Eugenio Soncini

• Name — Eugenio • Born — 21 July 1906 • Birthplace — Milan, Italy • Died — 27 February 1993 • Place of death — Milan, Italy • Education — Politecnico di Milano • Significant Buildings — Breda Tower, Milan

Eugenio Soncini graduated in engineering from the then Regio Istituto Tecnico Superiore (now Politecnico di Milano) in 1929. His career and work may be divided into two distinct phases: before and after the Second World War.

As a recent graduate he was involved in significant collaborations, first with Emilio Lancia and later with Gio Ponti, who at that time collaborated with Lancia. The latter collaboration was so productive that Ponti decided to abandon Lancia and create a new studio with the young Soncini, as a fully-fledged partner: the Ponti-Fornaroli-Soncini Studio. From 1933 to 1947, Soncini worked actively with Ponti on the architectural design and construction of numerous buildings, among the most significant on the Milanese architectural scene at that time, such as the Palazzo Montecatini (1939) and the Clinica Columbus (1938-40). These are the years of his practical and professional growth and maturing, which prompted him towards his own design and creative autonomy. In 1940 he married Mariele Sessa and had three children.

An exuberant and strong-willed personality, towards the end of the war, Soncini began to find the partnership with Ponti restrictive. So, when in 1947 his brother Ermenegildo graduated in architecture, he took the opportunity to leave Ponti and open an independent studio, the Studio Eugenio and Ermenegildo Soncini in the Palazzina Sessa in via Ariosto 1 in Milano. After World War II, he followed his own interests, concentrating on the office and hospital building sectors. His architectural production mainly concerned the Milanese area, with a significant amount of office buildings, clinics and educational institutions. Among the most significant ones were the Torre Breda (originally known as Grattacielo di Milano), the La Madonnina and Capitanio Clinics, the office buildings of Michelin, Galbani and Milano Assicurazioni, the Torre Tirrena and the Palazzo La Serenissima/Campari. Besides working with his brother Ermenegildo, he collaborated with Luigi Mattioni, Pier Luigi Nervi and Giuseppe Pestalozza. Due to this long activity, he was described as an "exponent of Rationalism, in a version that was first classicist and then rigorously technological." The professional activity of Soncini and his studio concluded in 1973. He died in 1993. Its archive was donated by the heirs to CASVA (Centro Alti Studi sulle Arti Visive, Milan) in 2017, in order to preserve it and make it freely available to the public.

