Nuovo Attico | Lorenzo Guzzini

Sala Comacina is a town that overlooks Lake Como, branch of Como, western shore, oriented to the South-East. Like most of the towns of Lake Como, the structure that makes up the elements of the human settlement and the surrounding landscape has developed considering the geomorphological conformations of the land, the solar radiation and the ease of construction of the infrastructures serving the anthropic conquest of the landscape. The result is a very evident settlement pattern, which starts from the lake with a great urban density that thins out towards the mountain and the woods above.The building of the intervention rises between these two bands, borders to the north-east with a higher adhering building, and is the last building of the built part of the country towards the south-west, where it overlooks an area of planted lawn. It is a building built in the 90s with no particular architectural-typological features, which denies the relationship on the top floor with the lake in front. A building built in a sensitive landscape context should interpret the place and be in tune with it. By harmony we mean on the one hand respect for the typological characteristics of the place, on the other hand the fact that the morphology of the building must have a reason for being given by what the place can offer to living. The view, the solar radiation, the natural ventilation and what else the context itself can offer should be the guide to the formal and typological choices of the building.

The composition and spatial organization of the attic totally disregarded the place in which it was inserted, as the functions that faced the lake, to the south-east, were service functions, while they were left upstream, to the north- west, the main functions and the most generous spaces. It was proposed to give back to the space a direct relationship with the outside, moving back the pitch of the roof towards the mountain, opening towards the lake and creating a terrace, in length on the front. In addition, a north-west entrance was created to make this space independent from the house below. The existing skylights were eliminated, regularizing them with a glass line, towards the north-west, to intercept the afternoon light and guarantee natural cross ventilation. Furthermore, the load-bearing system of the roof was structurally turned 90 °, as much as the retraction line of the facade that was glazed, has no load-bearing element under it. A central beam was therefore cantilevered to the single partition of the house that unloads the force up to the foundations, anchoring the entire load-bearing laminated wood roof that distributes the load to the head walls of the building. The materials chosen are all natural materials and the absence of artificial colors plays with the powerful daylight, softening it and offering a unique atmosphere that dialogues with the surrounding landscape.

Credits:

Progetto Architettonico e Direzione Lavori: Architetto Lorenzo Guzzini

Progetto Strutture e Direzione Strutture: Ingegnere Claudio Sosio de Rosa

Cliente: Privato

Impresa Costruttrice: Curti SRL

Anno di costruzione: 2020-2021

Fotografie: Lorenzo Guzzini

Disegni e grafica: Architetto Leonardo Botti