Sports architecture · 1934 · Milan

Roberto Cozzi Indoor Swimming Pool

The Roberto Cozzi pool on Via Tunisia in Milan, inaugurated on 3 May 1934, was the first fully indoor swimming pool built in Italy. Designed by the engineer and architect Luigi Lorenzo Secchi, it is named after the Milanese soldier and gold medal for military valour Roberto Cozzi. Today it serves as a federal centre of the Italian Swimming Federation.

At a glance

Type: Covered municipal swimming pool
Period: Inaugurated 3 May 1934
Style: 1930s rationalist sports architecture
Location: Via Tunisia, Milan, Italy

Overview

The Roberto Cozzi indoor pool was Italy's first entirely covered swimming facility, opening in 1934. It was conceived by Luigi Lorenzo Secchi, who had shortly before completed the open-air Piscina Romano in the same city. The pool is dedicated to Roberto Cozzi, a Milanese officer who received the gold medal for military valour.

History

The complex was inaugurated on 3 May 1934, in a period when Milan was investing heavily in modern public sports facilities. Secchi, an engineer and architect active across much of the twentieth century, drew on his experience with the earlier open-air Piscina Romano. The building gave the city a year-round venue for competitive and recreational swimming, then a novelty in Italy.

What you see

The structure is a covered hall organised around its main pool, built in the sober, functional language of 1930s sports architecture. Its enclosed design allowed swimming throughout the year regardless of weather. The facility remains in active use and has been adapted over time to serve as a training and competition centre.

Cultural significance

As the first fully indoor pool in Italy, the Cozzi marks a milestone in the country's sporting and architectural history. It reflects the ambitions of interwar Milan and the career of Luigi Lorenzo Secchi. Today it operates as a federal centre of the Italian Swimming Federation.

Practical information

Address: Via Tunisia, Milan, Italy. The pool is a working municipal sports facility. Check the official website for opening hours, lane availability and access conditions.

Getting there

The pool lies in central Milan, well served by the city's metro, tram and bus network. The Porta Venezia and Repubblica districts are within easy reach on foot or by public transport.

Sources & resources

Find it on the map

Google Maps See the location on a full map → Street View Walk around the place virtually → OpenStreetMap Free community cartography →

Historical events at this place (1)

2021 ToiletPaper – Be Water

The Roberto Cozzi indoor swimming pool is an indoor sports facility located in Milan, in via Tunisia, inaugurated on May 3, 1934.



The first fully covered swimming pool in Italy, it is the work of the engineer and architect Luigi Lorenzo Secchi (1899-1992) who had built a few years earlier the uncovered system of the Roman swimming pool.



The pool is named after the Milanese military gold medalist Roberto Cozzi (1893-1918).



Today the structure is the federal center of the Italian Swimming Federation.




History

The construction of the Cozzi indoor pool was promised in July 1929 by the then Podest&agrave; of Milan Giuseppe De Capitani d&#39;Arzago during the inauguration ceremony of the Romano outdoor pool.



At the behest of the mayor Marcello Visconti di Modrone, who succeeded Capitani, the first projects of the new structure that would become the largest indoor swimming pool in Europe of those times date back to that same 1929, surpassing the swimming pools in the breadth of the halls and pools. Hallenschwimmbad of Berlin-Mitte in Germany and Margaret Island of Budapest in Hungary.



The design and direction of the works were entrusted to the architect Luigi Secchi, then Head of the Special Section of Buildings and Sports Facilities of the Technical Office of the Municipality of Milan.



Secchi was particularly active in those years: in 1933 he was engaged in the direction of important public works in Milan including the covered local market in viale Monza, the sports fields in via Pascal and via Fedro, the municipal swimming pool in via Cambini and the public schools in piazza Leonardo da Vinci and via Monte Velino.



Cozzi&#39;s project was the most rewarding and demanding work that Secchi defined as the result of &quot;functional architecture&quot;.



The system was developed on a surface area of ??4,800 square meters on the side of the new avenue (then viale Regina Elena, today viale Tunisia) obtained from the demolition of the railway viaduct that connected the old Central Station to the Acquabella junction: the area was chosen because it was very central and placed within the direction of maximum development of the city.



The area was also served by the new Central Station, the Varesine electric trains and numerous tram lines, making the plant easily accessible from most of the city districts and tourists who gravitated to Milan.



Furthermore, since the area was relatively free from regulatory constraints, it was possible to obtain large parking lots adjacent to the swimming pool capable of accommodating 400 cars and to prepare large green areas around the plant.



Another advantage of the chosen location was the arrangement of the major axis from North to South, an orientation that favored insolation inside the plant for many hours during the day, giving the rooms &quot;a cheerful and festive note inside&quot;.



The excavation work began on 23 October 1933 and the plant was built in 194 days, of which only 63 were immune to rain and frost; the climatic conditions made the construction of the structure particularly complex for which it was necessary, due to the frost, to equip the site with hot water production and distribution systems to allow the concrete to be cast.



The inauguration of the facility took place on May 3, 1934, in conjunction with the Littoriali dello sport of that year, solemnly opened at the Arena and whose swimming competitions were held in the new swimming pool.

https://culturalheritageonline.com/places/roberto-cozzi-indoor-swimming-pool-l4337/

#CulturalHeritage #CHO