Otakar Novotny);
1930 United States of America (Chester Holmes Aldrich and William Adams Delano);
1932 Denmark (Carl Brummer) enlarged in 1958 by Peter Koch;
1932 Padiglione Venezia (Brenno Del Giudice), enlarged in 1938;
1934 Austria (Josef Hoffmann);
1934 Greece (M. Papandréou - B. Del Giudice);
1952 Israel (Zeev Rechter);
1952 Switzerland (Bruno Giacometti);
1954 Venezuela (Carlo Scarpa);
1956 Japan (Takamasa Yoshizaka);
1956 Finland (Alvar Aalto Pavilion);
1958 Canada (Gruppo BBPR);
1960 Uruguay;
1962 Nordic Countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland (Sverre Fehn);
1964 Brazil (Amerigo Marchesin);
1987 Australia (Philip Cox);
1995 Korea (Seok Chul Kim and Franco Mancuso).
Back to my trip to Europe last year for a while!
Sforza Castle, Milan, day 6 of our Cosmos tour, October 5, 2012. We arrived late in the afternoon so didn't see all I wanted to see as we left very early the next morning. So not many good shots as it was too late in the day!
Castello Sforzesco (English: Sforza Castle) is a castle in Milan, Italy, that used to be the seat and residence of the Duchy of Milan and one of the biggest citadels in Europe. It now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.
The original construction on the site began in the 14th century. In 1450, Francesco Sforza began reconstruction of the castle, and it was further modified by later generations. A number of the rooms originally had elaborate internal decoration - the best known of these being the Sala Delle Asse, which contains ceiling paintings by Leonardo da Vinci.
After the French victory in the 1515 Battle of Marignano, the defeated Massimiliano Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the Castello Sforzesco. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated.
Under the Spanish domination, the castle was developed: between 15th and 16th century, it had a garrison of some 1000 to 3000 men, and was one of the biggest citadels in Europe. It became a star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25,9 hectares.
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 vast 700m by 700m 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 work, which was 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 Filarete tower above the main city entrance was rebuilt 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.
Fro More Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sforza_Castle
For More Info on Milan: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan
Back to my trip to Europe last year for a while!
Sforza Castle, Milan, day 6 of our Cosmos tour, October 5, 2012. We arrived late in the afternoon so didn't see all I wanted to see as we left very early the next morning. So not many good shots as it was too late in the day!
Castello Sforzesco (English: Sforza Castle) is a castle in Milan, Italy, that used to be the seat and residence of the Duchy of Milan and one of the biggest citadels in Europe. It now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.
The original construction on the site began in the 14th century. In 1450, Francesco Sforza began reconstruction of the castle, and it was further modified by later generations. A number of the rooms originally had elaborate internal decoration - the best known of these being the Sala Delle Asse, which contains ceiling paintings by Leonardo da Vinci.
After the French victory in the 1515 Battle of Marignano, the defeated Massimiliano Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the Castello Sforzesco. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated.
Under the Spanish domination, the castle was developed: between 15th and 16th century, it had a garrison of some 1000 to 3000 men, and was one of the biggest citadels in Europe. It became a star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25,9 hectares.
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 vast 700m by 700m 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 work, which was 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 Filarete tower above the main city entrance was rebuilt 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.
Fro More Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sforza_Castle
For More Info on Milan: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan
oh
Milano, piazza Velasca, Torre Velasca (BBPR- Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti ed Ernesto Nathan Rogers, 1951-58)
BBPR (Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti, Ernesto Nathan Rogers), 1956-1958
D815_411
19/02/2016 : Milano, via Adalberto Catena: uffici della Chase Manhattan Bank (BBPR, 1958-69)
La Torre Velasca è un grattacielo di Milano, situato nella piazza omonima, a sud del duomo.
Il nome, derivato dal preesistente toponimo, è legato al governatore spagnolo Juan Fernández de Velasco, a cui fu dedicata la piazza nel Seicento. Per il suo interesse storico-artistico, nel 2011 la Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali l'ha sottoposta a vincolo culturale.[1]
The Torre Velasca (Velasca Tower, in English) 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, while still being part of the Milanese context in which it was born, to which also belongs the Milan cathedral and the Sforzesco Castle.
The tower, approximately 100 metres tall, has a peculiar and characteristic mushroom-like shape.
D802_568
22/08/2015 : Carpi (MO), piazza dei Martiri, palazzo dei Pio: museo monumento al Deportato (BBPR - Banfi, Belgioioso, Peressutti, Rogers, con Giuseppe Lanzani e Renato Guttuso, 1963-73)
cortile delle Stele
Biennale di Venezia 2014 - 14th International Architecture Exhibition - Fundamentals.
