The building in Piazza San Marco, Milan
Edilcentro (nella persona dell'ingegner Bianchi)
Windows: wood, painted matt
Load-bearing structure: beams and piers in reinforced concrete
Roof: pitched roof with brick tiles (apartments); flat, with a roof garden (shop building)
Façade: red plaster; white marble ten centimetres thick (window frames)$$description of the asset/ structural plan
The building with its five floors above ground occupies a whole block between Via Solferino, Via Pontaccio, Via Ancona and Piazza San Marco where the entrance to the building is located. The functions envisaged by the project are positioned on each floor and are recognisable thanks to the different window types along the façade. The ground floor, almost entirely porticoed, provides access to the shops. The first floor offices have coupled openings arranged in a strict geometric pattern. The façades of the apartments on the top three floors have gradually more empty spaces and end in a series of characteristic criss-cross loggias in front of the living rooms. The building also has five basement floors used as garages, accessed from Via Ancona. One important focus of the preliminary study was the layout of the urban streets between the building and its surroundings, a prestigious neighbourhood in the old city centre. Magistretti designed a direct pedestrian walkway between Piazza San Marco and Via Solferino; he emptied the corner of the complex towards Via Pontaccio by recessing the glass surface of the ground floor. Its functional independence is further emphasised by a decision to build a scenic staircase to the apartments and a more technological escalator next to it. The stairs go directly to the first floor where there is a roof garden; all the various areas of the complex can be reached from this area using the seven elevator-staircases overlooking six vertical empty spaces. The project called for small apartments which could, however, be joined to create bigger apartments. The dark red plaster façades are enlivened by the white around the structural elements of the loggias and double windows of the offices. The wooden door and window frames are painted a red matt colour.
The ground floor of the building has been partially altered and some of the garages have been turned into sales areas. When the worksite was well underway, important changes were made to the structural grid in order to improve access to the garages.
S. Giacomoni, Disegno la Milano che cambia, in La Repubblica, 08 gennaio 1985
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G. Chigiotti, La regola e l'eccezione, in Area 11, settembre 1992
C. Bellini, Il mestiere di architetto, in Habitat Ufficio 21, settembre 1986
Edificio per negozi, uffici e abitazioni, in Ottagono 22, settembre 1971
Magistretti in riviera, in Alias 41, 21 ottobre 2006
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M. Boriani, C. Morandi, A. Rossari, Milano contemporanea, itinerari di architettura e urbanistica, Torino 1986, p. 131, p. 137
S. Polano, Guida all'architettura italiana del Novecento, Milano 1991, pp. 154-155
F. Irace, V. Pasca, Vico Magistretti, architetto e designer, Milano 1999, pp. 78-79
G. Gramigna, S. Mazza, Milano. Un secolo di architettura milanese dal Cordusio alla Bicocca, Milano 2001, pp. 424-425
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