Accidental overloads
Introduction
The Torrione INA, or simply Torrione, sometimes called Torre della Vittoria, is a skyscraper in Brescia (Italy), located in Piazza della Vittoria&action=edit&redlink=1 "Piazza della Vittoria (Brescia) (not yet drafted)"). Designed by Marcello Piacentini and completed in 1932, at 57.25 m high it was the first skyscraper built in Italy.[2][3][4] It was also the tallest reinforced concrete building in Europe.[5][6][7][8] The building can be reached from the Vittoria station of the Brescia Metro.
History
In Italy, the skyscraper arose during the fascist century, following in the wake of the influence exerted by the Chicago school "Chicago School (architecture)"), where this architectural typology had its origin. On the subject of skyscrapers, contacts between European and American designers were very intense on the occasion of the competition for the Tribune Tower in Chicago in 1922, in which Adolf Loos, Walter Gropius, Adolf Meyer "Adolf Meyer (architect)") and Marcello Piacentini, among others, participated. Thus, a great interest in the tower typology and in the American architects who had developed it was awakened in the Italian architect, until he applied it in his projects in Italy, the first of which was the urban remodeling of the historic center of Brescia.
In 1928, the City Council of Brescia awarded architect Marcello Piacentini the commission to redesign the historic center of the city, with the aim of improving viability and resolving the long-standing issue of the area considered the most degraded in the city, the so-called quartiere delle Pescherie (literally, "fishmongers' quarter"). Developed over the centuries behind the main squares of Brescia (Piazza della Loggia) to the north, Piazza del Duomo&action=edit&redlink=1 "Piazza del Duomo (Brescia) (not yet drafted)") to the east and Piazza del Mercato&action=edit&redlink=1 "Piazza del Mercato (Brescia) (not yet drafted)") to the southwest), it was characterized by Its narrow and winding alleys bordered by tall buildings, mostly in poor condition. The hygienic and sanitary conditions of the area were considered the worst in the city and fascist culture compared the neighborhood to a tumor that had to be removed.[9].
Piacentini's project contemplated the almost total demolition of the Pescherie neighborhood and its replacement by a large square, called Piazza della Vittoria, which would be surrounded by elegant buildings that would reproduce, with modern forms, decorative elements typical of the Renaissance buildings of Brescia. To accentuate the modernity of his project, Piacentini decided to create an innovative building that would have no equal in Italy. Thus was born the first Italian skyscraper,[2] the Torrione ("tower"), named so by the will of its creator[10] and its builder,[9] to prevent it from being equated with American skyscrapers, placing it in its place as a continuator of the tradition of the great Italian medieval towers;[11] it was also defined in Italian as and . Its function was to house the headquarters of Assicurazioni INA, which is why it is currently also known as .