Torre Velasca
Encyclopedia
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
built in 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
by the BBPR
BBPR
BBPR was an architectural partnership founded in Milan, Italy in 1932.-The Partners:The partners were Gianluigi Banfi, Lodovico Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti, and Ernesto Nathan Rogers...
architectural partnership, in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Architects
BBPRBBPR
BBPR was an architectural partnership founded in Milan, Italy in 1932.-The Partners:The partners were Gianluigi Banfi, Lodovico Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti, and Ernesto Nathan Rogers...
is an acronym from the name of its designers: Gian Luigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers
Ernesto Nathan Rogers
Ernesto Nathan Rogers was an Italian architect, writer and educator.-Biography:Born in Trieste, Italy he graduated from the Politecnico di Milano, Italy in 1932...
.
Description
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
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
-like shape.
It stands out in the city skyline
Skyline
A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in front of the sky in the background. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as...
, 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
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. At the same time, BBPR
BBPR
BBPR was an architectural partnership founded in Milan, Italy in 1932.-The Partners:The partners were Gianluigi Banfi, Lodovico Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti, and Ernesto Nathan Rogers...
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.
Urban context
The tower is located in the city centre of Milan, Italy, near the Duomo (Milan Cathedral) and the central seat of Università StataleUniversity of Milan
The University of Milan is a higher education institution in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe, with about 62,801 students, a teaching and research staff of 2,455 and a non-teaching staff of 2,200....
(Università degli Studi di Milano), between Corso di Porta Romana and via Larga.
One of the exits of the Missori metro
Line M3 - Milan Subway (Metropolitana di Milano)
The Milan Metro Line 3, , is a subway line serving Milan, Italy. The line is part of the Milan Metro and is operated by ATM. Construction began in 1986 in order to be ready for the 1990 Football World Cup...
station is located right in front of it.