Giuseppe Terragni, Casa Giuliani Frigerio, viale Rosselli 24, 1939-40
The Casa Giuliani Frigerio was the last building built by Terragni, but, paradoxically, it marked the beginning of what should have been a new phase of design experimentation that was abruptly interrupted by the war. A few months after the start of construction site, Terragni was called to arms and was thus forced to check on the progress of the construction site through close correspondence with his friend and collaborator Luigi Zuccoli. The building was to be located in a new area of upper middle-class urbanisation not far from the Novocomum. The three apartments per floor are arranged on staggered levels of half a floor. This postponement, which is evident in the east and west façades, allows the distribution of the two apartments at the same level and the third, served by a gallery facing outside, at the next level. On the top floor, the invention of the "villa with roof garden", set back from the line of the façades, is developed on different levels and brings the roof level back up to a single level. The façades, now far from the simple parallelepiped shape, are articulated instead by protruding and broken-out elements. The brushstrokes on the balconies and the iron frames for the awnings (present only on one side) are particular as well. A precious split marble covers the four façades. The complexity of this architecture is resolved with completely innovative solutions that go beyond the principles of demonstrative rationalism.
