House description
It is a particularly interesting building due to its value as a complex and articulated historical document, which has survived almost unchanged to the present day and to date has been little studied and known, as have many other private civil buildings.
It represents a cross-section of the history of a bourgeois family from the Malcantone region and preserves a collection of original documents (furniture, paintings, archive documents, architectural solutions and wall paintings), which must be valued and preserved as a whole.
Casa Avanzini is located in the municipality of Curio, a village in the mid-Malcantone region situated at an altitude of 560 metres above sea level, 8 kilometres west of Lugano in the hilly pre-alpine area. At one time, the village had an economy based essentially on agriculture, but today it is mainly used for residential purposes, thanks both to its particular features as a dominant village with a beautiful panoramic view, and to the total integrity of the surrounding natural landscape rich in deciduous woods.
The building fits into the old village centre near the Fountain Square and overlooks the old carriage road that runs from west to east through the entire village.
The ancient stately home complex of Casa Avanzini covers the space to the south of this street and to the north of the parish church. The building is flanked by beautiful houses with architecture typical of the region, with loggias and lobbies facing the Malcantone valley floor, with a view of Lake Ceresio and Monte di Caslano.
The property has been owned by the municipality of Curio since 1974, when it was bequeathed to it by Pietro Adeodato Avanzini (1889-1973). It is registered in the land register under number 322 and occupies a total area of 966 square metres, of which 450 constitute the living area, 130 the courtyard and just under 400 square metres of garden.
Casa Avanzini retains the requirements of space, functional and architectural organisation, of a typical Ticino family from the rural bourgeoisie of the 19th century.
The building, which is very articulated and complex, comprises within its walls some fifty rooms spread over four floors and three wings, and can be summarised schematically as follows:
- 4 cellars in the basement under the south wing.
- 12 rooms on the ground floor: 3 living rooms in the main floor of the south wing, the same number in the west wing and 6 utilitarian rooms in the north wing (Table 5).
- 18 living rooms on the first floor: 3 living rooms and 2 lobbies in the south wing, 3 living rooms and 2 utility rooms in the west wing, 7 living rooms and 1 utility room in the north wing (Table 6).
- 13 rooms on the second floor: 1 lobbia and 4 utility rooms in the west wing, 8 living rooms in the north wing.
Casa Avanzini was donated to the municipality of Curio along with numerous other properties, with all the valuable furniture and furnishings in 19th-century style. Also now owned by the municipality are the important notarial deeds and all the family effects, including the numerous paintings from the family collection.
Casa Avanzini, is a protected heritage at municipal level. The interest in this building is to be found in the integrity of the historical document that has survived almost unaltered to the present day. It represents a cross-section of 19th-century history of a bourgeois family in our region that preserves a multitude of original documents that must be valued and preserved in their entirety.
The murals in the building must therefore be interpreted as a whole, consisting of the architecture of the building, the furniture in the style of the period, and the valuable archive documentation. Only by preserving all the components now present in this building will it be possible to pass on to future generations the possibility of interpreting the historical and cultural cross-section of a period linked to prominent figures in the Malcantone region.
In August 2000, architect Giovanni Buzzi was commissioned to carry out a planimetric survey of the building and develop a proposal for its reuse.
What resulted was a compromise between those who wanted to preserve the building and those who wanted to sell it to private companies. It therefore envisages the sale of the building for the construction of 6 flats on the first and second floors, while the ground floor would be managed by a foundation that would comprise, the 'Amici di Casa Avanzini' group the owner of the building, in collaboration with the Malcantone Museum, the Malcantone Tourist Board, the Malcantone region and the municipality of Curio.
This foundation should preserve the integrity of the heritage represented by Casa Avanzini in the rooms on the ground floor, with the aim of promoting tourist and cultural activities. In May 2003, a large part of the cultural assets from Casa Avanzini were evacuated. This intervention made it possible to catalogue and then deposit in more suitable premises the assets stored in the building in anticipation of the sale of the property.
Important documents were until 8 May 2003 kept in the library of the Avanzini house in Curio. Among the documents are over 100 volumes of about 1200 pages each with imbreviature (deeds) dating from 1416 to 1649, which are of great historical importance.
Other miscellaneous material has been collected in boxes with a general index of the contents, and is stored in the storage rooms of the Local Archive Service in Bellinzona pending its cataloguing and ordering.
(The entire diploma work at the author's or the Amici di Casa Avanzini association)