Olivetti architecture, concentrated mainly around what may be considered the symbolic heart of Via Jervis, makes a bold “incursion” into Ivrea’s historic centre with the East Residential Complex —also known as Hotel La Serra — an intervention of striking architectural impact. Commissioned by Olivetti to serve both as a conference centre and hospitality facility, the complex was also designed to include a restaurant, bar, swimming pool, cinema, conference hall, exhibition spaces, and commercial premises, establishing itself as a new focal point for the city’s cultural life.
The site chosen was along Corso Botta, overlooking the Giusiana Gardens. In 1968, the ambitious project was entrusted to two architects who were then just over thirty years old, Iginio Cappai and Pietro Mainardis. It was completed in the early 1970s, despite delays caused by the discovery of numerous Roman archaeological remains, which were ultimately incorporated into the overall design.
Who were Cappai and Mainardis? Both from Venice, they trained (first as students and later as assistants to Franco Albini and Ignazio Gardella) within the cultural climate of the so-called “Venice School”, which championed bold urban interventions charged with a strong civic and social vision. The result is an avant-garde complex featuring extensive exposed concrete and striking color accents, endowed from first glance with a distinctive architectural identity.
The building’s unique shape recalls that of an enormous typewriter, with the projecting residential units arranged over four floors resembling its keys. The lower levels, almost entirely below ground, accommodate shared facilities including a cinema, swimming pool, and conference rooms; the intermediate levels contain pedestrian walkways; while the upper floors are devoted to hotel rooms and studio apartments.
Each residential unit, although compact in size, not only opens onto the outside but also invites an original way of experiencing space: thanks to a sliding metal roof section, it can literally be opened to the sky. Another distinctive feature of the complex is the combination of small windows with much larger glazed surfaces—true “light wells”, together with forms and details that subtly recall the construction of traditional Venetian sailing boats, familiar to both Cappai and Mainardis. Yet all these elements are integrated into the overall composition without compromising its visual coherence.
Finally, precisely because of its location in the historic centre of Ivrea, this architectural work stands as one of the city’s most significant attempts to establish a dialogue between its two identities: the ancient city, rooted in centuries of tradition, and the industrial city, defined by its strong international outlook.
