The CIS Complex on Bonaria Avenue in Cagliari was born out of the need to build the new Headquarters of the then Credito Industriale Sardo. In 1985, a competition entitled “a square for Cagliari” was announced, and the executive design was entrusted to the firm of Arch. Renzo Piano. The intervention was carried out between 1988 and 1992. The complex consists of two basement floors, occupied by the garage and technical rooms, about half of which are for public use, and three volumes at different heights characterized by a marked modularity readable both in the exposed reinforced concrete load-bearing structure and in the finishing elements. The two low, three-story bodies bordering the plaza are surmounted by a third elevated volume arranged transversely, in which the third floor is devoted exclusively to technological facilities, deliberately left exposed, and the sixth, finished with fine materials, is occupied by the Institute’s Management. The building is complemented by an Auditorium, intended for conferences and events, built with a steel structure and glazed envelope, where the floor consists of movable platforms that allow three different configurations of the environment according to the needs of fruition. The plaza, sloping toward the central building, is partially covered by a structure with metal elements and imposing exposed bracing and is paved with slabs of white Orosei marble, a material reminiscent of the white stone, no longer available, from the nearby Basilica of Bonaria. The same marble, with different finishes, was used for the cladding panels and gridded slabs. The plant distribution on the floors is entirely underfloor, thus ensuring ease of maintenance and flexibility of operating spaces separated by mobile cabinet walls. Technical facilities are supervised by a remote management system. The palace houses a collection of more than 400 works, including paintings, sculptures, drawings and engravings, by the most important Sardinian artists of the early and late 20th century (Sironi, Biasi, Ballero, Figari and others).
