Villa Bernasconi

Villa Bernasconi is a typical example of an isolated villa with an Art Nouveau tower. Located in Cernobbio, it was commissioned by the textile entrepreneur Davide Bernasconi to the Milan architect Alfredo Campanini.
Cavalier Bernasconi founded his industry in 1876, later known as Tessiture Bernasconi. Initially it was a small weaving mill with 40 looms. In 1906 the looms had become 560 and other factories had been opened or purchased in Cantello, Solbiate, Maccio, Giussano, Cagno, Figliaro. A large area in the town center was occupied by the expansion of the Cernobbio plant and the whole was gradually configured as a typical industrial citadel. In addition to the factories, houses were built for workers, employees, the manor house and the kindergarten. Cavalier Bernasconi decided to leave the old manor house to his son (located near the weaving mill and now the seat of the municipal offices) and build a new home. The residence had to represent the success achieved, the fashion of the times and the climate of widespread optimism and well-being. Located near the city center, the villa was built on a plot of land on the edge of the silk factories owned by the family. In the same period the Universal Exposition was being prepared in Milan to celebrate the opening of the Simplon Tunnel. The villa was completed in 1906. After several decades of different uses from the family home (it was also the headquarters of the Guardia di Finanza), the villa was purchased in 1989 by the Municipality of Cernobbio which, on several occasions starting from 1995, has recovered and restored.
Villa Bernasconi is spread over two floors, with a free plan, with a basement and a turret. Access occurs through two different paths. The main one, on the east side, through a staircase leads to a veranda with a metal frame and polychrome decorations. From this veranda you enter a central square room or the staircase. The second entrance, on the south side, leads to a curved loggia / balcony and from here to the reception room. The main element of the composition is the compartment of the central staircase which becomes a panoramic tower, continuing in height beyond the upper floor. The dynamic articulation of the volumes of different heights is characterized by the decorations around the openings, connected by two friezes: the first, lower, made of bricks; the second, higher, of polychrome ceramic tiles.
Each decorative element has been designed by Campanini in the smallest details, harmoniously integrating materials and shapes, coordinating the work of high-level craftsmen. The façade is embellished with decorative cements in hammered and engraved cement plaster, to simulate a masonry in large blocks. Each architectural element is embellished with real sculptures, representing figures - worms, flowers and butterflies - of the life cycle of the silkworm, magnified in size and hypertrophic in their development. Another decorative element are the friezes in ceramic tiles, different from each other, with stylized flowers and plant elements, in strong color contrasts. The silkworm butterflies are represented in the upper section, while under the eaves there are tile inserts with a blue background and white petals, perhaps inspired by magnolia. Lower down run smaller bands of simple tiles with leaves. In the crowning of the openings, other inserts still on a blue background with white flowers with pointed petals (perhaps lilies).
The wrought irons are the result of the collaboration between Campanini and Alessandro Mazzucotelli, supported on the basis of stylistic research and some preparatory drawings found in the architect's home. The irons of Villa Bernasconi are many: the gate, the parapets of the stairs and balconies, some windows. There is a great variety of themes: large and fleshy leaves, graphic elements of Viennese echo in the parapets of the secondary stairs, roses and iron wires in the structure of the main staircase.
The interior is also dominated by architectural elements typical of the Liberty style. The large room of the main staircase leading to the second floor is characterized by a three-door window that transmits light and color. The figurative part of the design is a set of small pieces of colored glass held together by a metal binding. The painted wall decorations are inspired by the naturalist repertoire. The fixed wooden furnishings, the carefully shaped doors and windows, the finely designed handles (different for the representative and service rooms) express a strong design and executive coherence, which harmoniously blends structure and decoration. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the original furnishings, with the exception of a marble column with a vase and palm tree (now present in the veranda of the main entrance).

A large tribute to this modernist villa is offered by Andrea Speziali in the monograph “Italian Liberty. The European dream of great beauty ”, Cartacanta, Forlì 2016.