Architecture

Former Tintoria Subalpina

Silk out, hotel rooms in. This address once handled dyeing, printing and finishing; now much of it belongs to residences and the Hilton Lake Como—a serious career change.

Address: Via Borgo Vico 241, Como
Area: Como, Italy

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Why it is worth the detour

Silk was dyed, printed and finished at this Como factory until 1997. Most of the complex later gave way to residences and the Hilton Lake Como, while a former canteen, gatehouse and reconstructed frontage keep its industrial identity in view.

The Former Tintoria Subalpina is a hidden gem in Como where silk was once dyed and printed. Its industrial heritage is preserved through a former canteen, gatehouse, and reconstructed frontage.

What else is close by

The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.

250 m
Giovio Museum
On Lake Como’s shore, 484 painted faces once stared back at visitors: writers, rulers, statesmen and dignitaries gathered not for a banquet, but for Paolo Giovio’s remarkably early public archive of fame.
300 m
Villa Olmo
In 1927, the future set up shop around Villa Olmo. Temporary pavilions presented hydroelectric power, telephony, telegraphy, and silk, turning an aristocratic summer retreat into Como’s showcase for what came after Volta.
500 m
Bruno Pessina Workers’ Houses and Factory Chimney
The chimney gives the game away. This stretch of Borgo Vico now blends into the city, but the brick survivor above you belonged to a silk works that employed as many as 160 people in the 1930s.
650 m
Casa Giuliani-Frigerio
Drawings and detailed instructions are being sent from military training to Como. Giuseppe Terragni is serving in the Italian army, yet the building in front of you is still taking shape — architecture conducted at a distance.
700 m
Canottieri Lario Clubhouse
Antonietta Sinigaglia commemorated her champion-rower son Giuseppe not with a statue, but with a clubhouse built on Como’s reclaimed shore—reportedly in just seven months.
750 m
Como War Memorial
Lake Como usually gets the soft-focus treatment: water, mountains, palaces. Then, on Via Giancarlo Puecher, a war memorial interrupts the postcard and changes the mood.