Postal office

1992-1995
Locarno, TI

The new post office of Locarno is located at the entrance to the Piazza Grande, a building with a public character, provided with two similar façades, one towards the Piazza Grande and one towards the lake. The building appears as an abstract, non-oriented and compact volume of glass and granite, that does reveal neither its practical function nor the internal divisions. 
The horizontal stratification of stone bands and glass provides volumetric ambiguity. The reflecting surfaces are used as glazed panels to fill openings and as facing material for the structure. Weight and lightness at once.

On the lake side, the pilasters stop without touching the ground and the portico has been placed on three massive concrete blocks, staggered with respect to the structural pattern of the building above.
The building has four levels, free of structural elements, connected only by the four vertical access blocks and by a vertical space that provides light from above.
Basic dimensions: 42×38m.
Total volume: 27’132m³.
Progetto: 1988.