Mario Asnago (1896-1981) & Claudio Vender (1904-1986) Biography
Mario Asnago (1896-1981) Claudio Vender (1904-1986) The perfect harmony and the lasting union between Asnago and Vender began in 1923, with the participation in the competition for the monument to the fallen of Como: a project of contained monumentality and little innovation, which in 1926 led them to win the second degree, overcoming illustrious competitors, including Terragni. Their personal and autonomous research then takes shape in some residential houses (three built in Cantù starting from 1932), highlighting the desire to evolve the characteristic elements of the building typology: simple volumes, with traditional four-pitched roofs, host solutions very innovative for the time such as pocket doors, imperceptible glass canopies, extraordinary sliding and bottom-hung wooden windows. Asnago and Vender participated in the V Triennale in 1933 with an urban school project, an exercise in urban development, attentive to the optimal inclusion of school spaces in the city. At the same time, they built an elementary school in Cesano Maderno, which demonstrates the attention to the "urban" role of the building, with its raised entrance front, vaguely inspired by Hoffman, and the development of the lateral bodies surrounding the lot and reserve an internal courtyard.
