Atlas IBM Training Centre

In 1969-74 Morassutti Associati designed IBM’s new Training Centre in the park of the 18th-century Villa Besana at Novedrate. The complex develops on two parallel axes, following the natural lie of the ground. The approach by parts determined the development of the spaces: the basic module consisted of two cuboid residential units faced with Corten and the three related supporting towers in reinforced concrete, load-bearing elements and elevators. The training department was united on a single deck raised off the ground. Today it houses the Università e-Campus.
The project is inserted in the landscape by interpreting the idea of nature that enters the building, favouring sightlines from interior to exterior. The winner in 1975 of the CECM’s European Award for the best metal construction, it is an icon of steel architecture from the seventies.