Fundamentals consists of three interlocking exhibitions:
1.Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014 is an invitation to the national pavilions to show the process of the erasure of national characteristics.
2.Elements of Architecture, in the Central Pavilion, pays close attention to the fundamentals of our buildings used by any architect, anywhere, anytime.
3.Monditalia dedicates the Arsenale to a single theme – Italy – with exhibitions, events, and theatrical productions.
Alongside the Central Pavilion, built in 1894 and later restructured and extended several times, the Gardens are occupied by a further 29 pavilions built at different periods by the various nations participating in the Biennale. Set amidst tall trees, the pavilions themselves form a sort of anthology of important twentieth-century architecture - given they were designed by architects of the status of Aalto, Hoffmann, Rietveld, Scarpa and Stirling.
The pavilions were built over the years, in the following chronological order (name of the architect in brackets):
1907 Belgium (Léon Sneyens);
1909 Hungary (Géza Rintel Maróti);
1909 Germany (Daniele Donghi), demolished and rebuilt in 1938 (Ernst Haiger);
1909 Great Britain (Edwin Alfred Rickards);
1912 France (Umberto Bellotto);
1912 Netherlands (Gustav Ferdinand Boberg), demolished and rebuilt in 1953 (Gerrit Thomas Rietveld);
1914 Russia (Aleksej V. Scusev);
1922 Spain (Javier De Luque) façade renovated in 1952 by Joaquin Vaquero Palacios;
1926 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic (Otakar Novotny);
1930 United States of America (Chester Holmes Aldrich and William Adams Delano);
1932 Denmark (Carl Brummer) enlarged in 1958 by Peter Koch;
1932 Padiglione Venezia (Brenno Del Giudice), enlarged in 1938;
1934 Austria (Josef Hoffmann);
1934 Greece (M. Papandréou - B. Del Giudice);
1952 Israel (Zeev Rechter);
1952 Switzerland (Bruno Giacometti);
1954 Venezuela (Carlo Scarpa);
1956 Japan (Takamasa Yoshizaka);
1956 Finland (Alvar Aalto Pavilion);
1958 Canada (Gruppo BBPR);
1960 Uruguay;
1962 Nordic Countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland (Sverre Fehn);
1964 Brazil (Amerigo Marchesin);
1987 Australia (Philip Cox);
1995 Korea (Seok Chul Kim and Franco Mancuso).
Carpi (MO), piazza dei Martiri, Palazzo dei Pio, Museo monumento al deportato, cortile delle stele (sedici grandi stele, monoliti in cemento alti sei metri, recano i nomi di 60 campi di concentramento e di sterminio nazisti)
arch : studio BBPR (Belgioioso, Banfi, Peressutti e Rogers), Giuseppe Lanzani e Renato Guttuso, 1967
BBPRV²
(dittico su tabella affissa)
2x3
Un omaggio a due interventi milanesi del gruppo BBPR, la famosa Torre Velasca (1952-55) e la Chase Manatthan Bank (1958-69) , inseriti in due quadri del Veronese (1528-88).
nel primo caso sullo sfondo della Cena a nozze di Cana, la Torre si erge monolitica in tutta la sua gotica massività brutalista, al posto della precedente torre dal sapore classico di bifore e monofore; nel secondo caso, il colonnato porticato di Cena a casa di Levi viene sostituito dalla struttura in acciaio della Chase M. Bank, di forma sagomata a Y.
grazie ad Hannes Peer e Alien Attack per le foto.
ROBOCOOP
Milano, 2015
Biennale di Venezia 2014 - 14th International Architecture Exhibition - Fundamentals.
Fundamentals consists of three interlocking exhibitions:
1.Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014 is an invitation to the national pavilions to show the process of the erasure of national characteristics.
2.Elements of Architecture, in the Central Pavilion, pays close attention to the fundamentals of our buildings used by any architect, anywhere, anytime.
3.Monditalia dedicates the Arsenale to a single theme – Italy – with exhibitions, events, and theatrical productions.
Alongside the Central Pavilion, built in 1894 and later restructured and extended several times, the Gardens are occupied by a further 29 pavilions built at different periods by the various nations participating in the Biennale. Set amidst tall trees, the pavilions themselves form a sort of anthology of important twentieth-century architecture - given they were designed by architects of the status of Aalto, Hoffmann, Rietveld, Scarpa and Stirling.
