The Torre Velasca rises above Milan with a distinct, mushroom-like profile created by its upper floors jutting out significantly wider than the base. Completed in nineteen fifty-eight, this concrete giant was designed by the BBPR…
Postwar Milanese Design Showrooms
We trace the postwar evolution of modern industrial design through the legendary furniture showrooms and architectural landmarks of the 1950s and '60s.
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1. Velasca Tower
2. Palazzo Giò Ponti
The Palazzo Montecatini, widely known as the Palazzo Giò Ponti, features a facade of dark, uniform windows set against a sleek, recessed stone frame that breaks sharply from the surrounding ornate masonry of Milan. Architect Giò Ponti…
3. Showroom Danese Milano
The Danese Milano showroom sits behind a spare, glass-fronted facade that avoids the ornate stone carvings common in the Duomo district. Inside, the shelves hold plastic wastebaskets, sleek desktop organizers, and desk lamps that seem to…
4. Museo del Novecento
The Museo del Novecento occupies the Palazzo dell'Arengario, identified by two stark, stone-clad buildings that frame the entrance to the piazza. Mussolini commissioned these structures in the nineteen thirties to host public rallies and…
5. Cassina Store Milano
The Cassina Store Milano features an imposing, curved glass facade that mirrors the historic architecture of the Duomo neighborhood. This building serves as the flagship showroom for a furniture company founded in nineteen twenty-seven by…
6. Flos Flagship Store Milano
The Flos Flagship Store on Corso Monforte features a modular, grid-like facade that feels more like a glowing laboratory than a retail shop. Inside, the space serves as a permanent stage for the company's lighting designs, which have…
7. De Padova Srl
The glass storefront of De Padova on Corso Venezia holds a clean, minimalist display that breaks from the heavy stone architecture lining the street. Maddalena De Padova opened this showroom in the nineteen sixties to bring American…
8. Showroom Artemide Milano
The Showroom Artemide on Via Borgoogna features a glass facade that turns the entire interior into a display of kinetic light. Ernesto Gismondi founded this company in nineteen sixty, and he insisted that a lamp must serve a human need…
9. Vico Magistretti Foundation
The Vico Magistretti Foundation occupies a modest, light-filled studio on Via Conservatorio in Milan, marked by a crisp, white exterior that stands in sharp contrast to the dense historic buildings lining the street. This workspace served…