Torrione INA

The Torrione INA, or more simply Torrione, is a skyscraper in Brescia located in Piazza della Vittoria. Designed by Marcello Piacentini and completed in 1932, with its 57.25 m high it is the first skyscraper built in Italy and was also the tallest reinforced concrete skyscraper in Europe. From an architectural point of view Tower resumes the style of Chicago School skyscrapers. The entire building is covered with exposed brick, with the exception of the portico and basal part, covered in granite. In order to make Torrione fit harmoniously among Medieval domes and towers, a traditional material was chosen as cladding, the brick, which chromatically recalls the tiled roofs of the surrounding buildings. The main facade, facing the square, is characterized by the presence of 12 large arches and 12 terracotta bas-reliefs, made by the ceramist Vittorio Saltelli. At the top of the tower was an ingenious electric mechanism that allowed to illuminate Piazza della Vittoria from above, avoiding the use of street lamps. The construction of Torrione, conceived by Marcello Piacentini as the archetype of the Italian skyscraper, had a large impact on the printing of the period and was used as a model for subsequent skyscrapers.