The pavilions were built over the years, in the following chronological order (name of the architect in brackets):
1907 Belgium (Léon Sneyens);
1909 Hungary (Géza Rintel Maróti);
1909 Germany (Daniele Donghi), demolished and rebuilt in 1938 (Ernst Haiger);
1909 Great Britain (Edwin Alfred Rickards);
1912 France (Umberto Bellotto);
1912 Netherlands (Gustav Ferdinand Boberg), demolished and rebuilt in 1953 (Gerrit Thomas Rietveld);
1914 Russia (Aleksej V. Scusev);
1922 Spain (Javier De Luque) façade renovated in 1952 by Joaquin Vaquero Palacios;
1926 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic (Otakar Novotny);
1930 United States of America (Chester Holmes Aldrich and William Adams Delano);
1932 Denmark (Carl Brummer) enlarged in 1958 by Peter Koch;
1932 Padiglione Venezia (Brenno Del Giudice), enlarged in 1938;
1934 Austria (Josef Hoffmann);
1934 Greece (M. Papandréou - B. Del Giudice);
1952 Israel (Zeev Rechter);
1952 Switzerland (Bruno Giacometti);
1954 Venezuela (Carlo Scarpa);
1956 Japan (Takamasa Yoshizaka);
1956 Finland (Alvar Aalto Pavilion);
1958 Canada (Gruppo BBPR);
1960 Uruguay;
1962 Nordic Countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland (Sverre Fehn);
1964 Brazil (Amerigo Marchesin);
1987 Australia (Philip Cox);
1995 Korea (Seok Chul Kim and Franco Mancuso).
Back to my trip to Europe last year for a while!
Sforza Castle, Milan, day 6 of our Cosmos tour, October 5, 2012. We arrived late in the afternoon so didn't see all I wanted to see as we left very early the next morning. So not many good shots as it was too late in the day!
Castello Sforzesco (English: Sforza Castle) is a castle in Milan, Italy, that used to be the seat and residence of the Duchy of Milan and one of the biggest citadels in Europe. It now houses several of the city's museums and art collections.
The original construction on the site began in the 14th century. In 1450, Francesco Sforza began reconstruction of the castle, and it was further modified by later generations. A number of the rooms originally had elaborate internal decoration - the best known of these being the Sala Delle Asse, which contains ceiling paintings by Leonardo da Vinci.
After the French victory in the 1515 Battle of Marignano, the defeated Massimiliano Sforza, his Swiss mercenaries, and the cardinal-bishop of Sion retreated into the Castello Sforzesco. However, King Francis I of France followed them into Milan, and his sappers placed mines under the castle's foundations, whereupon the defenders capitulated.
Under the Spanish domination, the castle was developed: between 15th and 16th century, it had a garrison of some 1000 to 3000 men, and was one of the biggest citadels in Europe. It became a star fort, following the addition of 12 bastions. The external fortifications reached 3 km in length and covered an area of 25,9 hectares.
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 vast 700m by 700m 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 work, which was 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 Filarete tower above the main city entrance was rebuilt 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.
Fro More Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sforza_Castle
For More Info on Milan: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan
forza Castle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sforza Castle
Castello Sforzesco
Milan in Italy
20110725 Castello Sforzesco Milan 5557.jpg
The Torre del Filarete.
Sforza Castle is located in Milan Sforza CastleSforza Castle
Location within Milan
Sforza Castle (Italian: Castello Sforzesco) 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 m-thick 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 trenchs 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 vast 700m by 700m 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.
Milano e la Torre Velasca - cityscape -
STORIA della Torre Velasca
Progettata e costruita tra il 1956 e il 1958 dalla Società Generale Immobiliare, sorge in un'area un tempo residenziale, distrutta dai bombardamenti angloamericani nel 1943 e svetta nel panorama cittadino, del quale è divenuta uno dei simboli più noti.
Nel mezzo di questa zona si trova la Torre, progetto che può collegarsi alla rivoluzione formale battezzata Neoliberty, ma con accenni di Brutalismo e comunque facente parte del variegato esprimersi del Razionalismo italiano, che si pone in stretto rapporto col contesto milanese in cui sorge, svettando assieme al Duomo, ai campanili della città ma soprattutto col Castello Sforzesco.
I primi diciotto piani sono occupati da negozi e uffici, mentre i successivi piani fino al ventiseiesimo, occupati da appartamenti, sviluppati su un'area più larga rispetto ai precedenti, conferiscono la caratteristica e originale forma "a fungo" alla torre. Le travi oblique, per dar sostegno all'espansione esterna dei piani superiori, conferiscono un aspetto tipico al grattacielo, che ricevette dai milanesi il soprannome di "grattacielo delle giarrettiere".
