Novocomum

Giuseppe Terragni – Novocomum, Como Italy, 1928-1929

The Novocomum is a multi-storey apartment building in Como. Built from 1928 to 1929 on a design by Giuseppe Terragni, it represented one of the first examples of modern architecture in Italy.
It takes its name from the real estate company Novocomum of Olgiate Comasco, who created the work.
The building insists on a quadrangular lot, having the main side along viale Sinigaglia (in front of the homonymous stadium) and two short sides along via Vacchi and Vittorio Veneto.

It is built in the form of an "C" inverted along the road, and therefore delimits an internal courtyard, in which two further smaller buildings protrude. The supporting structure is made of reinforced concrete pillars.
The main entrance is located in the center of the main front, 63.50 meters long, and the configuration of the entire building is symmetrical; there are three staircases, one central at the entrance, and two in the corners, where their presence is highlighted by cylindrical bodies entirely in glass.

The Novocomum has five floors above ground, of which the land is partly used as offices, and the remaining apartments (two on the ground, eight on each floor from the first to the fourth). It is concluded by a flat roof used as a terrace.

What makes Novocomum so important is the external architectural aspect, made up of pure and simple volumes interpenetrated with each other, and highlighted by the different material and chromatic treatment; in addition to the angular staircases, entirely glazed, there was a contrast between the plaster of the facades, in hazelnut color, and that of the sectioned parts, in bright orange. This chromatic interplay was lost following a restoration of the immediate post-war period by Luigi Zuccoli, when all the external walls were covered with a mosaic of white tesserae. Currently the building is presented with the original colors.