Architecture

Hotel Metropole-Suisse Façade

First commission, first contradiction: Giuseppe Terragni was publicly attacking academic architecture with Gruppo 7 while cautiously preserving some of its vocabulary on the façade in front of you.

Address: Piazza Cavour 19, Como
Area: Como, Italy

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Why it is worth the detour

Giuseppe Terragni’s first professional commission was a cautious remodeling of an older hotel façade, begun around the time he graduated. While publicly challenging academic architecture with Gruppo 7, he was still quietly negotiating with its classical vocabulary here.

The Hotel Metropole-Suisse Façade in Como is a notable architectural landmark as it marks Giuseppe Terragni's first professional commission. It showcases a blend of classical and modern architectural styles.

The people behind this address

Documented connections, not celebrity trivia.

Giuseppe Terragni
Created here
Terragni redesigned the hotel’s ground- and first-floor façade in 1926–1927 as his first professional project.

What else is close by

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

100 m
Piazza Cavour and the Exhibition That Rose Twice
On July 8, 1899, smoke and flames tore through Como’s grand celebration of electricity. The cause was a short circuit—a grim irony followed by a remarkably fast comeback.
150 m
Monument to Alessandro Volta
One marble scientist, one brutally short inscription, and an entire square loses its old name. Como pulled off a remarkably efficient civic rebrand.
150 m
Albergo Terminus
Look from the lake to the Art Nouveau façade: in 1902, Como’s working waterfront was dressing for a new role. The twist? Albergo Terminus was not only a hotel—it also provided bathing facilities for the hotel next door.
200 m
Casa Bazzi
You arrive at number 3 looking for one old house. Slight problem: Casa Bazzi is three houses sharing a single address—and about five centuries of building history.
200 m
Former Albergo Posta
Terragni submits a design for a small hotel. The municipal authorities reject it. Then they reject another—and another. Six variants later, this compact building has become architecture’s answer to a painfully long email thread.
200 m
Roman Theatre Remains at Via Vitani 13
Number 13 looks like an ordinary Como address. Then, in 1990, excavations inside uncovered seven radial walls pointing to a much bigger story: a vanished Roman theatre.