Il profilo della torre è la conseguenza di un lungo studio che trova le sue origini nella ricerca di risposte funzionali alla costrizione in cui si trova la base della Torre nella piccola piazza omonima, libera però di espandersi nei piani superiori.
L'originario progetto prevedeva una struttura a telaio in acciaio (ispirata dalla cultura nordamericana del grattacielo), ma si preferì adottare una struttura più "tradizionale" in cemento armato, che meglio si coniugava al linguaggio neo-liberty dell'edificio. Nella fase preliminare venne interpellata una società newyorkese specializzata nella valutazione economica dei progetti d'architettura e stabilì che data la situazione tecnologica dell'industria siderurgica italiana, il progetto sarebbe stato irrealizzabile.
Fonte: it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_Velasca
ENGLISH
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 Sforzesco 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 reminds that of 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.
The “Torre Velasca”, or BBPR Tower (acronym of 4 architects Banfi-Belgiojos-Peressutti-Rogers), Milan, 1958 : one of the 1st european towers, seen from Duomo Terraces (2017). Image : © PFRunner
Carpi (MO), piazza dei Martiri, Palazzo dei Pio, Museo monumento al deportato, cortile delle stele (sedici grandi stele, monoliti in cemento alti sei metri, recano i nomi di 60 campi di concentramento e di sterminio nazisti)
arch : studio BBPR (Belgioioso, Banfi, Peressutti e Rogers), Giuseppe Lanzani e Renato Guttuso, 1967
Missori | Piazza Velasca
The Torre Velasca is a skyscraper with mixed functions of residential and commercial use.
Arch. BBPR architectural partnership (Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers)
1956-58.
Carpi (MO), piazza dei Martiri, Palazzo dei Pio, Museo monumento al deportato, cortile delle stele (sedici grandi stele, monoliti in cemento alti sei metri, recano i nomi di 60 campi di concentramento e di sterminio nazisti)
arch : studio BBPR (Belgioioso, Banfi, Peressutti e Rogers), Giuseppe Lanzani e Renato Guttuso, 1967
Missori | Piazza Velasca
The Torre Velasca is a skyscraper with mixed functions of residential and commercial use.
Arch. BBPR architectural partnership (Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers)
1956-58.
Un piccolo itinerario per la città di Legnano.
Non ho trovato guide aggiornate e mi sono basata su una guida del 1998
Legnano Arte - Storia - Turismo a cura di Gianni Borsa Guide Macchione.
Questo è stato un po' problematico perché si nota il grande dinamismo di Legnano. Molti cambiamenti in così poco tempo. Anche l'aspetto della stessa Piazza San Magno è completamente rinnovata.
Sono arrivata con il pulmann della STIE con partenza Cadorna e arrivo a Largo Tosi e da lì e partita, guida alla mano, l'avventura per Legnano.
Dalla Piazza IV Novembre in direzione Corso Garibaldi e da lì in sequenza con le indicazioni del primo itinerario indicato sulla Guida.
"Il percorso pedonale che suggeriamo si svolge da nord verso sud lungo la vecchia strada che corre poso distante dal lato destro del fiume Olona. Da Castellanza, superato l'incrocio della località Gabinella, si trova, immerso in un ombroso giardino, il civico museo, allestito nella costruzione della palazzina residenza del cavaliere Oldrado Lampugnani, già esistente tra corso Sempione e piazza IV Novembre e qui ricostruita nel 1927, dopo che l'originale venne abbattuto per consentire l'espansione urbanistica e industriale della zona."
Museo Civico Sutermeister.
Di fronte al museo la palazzina dell'abbandonato Cotonificio Bernocchi che ora ha tutt'altra destinazione. Nei commenti delle persone che ho incontrato tutti esprimono il disappunto per non aver utilizzato lo spazio per inserirvi la Biblioteca che invece si trova poco più avanti nel civico n. 3 di via Cavour, nella villa Bernocchi circondata da un giardino con alberi ad alto fusto.
Si ritorna su Corso Garibaldi e voltando a destra su via Pontida, dopo aver rincontrato l'Olona sulla sinistra si vede la sede della Croce Rossa che conteneva in passato i bagni pubblici coperti, costruiti nel 1903 dalla società Pro Legnano e dietro questa palazzina si può notare una costruzione che era la palestra di questa società e oggi dovrebbero (se la guida è ancora valida) essere la sede della Banda Musicale cittadina risalente ai primi anni del 1800.
