Società Elettrica Sarda Headquarters (1957-1961), piazza Amendola 1, via Pirastu 1, 3, Cagliari
Clerk of works: Flaminio Della Chiesa
Structure: Eng. Angilella, ing. Giannini
Artworks: Eugenio Tavolara, polychrome artworks
Clerk of works: Flaminio Della Chiesa
Structure: Eng. Angilella, ing. Giannini
Artworks: Eugenio Tavolara, polychrome artworks
The Società Elettrica Sarda headquarters in Cagliari represents one of the most important works of Gigi Ghò’s professional career thanks to its peculiar location, the prestige of the client, and the amount of design work that went into it. The project was commissioned at the end of the 1950s to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the company, founded in 1911 and today part of the Enel group. A new and modern style was chosen for this project. Through a contemporary and rational approach, the project was supposed not only to express the concepts of dynamism and trust in technological progress - also part the company values - but also to represent a strong symbolic idea of “new city”, thereby mirroring the ideals of the cultural post-war development.
The planned large volume and the central location - in front of the harbour square - not only gave the designer a substantial responsibility but also required him to carry out a series of accurate investigations of the impact of the building on the surrounding area. There are two versions of the project: the first option, considered more rational by Ghò himself thanks to its “greater freedom in the partial perspectives”, was rejected due to its scenic constraints and is represented in a ink perspective drawing. The second option was the one that was built.
The building that resulted from this long and intense design process can be considered one of the most significant expressions of Rationalism in Sardinia, as well as a prominent landmark in the urban development of the city. This is due to the rigour of the formal result, the structural studies, and the innovation of various solutions employed. The development plan consists of a fifteen-storey harbour front high rise and a podium building, containing front of house public services, offices, meeting rooms and dwellings of various sizes, that follows the perimeter of the site along piazza Amendola and via Pirastu. The tower is characterised by the reinforced concrete structure with V-shaped pillars - with eighteen meters deep foundation - and overhanging slabs. The result is a rigorous graphic grid made dynamic by a clever system of movable blade louvres which, through the pattern of shadows they cast, give a vibrant expression to the facade.
The design is completed at the top by a discontinuous concrete profile, a clear reference to Giò Ponti’s post-war “finite form” theory. The idea to highlight the structural ribs bringing them on the external skin facade, demonstrates Ghò’s alignment with the most recent experiences of the Milanese Rationalism, among which is the renowned Torre Velasca by BBPR and the lesser-known Torre Tirrena by the brothers Soncini, built a few years earlier, both featuring V-shaped pillar solutions. The lower blocks of the complex, characterised by a miscellaneous appearance, feature a more conventional rationalistic language, with the clever variation of the staggered apertures on via Pirastu. In the proximity of the entrance, the corner is emphasized by a polychromatic artwork of the Sardinian sculpture Eugenio Tavolara, which represents a symbolic exaltation of the discovery of electricity.
The planned large volume and the central location - in front of the harbour square - not only gave the designer a substantial responsibility but also required him to carry out a series of accurate investigations of the impact of the building on the surrounding area. There are two versions of the project: the first option, considered more rational by Ghò himself thanks to its “greater freedom in the partial perspectives”, was rejected due to its scenic constraints and is represented in a ink perspective drawing. The second option was the one that was built.
The building that resulted from this long and intense design process can be considered one of the most significant expressions of Rationalism in Sardinia, as well as a prominent landmark in the urban development of the city. This is due to the rigour of the formal result, the structural studies, and the innovation of various solutions employed. The development plan consists of a fifteen-storey harbour front high rise and a podium building, containing front of house public services, offices, meeting rooms and dwellings of various sizes, that follows the perimeter of the site along piazza Amendola and via Pirastu. The tower is characterised by the reinforced concrete structure with V-shaped pillars - with eighteen meters deep foundation - and overhanging slabs. The result is a rigorous graphic grid made dynamic by a clever system of movable blade louvres which, through the pattern of shadows they cast, give a vibrant expression to the facade.
The design is completed at the top by a discontinuous concrete profile, a clear reference to Giò Ponti’s post-war “finite form” theory. The idea to highlight the structural ribs bringing them on the external skin facade, demonstrates Ghò’s alignment with the most recent experiences of the Milanese Rationalism, among which is the renowned Torre Velasca by BBPR and the lesser-known Torre Tirrena by the brothers Soncini, built a few years earlier, both featuring V-shaped pillar solutions. The lower blocks of the complex, characterised by a miscellaneous appearance, feature a more conventional rationalistic language, with the clever variation of the staggered apertures on via Pirastu. In the proximity of the entrance, the corner is emphasized by a polychromatic artwork of the Sardinian sculpture Eugenio Tavolara, which represents a symbolic exaltation of the discovery of electricity.
Bibliography about this work:
“Edilizia Moderna” n.74, 1961, pp.67-72
Jolanda Ventura (a cura di), Gigi Gho': progetti e architetture 1950-1995, [s.e.], 1997, pp.64-75
Marco Lucchini, L'identità molteplice. Architettura contemporanea in Sardegna dal 1930 al 2008, Aisara, 2009, pp.60, 110-111
Giuseppina Monni, Paolo Sanjust, Antonello Sanna, Il curtain wall “all’italiana” del palazzo dell'Enel di Gigi Ghò a Cagliari in G. Bernardini, E. Di Giuseppe, Colloqui.AT.e 2017. Demolition Or Reconstruction?, Edicom edizioni, Monfalcone, 2017
Giuseppina Monni, Paolo Sanjust, Antonello Sanna, Struttura e linguaggio. Il palazzo dell'Enel di Gigi Ghò a Cagliari, in "Tema. Technologies, Engineering, Materials, Architecture" n.1, vol.4, 2018
“Edilizia Moderna” n.74, 1961, pp.67-72
Jolanda Ventura (a cura di), Gigi Gho': progetti e architetture 1950-1995, [s.e.], 1997, pp.64-75
Marco Lucchini, L'identità molteplice. Architettura contemporanea in Sardegna dal 1930 al 2008, Aisara, 2009, pp.60, 110-111
Giuseppina Monni, Paolo Sanjust, Antonello Sanna, Il curtain wall “all’italiana” del palazzo dell'Enel di Gigi Ghò a Cagliari in G. Bernardini, E. Di Giuseppe, Colloqui.AT.e 2017. Demolition Or Reconstruction?, Edicom edizioni, Monfalcone, 2017
Giuseppina Monni, Paolo Sanjust, Antonello Sanna, Struttura e linguaggio. Il palazzo dell'Enel di Gigi Ghò a Cagliari, in "Tema. Technologies, Engineering, Materials, Architecture" n.1, vol.4, 2018
Design drawings and historical photos |
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