"Ensemble Casa Durisch: Residential and Studio House by Giancarlo Durisch, 1972–74"

Freedom in a triangle

Few houses change our understanding of life and living. Giancarlo Durisch's residential house and studio in Lugano-Riva San Vitale belong to them. The access through a high rubble stone wall reveals a cloister-like green zone. Two building bodies, both on a triangular floor plan. You enter and sense how much freedom lies in this severity. Space unfolds, relationships become visible, the gaze glides. The order carries. Architecturally, this work is devoid of any indecision, without the smallest blink of compromise. Primordial experience of geometry.

Durisch is one of the most important and at the same time most underrated minds in the environment of the Tessiner Tendenza. This movement brought back history and place into design since the 1960s: The grown city, its buildings, and spaces became the starting point for new architecture. Durisch also questioned the fine arts in his task of creating spaces for people from abstract forms.

For his five-member family and his employees, he built a place to live and work here. Today, this connection can be further thought out: Two houses that enable independence and proximity. A place that can be programmed as a retreat and meeting point. The invitation stands: to give shape to one's own everyday life, one's own personality.

Here, in the midst of the Nucleo of Riva San Vitale, right next to the parish church and the octagonal baptistery, the oldest fully preserved Christian building in Switzerland. Here, Durisch's radical geometry has neighbors with a long history.

For sale: Ensemble Casa Durisch, Riva San Vitale

Giancarlo Durisch's residential house and studio in Riva San Vitale, 1972–74, are for sale. Two building bodies made of exposed concrete, connected by a covered outdoor walkway. 363 m² of living space on a plot of 844 m², with the original furniture designed by the architect.

In the center of Riva San Vitale, a few steps from Lago Ceresio and a few minutes from the Accademia di architettura in Mendrisio, lies the residential and studio house that Giancarlo Durisch designed for himself. Two mirror-symmetrical building bodies – the residential house and studio are connected via a central area. The complex is based on a rhomboid floor plan and is organized around an inner courtyard and garden.

Rooms

The living area is a total of 363 m², divided into two building bodies with 181.5 m² each. Both are organized over three floors and have their own internal staircase made of exposed concrete. The connection between the two building bodies is via a covered outdoor walkway.

Residential building body, 181.5 m²: Ground floor with inner courtyard, entrance, dining area, and secondary rooms such as wardrobe, kitchen, and storage room. An internal staircase leads to the two upper floors.

Studio building body, 181.5 m²: Ground floor with inner courtyard, entrance, meeting room, and secondary rooms such as wardrobe, workshop, storage room, and central unit. A separate internal staircase leads to the two upper floors.

Outdoor spaces, 686 m²: The property includes an inner courtyard and a garden. The inner courtyard forms the spatial center of the complex and connects the two building bodies.

The architect, Giancarlo Durisch (1935–2013)

Giancarlo Durisch studied architecture at the ETH Zurich and opened his own office in Lugano in 1964. In 1974, he moved with his office and family to Riva San Vitale. He taught at the Scuola Tecnica Superiore di Lugano-Trevano and was a guest professor at the ETH Zurich from 1977 to 1978. In 1978, he became a member of the BSA and was also a member of the SIA. Durisch is attributed to the Tessiner Tendenza, which developed in the 1960s and 1970s.

The location, Riva San Vitale, Mendrisiotto

Riva San Vitale is located on the southern shore of Lago Ceresio between Mendrisio and Capolago. In the town center are the early Christian baptistery and the Church of Santa Croce. In Mendrisio is the Accademia di architettura of the Università della Svizzera italiana.

In the town center: parking, post bus stop, and bank 100 m, post office 200 m, beach, and lake park 200 m, train station 800 m.

Regionally: Mendrisio approx. 6 km (10 minutes by car), Lugano approx. 15 km (20 minutes), Como approx. 25 km (30 minutes), Milan Malpensa airport approx. 60 km (55 minutes), Zurich main station approx. 3 hours by train.