In the mid-1950s the village of Breganzona still had an actual historic centre that was its pride and joy, the symbol and point of reference for the community and surrounding area. Its environmental plus was the inner space created by the presence of arcades along the two streets that clearly delimited the heart of the old centre and from there led outwards. In 1959, the canton of Ticino decided to widen the cantonal road – intense traffic and intense life were thought to be the same thing – and began to demolish the existing buildings, thus damaging the essence of the old centre, without considering alternative solutions which could easily have been found, such as building a bypass. The new construction, built on a site at the end of the village formerly occupied by the residence of the noble Polar family, reprises and develops, by virtue of its strong features, the idea of giving the centre a new focus, however, by rejecting the models of the past. The aim was therefore to draw on recurrent elements in the houses of the historic centre and use them freely. Thus, for example, the vertical windows, were taken into account and introduced into the façade looking towards the village. The large number of windows led to grouping them together as much as possible, in order to give the façade a regular rhythm and create more solids than voids. By adopting the solution of a single horizon with the aim of defining the block more sharply, the top floor was accentuated by making it project slightly on the north-west and south-east sides. In this way it acts as a “draining floor” and makes the whole block more striking. The strongly marked stair elements, indicate a desire to create a “bold” building in an attempt to improve the old centre. In fact, they break up the facade and bring the surface in line with the size of the existing houses. Finally, they make the building seem anchored to the ground, though the portico confers a certain lightness.
Giampiero Camponovo
1974
Berganzona
Projects, Residential Complexes