'800 - '900
After the creation of the Cisalpine Republic, with the capital of the unified state being Milan, a new idea of town starts to be shaped: a model of economic, administrative and cultural growth which will last for almost two centuries.
With the realization of works such as Arco della Pace (The Peace Arch), the new town doors and their tollhouses (or Caselli) built on the demolished Spanish Walls, the opening of Naviglio di Pavia (one of the canals of Milan canal system) and, later, of the connection between piazza Scala and piazza Duomo - Vittorio Emanuele Arcade (Galleria Vittorio Emanuele) - surely a new urban “dimension” emerges – materializing into the national unification - through original town plans. One of the most impressive examples was the construction of the rail system, which influenced the town growth pattern, thanks also to the extraordinary realisation of Stazione Centrale (Milan central railway station).
Even though during the XIX century the town will adapt to the prevailing architectural languages of the big European capital cities, it is during the XX century that it will succeed in generating architectural models able to witness the existence of a school of thought near to Rationalism, with a particular attention towards the new construction materials spread by the Industrial Revolution.
We cannot avoid mentioning Palazzo della Triennale and Palazzo dell’Arengario, as well as Grattacielo Pirelli (Pirelli skyscraper) or Marchiondi Institute. During this period, Architecture will face, at least in the beginning, an undeniable cultural confrontation with the start of the great restoration works that triggered, also in this field, the search for a new school of thought, supported by interventions such as the restoration of St.Maria delle Grazie or of Sforza Castle.
This is nowadays raising major reflections on the meaning of restoration, and creating the prerequisites for a confrontation on the idea of “restoration of the restoration”.
By Arch. Libero Corrieri
Commission for the Architectural and Landscape Heritage of Milano
Highlights
The building, whose main façade overlooks Via Senato, 12, is a listed building according to article 45 (indirect restriction) of the Law Decree 42/04, and thanks to the proximity with two sites of historical and monumental significance as the Senate (now State Archives) and the Villa Reale (the Royal Villa) in Milan.
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The restoration works had the purpose of preserving the entire surface of the dismantled Church of Santa Maria Segreta [secret] in Milan, rebuilt between 1912 and 1918 near the present Piazza Tommaseo, along the axis of Via Mascheroni. Restorers followed a strictly conservative operational philology. The façade in fact preserves the whole delicate finishing “a bocciarla e spatula” and stone fragments of the ancient XVII century building.
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Il recupero della memoria storica di questi spazi è il motivo attorno a cui ruota tutto il progetto di restauro: da un lato la conservazione della memoria attraverso la salvaguardia delle poche tracce originali e dall'altra l'affermazione della nuova vocazione sociale dell'edificio. L'esistente è costituito da un piano seminterrato, un piano rialzato, un piano primo ed un piano sottotetto. Nel seminterrato, caratterizzato da belle volte in mattoni a vista rinforzate con un'innovativa struttura in acciaio e calcestruzzo è stato ricavato il Centro Anziani. Per consentire l'ingresso diretto della luce naturale a questi suggestivi ambienti il terreno esterno è stato ribassato e raccordato al giardino in modo da aprire ampie vetrate tra le spalle delle volte.
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