Biblioteca dell’Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio

June 5, 2025 In Libraries

The library for the Academy of Architecture at the University of Italian Switzerland (USI) in Mendrisio was originally the Ospizio della Beata Vergine, a hospital for the poor run by a Capuchin community. Its construction and operation was made possible thanks to a generous bequest by Count Alfonso Maria Turconi, a statesman and philanthropist from Milano who had participated in establishing the constitution of the short-lived Helvetic Republic.

A modern library interior with tall bookshelves filled with books, sign decals reading "Storia" and "Architettura", and long study tables with chairs along large windows.
Mezzanines were installed in the former dormitories to take advantage of their high ceilings.
Two people are exiting through a door at the bottom of a split staircase in a bright, white interior with tall arched windows. An orange geometric art installation is painted on the ceiling above the stairs.
The anamorphic artwork inside the entrance stairwell is “Trois Triangles Oranges” by Felice Varini (2001).
A spacious, well-lit library study area with long rows of desks and chairs beneath large arched windows. The floor is dark and shiny, and there are exit signs on the ceiling. Shelves of books are visible at the far end.
Long work tables along the loggia windows take advantage of the generous daylight provided by the hygienist architecture of the hospital.
A neoclassical building with yellow walls and tall white columns features a large, colorful abstract sculpture displayed at the entrance. The sky above is partly cloudy.
“Le Grand Oiseau Amoureux” (1988-89) by Niki de Saint Phalle adorns the entrance portico.
A bright, vaulted hallway with arched doorways and a central hanging light fixture. A large architectural model is displayed on a table in the foreground. A door and wall plaques are visible in the background.
A model of the Accademia campus stands by the library entrance.

In his honour, the building is today known as Palazzo Turconi. It was designed by architect Luigi Fontana following the model of contemporary hospitals, such as the Ca’ Rezzonico in Lugano, which is now the main USI library. The generosity of the Turconi bequest however allowed for a scale and grandeur rarely seen in the alpine region. When it was completed in 1860, the Mendrisio hospice was the largest building in Ticino.

A modern library interior with long study tables, black chairs, tall bookshelves filled with books, large arched windows, and overhead directional signs in Italian indicating sections like "Filosofia", "Arte", and "Scienze".

In the 20th century, it became the Cantonal Hospital of the Mendrisiotto, before being taken over by the new Academy of Architecture upon its foundation by Mario Botta in 1996. The former hospital was converted into ateliers and classrooms, while the administration of the new institution took possession of the nearby Villa Argentina. This is also where the Accademia’s first library was located, but by 2003 its 50,000-strong collection was stretching the limits of the Villa Argentina. It subsequently moved into a wooden provisorium designed Mario Botta and Aurelio Galfetti originally as a lecture theatre and converted by Peter Disch for the library, which remained there for 17 years.

A library copy area with scanning and printing equipment, white walls, a black floor, and an arched ceiling featuring a classical mural. A circular light hangs from the ceiling. Natural light comes through a window at the back.
Scanners and copiers stand in former sacristy.
A library with tall bookshelves filled with books on both sides, a window at the end of the aisle, a long wooden desk beneath the window, and two black chairs facing outside.
Mario Botta’s Teatro dell’architettura (2018) is seen through one of the library windows.

In 2021, the entire upper floor of Palazzo Turconi was given over to the library, after an extensive transformation by Marc Collomb of Atelier Cube and studio SML. Generous, light-filled and superbly furnished, the new library spaces have become instant favourites among students, as well as the numerous visiting researchers and architects wishing to consult one of the most extensive architecture collections in Switzerland, now in excess of 280,000 volumes.

A long, bright library corridor with tall bookshelves on the left filled with color-coded books and documents, and a row of study desks with chairs along large arched windows on the right.
Long tables line the windows lighting the courtyard loggias that once connected the infirmary and operating theatres.
A modern library reference desk with computers and a clear divider, a person working at a table, high arched ceilings with artwork, and tall bookshelves visible through a doorway.
The chapel has been replaced by the altar of the modern library, the reference desk.
A ceiling fresco featuring several figures in flowing robes, surrounded by clouds and framed by ornate golden architectural details, with two fluorescent lights on either side of the hall below.
The ceiling of the former hospice chapel features a 1859 fresco by Antonio Rinaldi of Tremona: “L’Assunzione della Beata Vergine.”

This post is part of a series on adaptive reuse in libraries. See the list of such projects I am maintaining or view other posts in this series.

A symmetrical courtyard with a central statue and fountain, surrounded by neatly trimmed trees, leads to a yellow two-story building with arched windows, a clock, and a gabled roof under a partly cloudy sky.
The courtyard is adorned with a sculpture of benefactor Count Turconi by local sculptor Vincenzo Vela, who also supported the hospice financially.

The images shown here date from my visit in September 2022, with many thanks to library director Angela Windholz for her welcome. Vielen Dank e grazie.

References

798093 Biblioteca USI Mendrisio 1 apa 50 creator asc title 18146 https://thomasguignard.photo/wp-content/plugins/zotpress/
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Windholz, A. (2021). Da ospedale a biblioteca : la storia del legato Turconi. Mendrisio Academy Press.



Content note

Library detail pages are primarily a place for me to collect information I gather on the libraries I visit, and are frequently updated. None of this should be considered authoritative, I am not an architect, nor a historian. If you notice something incorrect, please let me know!



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