Residential building (1951), via Sant'Antonio Maria Zaccaria 3, Milano
Artworks: "Scultura luminosa", Lucio Fontana (entrance hall), "Composizione ceramica", Fausto Melotti (mezzanine floor)
Artworks: "Scultura luminosa", Lucio Fontana (entrance hall), "Composizione ceramica", Fausto Melotti (mezzanine floor)
"... The character and style of this Gigi Gho's entrance hall for a house in Milan [...] expresses a continuous composition of the interior with the exterior and the exterior with the interior"
(Gio Ponti)
(Gio Ponti)
The apartment block in via Sant'Antonio Maria Zaccaria is designed by Gigi Gho' and built in 1951. A sober example of Milanese postwar Architecture, the building is well-known for the presence of prestigious artworks in the double-height atrium - typical in Milan during the 1950s - such as the “scultura luminosa” (bright sculpture) by Luciano Fontana, hanging in the atrium entrance, and the “ceramic composition” by Fausto Melotti, on a mezzanine wall. The tile mosaic on the front facade, with its polychromatic wavy pattern, places the building within the “Movimento per l'Arte Concreta (MAC)”, which during that time theorised the “synthesis of the arts” through the collaboration between architects and artists for the reconstruction of the city after the Second World War bombings.
The building, located not far from the Court of Justice, is integrated in the street elevation among the noble apartment blocks of the same period, all belonging to the same parcelling plan designed by the engineer Raffaele Merendi. The structure, in reinforced concrete, is developed for nine floors above ground, a lower ground, and a basement. A single core with staircase and lifts is placed along the back facade. The first two levels, in addition to the atrium, the communal areas, and the custodian accommodation, are dedicated to office space; from the third floor upward are located the apartments, each occupying the entire floor with a duplex penthouse at the top of the building.
The main front, inspired by a rigid rationality, identifies the functional differences highlighting the load bearing structure on the first two floors, with a granite cladding, and setting the upper floors with a succession of wide square windows and large balcony bands.The entrance to the atrium, visible from the street thanks to the elegant glass sheets and aluminium mullions, spans two bays: particularly peculiar is the solution of the stepped-back central pillar, covered with the same Carrara marble that defines the entire entrance atrium. The accurate layout of the apartments, with particular attention to the various needs of modern living and to the effects of light irradiation, highlights the proximity of Gho to Gio Ponti’s ideas of “casa all’italiana”: the search of perfection in the lines of perspective between interior and exterior, visible even in plan in multiple instances, and the functional diversification of the spaces in reception rooms, “night”, “service” areas testify Gho’s design attention toward the most original and advanced research in the residential sector at the time.
The building, located not far from the Court of Justice, is integrated in the street elevation among the noble apartment blocks of the same period, all belonging to the same parcelling plan designed by the engineer Raffaele Merendi. The structure, in reinforced concrete, is developed for nine floors above ground, a lower ground, and a basement. A single core with staircase and lifts is placed along the back facade. The first two levels, in addition to the atrium, the communal areas, and the custodian accommodation, are dedicated to office space; from the third floor upward are located the apartments, each occupying the entire floor with a duplex penthouse at the top of the building.
The main front, inspired by a rigid rationality, identifies the functional differences highlighting the load bearing structure on the first two floors, with a granite cladding, and setting the upper floors with a succession of wide square windows and large balcony bands.The entrance to the atrium, visible from the street thanks to the elegant glass sheets and aluminium mullions, spans two bays: particularly peculiar is the solution of the stepped-back central pillar, covered with the same Carrara marble that defines the entire entrance atrium. The accurate layout of the apartments, with particular attention to the various needs of modern living and to the effects of light irradiation, highlights the proximity of Gho to Gio Ponti’s ideas of “casa all’italiana”: the search of perfection in the lines of perspective between interior and exterior, visible even in plan in multiple instances, and the functional diversification of the spaces in reception rooms, “night”, “service” areas testify Gho’s design attention toward the most original and advanced research in the residential sector at the time.
Bibliography about this work:
Gio Ponti, Il marmo è colore in "Domus" n. 285, agosto 1953, pp.59-52
Il marmo bianco nella scultura e nelle costruzioni moderne in "Domus", n. 289, dicembre 1953, pp.73-80
"Edilizia moderna" n.51, dicembre 1953
Paolo Campiglio (a cura di), Itinerari di Lucio Fontana a Milano e dintorni, Charta, Milano 1996
Lucio Fontana e Milano, Electa, Milano 1996
Jolanda Ventura (a cura di), Gigi Gho': progetti e architetture 1950-1995, [s.e.], 1997, pp.22-29
Karl Kolbitz (a cura di), Entryways of Milan / Ingressi di Milano, Taschen, Berlin 2017, pp.256-259
Gio Ponti, Il marmo è colore in "Domus" n. 285, agosto 1953, pp.59-52
Il marmo bianco nella scultura e nelle costruzioni moderne in "Domus", n. 289, dicembre 1953, pp.73-80
"Edilizia moderna" n.51, dicembre 1953
Paolo Campiglio (a cura di), Itinerari di Lucio Fontana a Milano e dintorni, Charta, Milano 1996
Lucio Fontana e Milano, Electa, Milano 1996
Jolanda Ventura (a cura di), Gigi Gho': progetti e architetture 1950-1995, [s.e.], 1997, pp.22-29
Karl Kolbitz (a cura di), Entryways of Milan / Ingressi di Milano, Taschen, Berlin 2017, pp.256-259
| Design drawings and historical photos |
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