Sempre procedendo su corso Garibaldi all'altezza della Chiesa di San Domenico, nascosta da palazzi, quindi all'interno di un condominio, si nota la Torre Colombera che era la casa di caccia del XVI secolo. È stata donata alla città di Legnano dalla Signora Maria Giulia Ferrario e restaurata da Lions Club Legnano Host come risulta dalla targa datata 21 aprile 1990. Proseguendo per Corso Garibaldi si gira per Corso Italia dove è visibile la palazzina degli uffici della De Angeli-Frua ora occupata dalle Associazioni d'ARMA.
Subito dopo c'è un'ampia aiuola al cui centro c'è la statua dedicata dai legnanesi agli invalidi del lavoro. L'opera dell'artista GIorgio Bellandi è stata inaugurata nei primi anni '80.
Ecco la descrizione che ne fa la guida "...rappresenta due uomini in abiti da operai. La prima figura, realizzata in bronzo con proporzioni gigantesche, rappresenta un uomo cui è stato strappato un braccio, che punta la mano che gli resta come per chiedere aiuto alla seconda statua: un uomo deformato e ingobbito dagli anni passati sulle macchine, insesibile alle richieste del suoc ompagno"
se mi posso permettere non sono pienamente d'accordo sul fatto che gli operai siano così, anzi, proprio perché fanno molta fatica, sono più disponibili per le disgrazie del prossimo, almeno tutti quelli che ho conosciuto sono così. Ma qui mi limito a riportare quello che la guida dice, visto che dovrebbe forse essere la spiegazione dell'autore dell'opera. Peccato però questa visione.
Sulla palazzina ex uffici De Angeli- Frua una targa ricorda i legnanesi insigniti di medaglia d'oro al valor militare.
Superato il giardino, nella aiuole il busto dedicato al maestro Neglia e si prosegue verso piazza Frua. A destra si vede un edificio in mattoni rossi che nel 1923 fu realizzato per diventare il convitto e il dormitorio delle maestranze delle tessiture De Angeli che provenivano da fuori città. Proseguendo si arriva alla Piazza del Monumento dove campeggia il Monumento al Guerriero e dietro la palazzina Pensotti e la moderna portineria delle officine Ansaldo.
Si ritorna verso Corso Italia dove sulla destra campeggia il moumento dedicato agli alpini nel centenario della fondazione del corpo e dietro si entra in piazza Mocchetti dove c'è l'edificio più alto di Legnano, noto come il Grattacielo, che si trova al centro del quartiere per uffici e residenze disegnato nel 1963 da Luigi Caccia Dominioni. Era qui che sorgeva una volta la parte più antica dello stabilimento De Angeli-Frua.
Sul corso Italia al civico 43 si vedono i porticati che delimitavano il lato sud ed ovest del chiostro della clausura del convento di Santa Caterina.
Si procede così verso piazza San Magno con la sua Basilica, il Municipio e alcune opere scultoree e prima di arrivarvi si incontra la ciminiera della Manifattura di Legnano.
Si procede lungo Corso Magenta e si piega a destra per via Giulini dove sorge a destra una palazzina dove all'inizio del secolo vi erano gli uffici comunali e le scuole elementari, mentre sulla sinistra si può ammirare il palazzo Vismara del XVII secolo. Si procede e si gira a sinistra dove appare nella sua bellezza, in via Sant'Ambrogio l'omonima chiesa.
Di fronte alla chiesa di Sant'Ambrogio si trova palazzo Cornaggia costruito nel 1700.
La guida a questo punto ci indicava di proseguire per piazza Achille, "dove si erge un bell'esempio di architettura residenziale disegnato dallo studio "BBPR" citato sui manuali di architettura come uno dei più apprezzati dell'anteguerra. Ma qui, chiedendo a uno del posto ci ha rimandati verso corso Magenda aggiungendo che era inutile passare di lì perché non c'era assolutamente nulla, un muro e basta.
Ripreso il corso Magenta ci siamo indirizzati alla volta del Satuario della Madonna delle Grazie e poi verso il cimitero monumentale e infine verso il parco del Castello, del castello però abbiamo ammirato ben poco, avendolo visto da dentro il parco e non procedendo, per motivi di tempo, lungo la stradina laterale.
Se qualcuno vuole arricchire di informazioni, aneddoti, e altro ben venga... altri itinerari da proporre?
aspetto
Rossella