• Illustration — The Torre Tirrena in Piazza Liberty, Milan • Illustration — Palazzo La Serenissima in via Turati, Milan • Illustration — La Madonnina Clinic, in via Quadronno, Milan (as partner in Studio Ponti-Fornaroli-Soncini) 1932 Fabbrica Cioccolato Cima, in Via Legnone, Milan 1935 Albergo in Val Martello, Paradiso del Cevedale, Merano 1935 Casa Buffa, in Viale Regina Margherita, Milan 1935 Ville De Bartolomei, in Bratto, Val Presolana 1935 Primo Palazzo Montecatini, in Via Moscova, Milan 1935 Casa, in Via Ceradini, Milan 1935 Case Signorili, in Via G. Modena, Via Cicognare, Via De Togni, Milan 1935 Facoltà di matematica, Rome University 1936 Progetto per Villa Marzotto, a Valdagno, Vicenza 1936 Casa Laporte, in Via Brin, Milan 1936/37 Casa a Torre Rasini, in Corso Venezia, Milan 1937 Casa, in Via Goldoni, Milan 1938 Il Liviano, Padua University, sede del Rettorato 1939 Casa d'Italia, in Wien 1939 Palazzo Ferrania (now FIAT), in Corso Matteotti, Milan 1939 Palazzo Eiar (now RAI), in Corso Sempione, Milan 1939 Palazzo Donini, in Piazza S. Babila, Milan 1939 Progetto per il Palazzo Marzotto, Milan 1940 Clinica Columbus, in Via Buonarroti, Milan 1940 Palazzo per uffici Ledoga-Lepetit, in Via C. Tenca, Milan 1940 Palazzina Salvatelli, in Piazza delle Muse, Rome 1940 Casa, in Via Appiani, Milan 1940 Villa Marmont, Cervignano d’Adda 1940 Progetto per Casa INA, in Via Manin, Milan 1943 Progetto per lo Stabilimento Mondadori, Rho (Milan) 1944 Casa Garzanti, in Via della Spiga, Milano (progettato come Studi Tecnici di Architettura Riuniti: Ponti, Bosisio, Gho, Soncini) 1945 Palazzo e Albergo delle Ferrovie Nord, Milan (as partner in Studio Eugenio ed Ermenegildo Soncini) 1946 Stadio con tribuna, Lomazzo 1946/47 Palazzo per uffici e magazzini di vendita Michelin, in Corso Sempione, Milan 1946/48 Palazzo del Marchese Casati Stampa di Soncino, in Via Torino, Milan 1946/48 Case signorili, Via De Amicis, Milan 1948/50 Palazzo della S.K.F., in Via Turati, Milan 1948/50 Sede della Società Condor, Rho (Milan) 1949 Hotel du Lac, on Lake Lugano, Porto Ceresio 1949/50 Casa di cura Capitanio, in Via Mercalli, Milan 1950/51 Raffineria di petrolio e prodotti chimici (for Condor), Pantenedo di Rho (Milan) 1952/54 Grattacielo di Milano (now known as Torre Breda), in Piazza della Repubblica, Milan (in collaboration with L. Mattioni) 1953/55 Palazzi per la Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà (RAS), in Via Turati, Milan 1954 Padiglione per la Breda, Sesto S. Giovanni (Milan) 1954/55 Opera Sociale Femminile, in Via Ippocrate, Milan 1954/55 Palazzo Galbani, in Via F. Filzi, Milano (in collaboration with G. Pestalozza e L. Nervi) 1954/55 Palazzetto, in Via Unione, Milan 1954/55 Ospedale di Circolo di Saronno, Varese 1955/56 Albergo Ambrosiano e Opera della Cardinal Ferrari, in Via S. Sofia, Milan 1956/59 Torre Tirrena, in Piazza Liberty, Milan 1956/64 Palazzo per l'Istituto Romano Beni Stabili (I.R.B.S.), in Via Meravigli, Milan 1957/58 Scuole elementari, Rovello Porro, Saronno (Varese) 1957/59 Casa di cura Madonnina, in Via Quadronno, Milan 1958 Hotel del Centro, in Via Broletto, Milan 1958/60 Chiesa, Chak Chumbra, Pakistan 1958/60 Chiesa, Caquetà, Columbia 1958/65 Sede della Compagnia di Assicurazioni di Milano, in Via del Lauro, Milan 1958/65 Ente Opere Sociali Don Bosco, a Sesto S. Giovanni (Milan) 1959 Fabbrica di aeroplani, in Argentina 1959 Design of Scuole convitto Istituto di Assistenza per Minorenni, for Ente Comunale Assistenza (ECA), Milan 1960/62 Casa di abitazione con negozi ed uffici, in Viale Gian Galeazzo, Milan 1960/63 Gruppi di fabbricati in Via Chiusa, Via Disciplini (for I.R.B.S.), Milan 1960/64 Clinica for prof. De Luca, Castelnuovo Daunia (Foggia) 1961/62 Palazzina Crosti, in Via Buonarroti, Milan 1961/63 Palazzo per uffici I.R.B.S., in Via Bordoni, Milan 1961/63 Sede della Società Malinverno, in Via Custodi, Milan 1963 Gruppi di fabbricati residenziali, in Via De Amicis, Milan 1963/64 Palazzo per uffici della Società Cagisa, in Piazza IV Novembre, Milan 1963/65 Serie di case di abitazione, in Via Correggio, Milan 1963/65 Casa di Cura Sant'Anna, Imperia 1963/66 Istituto S. Ambrogio, in Via Melchiorre Gioia, Milan 1965 Clinica privata, in Istanbul 1965 Casa, in Via Roentgen, Milan 1965/66 Serie di case, in Viale Bligny, Via S. Croce, Milan 1966/68 Palazzo per uffici La Serenissima/Campari, in Via Turati, Milan 1968/70 Serie di case, in Via Gian Galeazzo, Milan 1968/70 Due Palazzi ad uffici (for Lloyd International of Rome), in Corso Europa and Corsia dei Servi, Milan 1969/71 Hotel Principe & Savoia Residence, in Piazza della Repubblica, Milan 1970 Casa, in Corso Vercelli, Milan 1970/71 Seat of La Pace, Insurance Company, in Piazza Cavour, Milan 1970/72 Opera Pro Giovani Operai (Maria Belloni), in Viale Fulvio Testi, Milan 1970/73 Aerhotel, at Porta Garibaldi Railway Station, Milan 1972 Design of Convitto IDAM, for ECA, Milan 1973 Municipio of Rovello Porro, Saronno (Varese)