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Como’s Rationalist Tower
With its 30-metre height and weight of 40 tonnes of concrete, Como’s Monumento ai Caduti is instantly visible and recognisable to anyone visiting the Larian city. This immense lighthouse-tower is a large World War I memorial, inaugurated in 1933 to commemorate Como’s victims of the conflict.
Its conception can be attributed to Futurist poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who proposed building a monument in Como based on a sketch for a power station made in 1914 by Antonio Sant'Elia, who died in the Great War. The project was entrusted to Attilio and Giuseppe Terragni, the latter also being the creator of another important rationalist building in Como, the Casa del Fascio.
Located on the lakefront, a short distance from the Tempio Voltiano and its gardens, the monument consists of a plinth with an imposing concrete tower covered with stones from the Karst, the scene of the conflict where so many citizens of Como lost their lives. The mighty structure is lightened by large windows and bears the inscribed names of Como’s 650 fallen citizens.
