The N2 Chiasso-San Gottardo Motorway: design and construction of 143 km of reinforced concrete

With its 143 kilometres of reinforced concrete, the N2 Chiasso-Saint Gotthard is recognised by archi-tectural historians as one of the most accomplished works of the architect Rino Tami, the ‘aesthetic consultant for the motorway’. It remains an important symbol of the modernisation of Ticino in the second half of the twentieth century. The focus of this article is a reconstruction and analysis of the history of the realisation of the N2 Motorway, based on studies already dedicated to Tami’s work and on previously unexplored archives, including reports by the engineer Renato Colombi (head of the National Roads Office) and the documentary and iconographic heritage of the Federal Roads Office’s historical archive (Ufficio federale delle strade or USTRA). Cross-referencing the above resources with the technical literature of the time and the documentation preserved in the Rino Tami holding at the Archivio del Moderno has permitted us to establish a factual chronicle of the motorway’s lengthy construction process (necessary for fully understanding its characteristics) and to analyse the con-struction history of some of the most significant structural solutions realised along the route. This ver-ification of events has also provided a basis for further reflection, within the context of the history of the Canton of Ticino in the second half of the twentieth century, on the processes and concepts behind the design of this singular infrastructure.