A career rooted at home
Terragni grew up in the Terragni Family Home and established his first architectural studio on its ground floor.
Architecture
Giuseppe Terragni
Giuseppe Terragni pioneered Italian Rationalism and designed major works of modern architecture in Como, including the Casa del Fascio.
Giuseppe Terragni was an Italian architect who worked primarily under Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime. A pioneer of the Italian modern movement known as Rationalism, he designed numerous buildings in Como, including apartment buildings, workers’ housing, a nursery school, funerary chapels and the Casa del Fascio.
Worth knowing
From Novocomum to Casa Giuliani-Frigerio
Terragni designed and built Novocomum in 1927–1929 as his first completed building. Casa Giuliani-Frigerio, designed in 1939–1940, was his final completed building.
A repeatedly revised hotel project
Terragni designed the former Albergo Posta between 1929 and 1935, revising the project several times.
A modern school for a workers’ quarter
Terragni designed the Sant'Elia Nursery School between 1935 and 1937 as a modern school for children in the surrounding workers’ quarter.
The Casa del Fascio
Terragni’s best-known work is the Casa del Fascio in Como, now known as Palazzo Terragni. Begun in 1932 and completed in 1936, it was built in accordance with the International Style and frescoed by the abstract artist Mario Radice.
Addresses you can still visit
Every place in this city with a documented tie to this person.
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Casa Giuliani-Frigerio
Terragni designed the apartment house in 1939–1940, his final completed building.
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Como Seaplane Hangar and Water Aerodrome
Terragni was among the enthusiasts who founded the Aero Club and also prepared an unrealized hangar proposal.
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Erba Incino War Memorial
Terragni designed and developed the Erba Incino memorial between 1926 and 1932.
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Former Albergo Posta
Terragni designed the former Albergo Posta between 1929 and 1935 after repeatedly revising the project.
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Former Cortesella Quarter
Terragni participated in Como’s modern planning work and developed proposals for reconstructing the Cortesella area.
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Hotel Metropole-Suisse Façade
Terragni redesigned the hotel’s ground- and first-floor façade in 1926–1927 as his first professional project.
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Novocomum
Terragni designed and built Novocomum in 1927–1929 as his first completed building.
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Ortelli Funerary Chapel
Terragni designed the Ortelli chapel with his engineer brother Attilio at the beginning of his decade-long study of funerary monuments.
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Palazzo Terragni (Casa del Fascio)
Giuseppe Terragni’s former Fascist Party headquarters is considered a masterpiece of Italian Modern Architecture. Its later occupants chart Italy’s political reversal: liberation parties first, then the Finance Police.
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Pirovano Funerary Chapel
Terragni designed the Pirovano family chapel and its sacred furnishings in 1930–1931.
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Sant'Elia Nursery School
Terragni designed the nursery between 1935 and 1937 as a modern school for children in the surrounding workers’ quarter.
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Stecchini Funerary Chapel
Terragni designed the chapel with his engineer brother Attilio around 1930–1931.
Lived here
Terragni Family Home and Studio
Terragni grew up in the family house and established his first architectural studio on its ground floor.
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Via Anzani Workers’ Housing
Terragni co-designed the surviving workers’ housing derived from the unrealized Rebbio satellite-town scheme.
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Villa for a Floriculturist
Terragni designed the villa for Amedeo Bianchi in 1936–1937.
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Vitrum Shopfront
Terragni designed the shop interior, display windows, exterior cladding and distinctive Vitrum sign in 1930.
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