Casa Tersicore
Casa Tersicore was built in Milan, near the Naviglio Grande, where it intercepts the urban ring road traced by the Piano Beruto in the late nineteenth century. The building is situated on street level on Via Sala, in line with the building to the west, and advances depth-wise into the project lot, in the shape of an “L”. On the street, the body of the building is four stories high, which bends around the corner, and then rises seven stories high in a type of turret, which is a kind of small tower, typical in Milan. The ground floor of the building, which houses the atria and common areas, is set slightly back from the edge of the loggia on the first and second floors. This loggia runs along both the street front and on the side orthogonal to it, towards the interior of the lot. The decorative suspended pilasters (lesene) of the loggia, 15cm thick and variable in width, are designed in a slowed perspective (prospettiva rallentata), so that on the long side viewed from the street they appear equidistant because of the perspectival view, while in reality their intercolumniation is progressively greater as they get further away from the street. The short side is designed using the same device starting from the shared edge. The loggia is overlaid with slender metal frames, with a 6cm side square section, aligned on the plane that protrudes relative to the edge of the loggia and coplanar with the slabs of the balconies above. The frame modules are uniform, with three measurements similar to one another on the two sides, and they coincide with the pillars of the parapets. This modulation is therefore inconsistent with respect to the incremental rhythm of the decorative pilasters of the loggia, the differences of which can thus be measured against it with an attentive eye. The metal frames envelop the turret with a solution of continuity on each side, so that the volume can be read alternatively as a unit or as a single partition of it. Similar solutions of continuity also characterize the design of the frames on the third floor set back from the street. An ideal continuity can be mentally reconstructed by projecting the lines in the intervals between the trellises placed on the façades and the altanella positioned on the corner. By changing the point of view, or when you are on the top-floor terraces enveloped by frames, you have the impression of being inside a very transparent interior or outside but in a sheltered setting – in any case, in the open air. Each unit’s terraces or balconies are partly covered, so you can dine outdoors.
The façade’s finish is in white plasterwork. The windows are in white-painted wood, with light gray aluminum roller shutters. The metal frames are in white-painted galvanized steel, as well as the railings’ slender steel profiles. The flooring of loggias and terraces is in light gray gres. The external arrangement on the ground floor has paths paved with gray gres tiles and includes lawn areas with plantings. The design of the greenery did not involve the built sections, as it is believed that the beauty of a building is that every inhabitant can determine the choice and care of their plants. It is also believed that the design of a building is and should in any case be ensured by the planivolumetric and architectural elements and not so much by the greenery, which should instead be free, like the inhabitants, to use the spaces as they wish.
Casa Tersicore carries on the research of modern Milanese buildings, including those on Via Fatebenefratelli by Guglielmo Mozzoni, on Via Lanzone by the Latis brothers, or on the corner of Via Anelli and Via Crivelli by Giancarlo Malchiodi, among others.
