{{Infobox building , name = Casa della Vittoria , image = Palazzo della Vittoria - panoramio (3).jpg , image_size = 300px , completion_date = 1920 , building_type =

Apartments An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

, architectural_style= Medieval Revival , location = Corso Francia, 23

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, coordinates = {{coord, 45, 04, 33, N, 7, 39, 41, E, display=it , architect = Gottardo Gussoni The Casa della Vittoria (also known as the Casa del Carrera or Casa dei Draghi or the Palazzo della Vittoria) is a building northwest of the city center of

, considered one of the most interesting examples of residential architecture in a

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

-revival style in the Piedmontese capital. Located in the district Cit Turin, the Casa della Vittoria is at the center of an area of great architectural interest that contains a high density of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

and

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

buildings, including also the nearby church of San Donato.

Background

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the residential area of Cit Turin was the epicenter of an intense amount of building activity predominantly characterized by the Liberty Style (Italian Art Nouveau). Parallel to the naturalism of this style was the development of the Gothic Revival, which infiltrated the district by its use in several important buildings. In addition to the church of Gesù Nazareno, the examples of its presence in the neighborhood are the home of the cavalier Carrera di Magnano (Biella) and the Casa della Vittoria. Commissioned in 1918 by Giovanni Battista Carrera from the engineer Gottardo Gussoni to celebrate the Italian victory in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, it was completed in 1920, representing a sign of recovery of the post-war construction sector, a statement confirmed on the plaque placed on the facade. The building is located not far away on the Corso Francia from the famed houses known as the

Casa Fenoglio-Lafleur Casa Fenoglio-Lafleur (or Fenoglio-Lafleur house) is a historical building in the Liberty style located in Turin, Italy. It is situated in the ''San Donato'' borough, a central area with significant Stile Liberty buildings and New Gothic archite ...

and Villino Raby.

Description

The building as developed rises six stories from the street and fronts the Corso Francia, the major boulevard running through the neighborhood of Cit Turin. Its eclectic medievalist style is marked by the incursions of the French strain of Gothic Revival, which can be found in the structural details such as the portal and the entrance hall, the balustrades of the balconies and internal staircases and the pronounced angular oriel characterized by its mullioned windows and round three-light windows that culminate in a crenellated

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

. Of great importance is the complex decorative apparatus of the main façades characterized by the extensive use of elements in cement, allegorical and zoomorphic decorations, including the pair of large dragons flanking the large wooden entrance portal; it is precisely the presence of these decorative elements that, over the years, has earned it the name of "House of Dragons" ("Casa dei Draghi"). The decoration begins at the base of the main façades, simulating a stone ashlar with horizontal bands extending up to the main floor. At this level the windows are enriched by a frame which at the base bears coats of arms depicting allegorical figures that mark the façade, alternating with the pairs of dragons, symbolic representations of power and prestige that support the balustrades of the balconies on the upper floor. The remaining arched windows show simpler frames, while the two large central bay windows have round mullioned windows and also culminate with a terrace. The building has a beveled corner containing and a niche at the angle of the Corso Francia with the street intersecting it: the niche seems to have been conceived to house a statue which, however, has never been placed there.

In Popular Culture

The Casa della Vittoria has been featured in at least four films set in Turin. They include: * '' Profumo di donna'' (1974) (dir.

Dino Risi Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy, and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of ''commedia all'italiana''. Biography Risi was born in Milan. He had an ...

) * ''

Ti piace Hitchcock? ''Do You Like Hitchcock?'' (orig. ''Ti piace Hitchcock?'') is a 2005 made-for-TV horror film directed by Dario Argento. The film is a homage to the acclaimed thriller film director Alfred Hitchcock. Plot Giulio, a film student, spies on Sasha, a ...

'' (2004) (dir.

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. His influential work in the horror film, horror and giallo genres during the 1970s and 1980s has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the ...

) * '' La maschera etrusca'' (2007) (dir.

Ted Nicolaou Ted Nicolaou is an American film director, screenwriter and editor. His most famous directorial effort is the ''Subspecies (film series), Subspecies'' film series. Apart from his feature film projects, he also works in television. After gradua ...

) * ''

Il divo Il Divo (; ) are a multinational classical crossover vocal group. Formed in the United Kingdom in 2003, it is a male quartet that was created and then promoted by British media magnate Simon Cowell for Syco Music, a record label that he had ...

'' (2008) (dir.

Paolo Sorrentino Paolo Sorrentino (; ; born 31 May 1970) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and writer. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Italian cinema working today. He is known for visually striking and complex dramas and has of ...

)"La Casa dei Draghi," ''Turineisa''
/ref>

Transportation Access

The Casa della Vittoria can be reached from the M1 line (Fermi - Lingotto) of Metropolitana at the station Principi d'Acaja.

Bibliography

* Abrate, Mario. ''Torino, città viva: da capitale a metropoli, 1880-1980 : cento anni di vita cittadina, politica, economia, società, cultura''. vol. 1. Turin: Centro Studi Piemontesi, 1980. 317.

Notes