Velarca, the BBPR houseboat opens to the public

After extensive restoration work that began with preliminary studies during 2012 and 2013, the houseboat designed by BBPR (Gian Lugi Banfi, Lodovico Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti and Ernesto Nathan Rogers) is now open to the public and can be visited in Ossuccio, on the western shore of Lake Como. Commissioned in 1959 by the parents of Aldo and Maria Luisa Norsa, it was used for many years as a holiday home and was visited by the greatest personalities of the time, including Gio Ponti, Gillo Dorfles, Eugenio Montale, Lucio Fontana, Umberto Eco and the designers themselves. As with the Torre Velasca, the reinterpretation of the site, a central theme of the Milanese group's work, is immediately apparent in this project, shortly after the completion of the iconic tower. In fact, the houseboat is placed on the 19 metre long base of a gondola, Lario's historic workboat from the 1930s.

One of the most important features of the project is the spiral staircase, which connects the upper deck, used as a terrace, to the habitable interior, where the space is regulated by the symmetrical arrangement of the furniture and lit by tall, narrow windows with brass frames.  In 2011 the dwelling was donated to the FAI (Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano), which began a series of renovations necessary to adapt the project: the staircase itself was completely restored, the panels that make up the side walls of the volume were replaced because they were no longer salvageable, as was the deck of the outer deck, while respecting the original aesthetics.