Edificio in via Leopardi

The sharp distinction between the substantial base level and the upper floors is one of the defining features of the building on Via Leopardi. This separation responds not only to the functional choice of allocating the lower part to offices and the upper part to apartments, but also to expressive aims: through the use of materials and the composition of volumes, the design achieves an intervention of evident and sculptural expressiveness. The two bodies occupying the first three floors, dedicated to offices, are clad in white marble with aluminum frames and metal panels, forming full-height vertical window bands. In the upper floors, by contrast, voids prevail over solids, with large projecting terraces, wide wooden-framed windows, and exposed brickwork. This creates a progressively lightened volumetric composition, visually and structurally unified by the paired pillar that traces the entire height of the street façade—a kind of modern giant order that also contains the rainwater downpipe.

The entrance is concealed within the gap cut between the two base volumes, whose corners, with their customary full-height windows, produce the carved-out corner so characteristic of much of Magistretti’s work. On the ground floor, the simple structural grid left open at the corner softens the edge leading to the entrance. On the upper part of the street façade, consistent with a compositional approach that highlights different functions through subtle yet clear material differences, the entire elevation is rendered in exposed brick. The interplay of projecting balconies—set back progressively as they rise—and the usual hollowed-out corners with windows creates an effective and skillful play of masses, not without certain echoes of contemporary Dutch architecture. The courtyard façade presents quite a different character, defined by regular, compact surfaces. The only elements that diverge from the building’s general stereometry are the small semicircular balconies, stepping back as they rise, and the cylindrical stair tower, which introduce a sculptural variation despite the consistent use of brick facing.

The floor plans are highly articulated, due to the need to accommodate apartments of different sizes, all characterized by generous dimensions typical of an affluent, high-value residential district. The T-shaped plan features, on the upper levels, pairs of apartments in each wing served by a staircase, while in the taller central portion, six apartments per floor are distributed and served by two stair cores.

Federico Ferrari