San Carlino, Lake Lugano, Switzerland 1999-2003

Project: 1999
Construction: 1999
Dismantling: 2003
Promoters: University of Lugano; Academy of architecture of Mendrisio
Civil engineering: Aurelio Muttoni, Lugano
Construction management: Elio Ostinelli, Chiasso

The life-size wooden model of the cross section of the church San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane in Rome was built in 1999 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the birth of Francesco Borromini and to celebrate the exhibition at the Cantonal Museum of Art in Lugano. The model was placed on a square platform anchored a few meters from the shore. The wooden structure, nearly 33 meters high, was composed of 35’000 planks with a thickness of 4.5 cm, modularly mounted with a separation of 1 cm and held together with steel cables fixed to a steel frame. San Carlino graced Lugano lakeside until October 2003, when it was dismantled .