Novocomum, Rationalist palace in Como, Italy

Novocomum is a five-storey apartment building on Viale Sinigaglia, opposite the Sinigaglia stadium and separated from it by the lake. Its plan forms an inverted C around an inner courtyard, with a 63.50-metre main front, a central entrance and three stair towers, two of them set in cylindrical glass corners. The reinforced-concrete frame carries eight flats per floor above ground level, and the flat roof serves as a terrace.

In 1927 the Novocomum real estate company of Olgiate Comasco commissioned the 23-year-old Giuseppe Terragni to build apartments on a lot facing the Sinigaglia stadium, separated from it by the lake. Fearing rejection of his avant-garde design, Terragni filed drawings showing neoclassical façades; when the scaffolding came down in 1929 a scandal broke, and a commission chaired by architect Portaluppi ruled the building did no harm to the setting. Giuseppe Pagano's enthusiastic 1930 review in La Casa Bella made it a symbol of Italian rationalism.

The structure represents a bold rejection of ornamental traditions that dominated Como's architecture, embodying the architect's belief that form should serve function. Its stark simplicity was revolutionary for the city and continues to draw people who appreciate clean, honest design.

The building occupies a quadrangular lot with its main 63.5-metre front on viale Sinigaglia, facing the stadium, and short sides on via Vacchi and via Vittorio Veneto. The entrance sits at the centre of the main front; the two glazed cylindrical stair towers mark the corners. It is a private residence, so visitors see only the exterior, best read from the street corners where the volumes overlap.

Terragni submitted drawings showing neoclassical façades to obtain the building permit, and the real avant-garde building was only revealed when the scaffolding came down in 1929, causing a scandal. A committee chaired by architect Portaluppi then ruled that it did not harm the decorum of the place.