Casa La Scala, Modernist villa in San Felice del Benaco, Italy

Casa La Scala is a villa built from 1956 to 1958 on a natural terrace above Lake Garda, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. Its main structure consists of two trapezoidal reinforced-concrete slabs, one as the base and one as the flat roof. The base is not set on the ground but cantilevered over the promontory by a central concrete beam on steel pillars, projecting more than half its surface over the lake. Below the overhang are the artist's studio, a veranda and a terrace.

Architect Vittoriano Viganò designed this lakeside residence between 1956 and 1958 for André Bloc, founder of the influential architecture journal L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui. The project reflected modernist ideals of the post-war period.

The villa connects interior spaces with the surrounding Lake Garda landscape through extensive glass walls and open design. This approach to living shapes how the house appears and functions today.

The house is accessible from the north via a staircase or from the east through a garden path, with multiple levels to explore. A notable concrete staircase with steel steps descends from the building to the lake and a small boat dock.

The long staircase linking the villa to the lake winds around a large concrete beam about 40 metres high, into which one hundred steps of steel plate are set, with a matching steel parapet. It ends at a small jetty used for mooring small boats.