Casa Tersicore in Milan / Degli Esposti Architetti

© Maurizio Montagna

Completed in 2018 by Italian Architects Degli Esposti Architetti, Casa Tersicore was built in Milan’s urban ring road traced by Cesare Beruto in the late 19^th century. The “L” shaped building is characterized by metal frames surrounding the structure to create playful visual trompe-l’oeil and different atmospheres.

Casa Tersicore Technical Information

• Architects^1-4: Degli Esposti Architetti
• Location: Via Sala 12, Milan, Italy
• Topics: Apartments, White Architecture
• Area: 4,900 m² (52,000 Sq. Ft.)
• Dimensions: 55 m x 24 meter (Lenght x Height)
• Project Year: 2015 – 2018
• Photographs: © Maurizio Montagna

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.

– Degli Esposti Architetti

Casa Tersicore Photographs

© Maurizio Montagna

© Maurizio Montagna

© Maurizio Montagna

© Maurizio Montagna

Text by the Architects

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 Via Sala, aligned with the buildings located to the west, and advances depth-wise into the project lot, in the shape of an “L.” On the street, the building’s body is four stories high, which bends around the corner, and then rises seven stories high in a type of turret, which is a small tower, typical in Milan. 

The ground floor of the building, which houses common areas, is set slightly back from the loggia edge on the first and second floors. This loggia runs along both the street front and on the side orthogonal to it towards the lot’s interior. The decorative suspended pilasters (lesene) of the loggia, 15cm thick and variable in width, are designed in a slowed perspective (prospettiva rallentata) to view the long side viewed from the street; they appear equidistant because of the perspectival view. In reality, their intercolumniation is progressively greater as they get further away from the street. 

The loggia is overlaid with slender metal frames, with a 6 cm side square section, aligned on the plane that protrudes relative to the edge of the loggia and coplanar with the balconies’ slabs 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. Therefore, this modulation is 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 frames’ design 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 that 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 ground floor’s external arrangement has paths paved with gray gres tiles and includes lawn areas with plantings. The greenery design 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, on the corner of Via Anelli and Via Crivelli by Giancarlo Malchiodi, on 26 viale Beatrice d’Este by Carlo Perogalli and Attilio Mariani, among others.

Casa Tersicore Plans

Floor Plan

Elevation

Casa Tersicore Image Gallery

About Degli Esposti Architetti⁵

Degli Esposti Architetti is a leading partnership practicing architecture, urbanism, and infrastructure design, founded in 2006 by Lorenzo Degli Esposti and Paolo Lazza, based in Milan. Degli Esposti Architetti’s refined approach to design is the outcome of continuous research and practice, from early works in collaboration with the XX Century architecture’s primary figures to the current projects. Degli Esposti Architetti’s project is on the palazzo in urban and metropolitan contexts (for dwellings, offices, mixed-use), thanks to both a broad practical experience (several built works and commissions) and fundamental studies on historical precedents and contemporary examples, in Milan and other world cities.
Works from Degli Esposti Architetti

1. Architect: Degli Esposti Architetti: Arch. Lorenzo Degli Esposti, Milan; registered architect, Milan n. 13949: Arch. Paolo Lazza, Milan; registered architect, Milan n. 11126: Arch. Stefano Antonelli, Milan (First project version, 2013-14); registered architect, Milan n. 12852
2. Supervision of construction: Arch. Lorenzo Degli Esposti, Arch. Paolo Lazza, Arch. Francesca Grassi
3. General contractors: Impresa Gregori e Lochis, Bergamo
4. Developer: Immobiliare La Sorgente (Gruppo Gafforelli)
5. Source: dearchitetti.it

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