The Mysterious Building…

While walking through Turin and trying to explore different buildings in it, I was particularly astonished by this building that is set in corso Ferraris.

What attracted me the most to this building is its unusual structure and the number of orders it holds within its facade. Unfortunately, this building had no name tag on it and I tried to ask locals in this area about the name of this building but all I got was, ‘’Sorry I don’t know it’s just a building’’. for that I wasn’t able to obtain any information about the architect who designed it nor the history of it.

Now, if we were to look at this building and analyze the orders it hold we would be surprised by the number of orders we’ll find every time we focus our vision on a different angle.

Dana Madanat

By looking at the 2 main columns at the entrance we can see that they are unusual columns that are not supporting columns but rather serve the purpose of design in a unique way.

Each column is a long rectangle but is cut in a symmetrical way into smaller squares. On the front of each column there is a unique design of an unusual column that has a female figure with no arms or legs. Beneath this female figure there is a bow ornament that holds flowers arranged upside down under it. Furthermore, on top of the female figure’s head there is an ornament that is similar to the ornaments that the romans used, which were inspired by the lotus flowers.

Dana Madanat

By examining the other parts of the building we can see that there is a variety of orders. For example, by looking at the image on the left we can see that there are 2 types of columns one that is rectangular and the other that is a classical cylinder. However, they both serve the purpose of design rather than structural support for the whole building. Again the use of decorative ornaments on top of each column is obvious. Also, human figures are portrayed on top of the cylindrical columns on which the arches rest.

As mentioned before this building contains many decorative orders. On the top of this building there are 2 obvious narrow columns that are attached to the 2 top parts of the building. Overall, this building

Dana Madanat

contains many details and decorative unusual orders that attract the observers eye.

Dana Madanat