Villa La Gallietta on Lake Como: an example of best practice in the design, restoration, management and development of cultural heritage.

This text concerns the presentation of a case study on the restoration, functional conversion and renovation of a privately-owned cultural asset in order to restore to the community a historical and architectural asset in an advanced state of disrepair. The property, a neoclassical villa on Lake Como, already subject to restrictions imposed by ministerial decree, underwent a careful architectural renovation, including the restoration of the decorative and ornamental structures (some of which emerged after recent repainting work or had been hidden by false ceilings), the major reinforcement of some parts of the structures, the replacement of elements that had collapsed, and static restoration. The works and the decisions made regarding the renovation of the material elements (mix and pigmentation of the plasters for the facades, decorative mouldings and friezes, colouring, colour choices etc.) were carried out under the supervision of the Architectural Heritage and Landscape Authority of Lombardy. The restoration work also uncovered a number of archaeological finds (whose discovery was carried out under the direction of the Archaeological Authority of Lombardy), which, through appropriate forms of conservation and viewing (transparent floors in structural crystal and adequate lighting ) have remained visible. Similarly, through historical research and studying the cadastral maps and the vicissitudes brought to the current configuration by layer upon layer of building events and the parcelling of land lots, it has been possible to enhance the gardens, open spaces and sculptural works (a Baroque fountain); one directly overlooks the lake, with a covered dock, and is part of the famous lakeside promenade past neoclassical villas (which winds between Pollack’s “La Rotonda” and Cantoni’s “Villa Olmo”, in what is today known as the “Kilometre of Knowledge”), and the other overlooks the historic route of the municipal road that leads into Switzerland. The technological choices and the different layout of internal spaces to take account of the new functionalities requested by the client, which — while respecting the original structures, materials and construction systems, duly preserved and enhanced — involve the “contamination” of the historic building with contemporary construction technology and technological devices (including an “invisible” lift in an opening created from the elliptical, helical staircase, the construction of a heated swimming pool in the lakeside garden, the adoption of thermal solar panels integrated into the thickness of the roof covering) is an extraordinary, text-book example of how an educated and enlightened client can knowledgeably manage a protected asset, in a way that is open to the public enjoyment of that asset, while safeguarding the rights that private ownership confers on the holder of the asset.