All the way from neglect to new life. The restoration of the ruined tower in the garden of Villa Carlotta on Lake Como

The masonry consists of rounded river stones of various sizes, cohesive by means of a lime-based mortar of good consistency that has largely withstood time. Some parts, reconstructed with squared stones and poor mortar in the restoration are demolished and rebuilt with material identical to the original. Some trompe l'oeil frescoes simulating ruins of stone and brick masonry are also found in the ruined tower; they too were recovered and stabilized

In the restoration overseen by architet Dario Banaudi, after the demolition of the unsafe part of the rear masonry, a reticular structure of steel girders fixed inside the perimeter masonry was then inserted to counteract its falling thrusts . This structure also supports a floor made of wood and glass planks, echoing the one that has now disappeared.
Having removed the topsoil and parts of wild vegetation all around the building and within it, the building finally returns to its original condition

The intended use for the restored tower is that, in addition to being a memory of itself and its function in the old garden, as a place for small botanical or art exhibitions, thus calling it to new life in consonance with the cultural and tourist use of the place. It was also necessary to protect the top of the masonry and the restored fresco, for which purpose the project provided a glass and steel roof held up by a few supports attached to the top of the walls, but detached from the apex, thus leaving perfectly legible the irregular course, in the very form of an ancient ruin, that has the crowning

In order to leave its interior space free and intact, the ascent to the floor of the slab is made externally, taking advantage of the presence of an opening in the form of a door at a higher elevation, with an iron staircase, also qualified through the material as an extraneous element, and therefore not mimetic or false, although necessary and complementary to the use of the tower.
The new doors are made of safety glass, without frames, and the windows are protected by interior glass panes, detached from the space, which let one see exactly the form of ruin that was intended in the original construction