Como’s Stadio Sinigaglia is uniquely situated next to the lake. With the club’s ascent to the top level of the Italian game, this is no longer a secret.

It’s arguably one of the most picturesque places in the world to watch the beautiful game, with the water of the lake crystal blue at various times of the year.

Yet if you’ve ever take in a game at the Sinigaglia, chances are you’ve walked past a key part of the town’s history without even noticing.

Novocomum is an apartment building designed by Italian architect Giuseppe Terragni in the 1920s and is situated on the very same street as the stadium’s main stand.

The complex is close to celebrating its centenary and has a fascinating backstory.

Terragni, one of the defining architects of the period, was commissioned by engineer Comi to produce a design for the apartment building.

Construction began in 1928 and finished the following year. Terragni initially feared the style he’d chosen, inspired from elements of German and Soviet avant-garde rationalism and constructivism, would be rejected for being too radical for the time.

The finished design caused uproar, with city authorities and more conservative critics called the building “a concrete cube with no soul”. However, Pietro Portaluppi chaired a commission of experts with the mandate to either keep Terragni’s original facade or alter it.

In the end, Portaluppi, himself a Milanese architect of some standing, decided to keep Novocomum as is. It was Terragni’s first major project. He was just 22-years-old.

Often compared to an ‘ocean liner’, the apartment building has five floors with a terraced roof, providing not just views of the lake, but of the Sinigaglia.

And its here that residents of the apartment get an unexpected benefit.

For the third year running, Como 1907 announced the continuation of its Vicini di Casa (close to home) initiative, which aims to forge deeper relationships with the Sinigaglia and its residents who live close by.

With the stadium’s central location, certain precautions need to be taken in order to protect the public, and this can affect the local citizens who live around the ground, with roads being closed and noise decibels rising due to the passion of the fans inside.

Throughout the entire 2025-2026 season — as well as for Coppa Italia matches — residents and tenants of streets adjacent to the stadium, which includes those who live in Novocomum, can request a complimentary ticket for the Distinti or Curva Est sections up to 72 hours ahead of matches.

As for Terragni, who went on to become one of the pre-eminent architects of the pre-World War II era, he built the Casa del Fascio in Como, his most famous work, before fighting in the second World War. 

Tragically, he died from Thrombosis at the age of just 39 in 1943. However, his legacy in Como lives on.

So next time you visit the Sinigaglia, take a glance around and look at the ‘ocean liner’, it’s beauty still shining nearly 100 years on.