Cesare Cattaneo-Mario Radice, Monumental fountain Piazza Camerlata, Como, 1935-36
The result of the architect Cesare Cattaneo's collaboration with the abstract painter Mario Radice, the fountain has an "unstable balance" structure based on the harmonious relationships of overlapping rings and spheres. From the beginning it was conceived as a "monument to motor traffic": the four rings correspond to the four roads to Varese, Como, Milan and Cantù. In the project sketches, arrows were drawn from the rings to indicate the various directions. The white concrete structure is characterised by circular lines, which are also found at the base of the composition in the two round basins of different sizes and in the fifth vertical ring, opposite to the main composition. The fountain was built on the occasion of the VI Milan Triennial, where it met the favor of the critics, and was only rebuilt in 1962 in the Como square for which it had been designed. Within this junction, which is also the gateway to the city, the monument is visible thanks to its height, but appears light thanks to the arrangement of its elements. The fountain is made up of geometric solids which are combined with each other with harmonious balance to create a dynamic composition, just as dynamic as the context in which it is to be placed.
