Office and commercial complex in Corso Italia, Milan

Milan, Italy
View of the building complex from Corso Italia. The restyling enhances and highlights a bold architecture of the 1950s.
Photo © Andrea Martiradonna
Façade detail. Complying with and respectful of the original intervention, the project aims to enhance what for the city has become an iconic building.
Photo © Andrea Martiradonna
Day view of the building in via Rugabella. On the lower body, the windows' layout was accentuated by box-shaped slats made of micro-perforated aluminium.
Photo © Andrea Martiradonna
Night view of the building in via Rugabella. In the dark, the presence of the slats is highlighted by their internal lighting.
Photo © Andrea Martiradonna
Night view of the façade. The discreet but effective lighting intervention highlights the horizontal string courses on the façade.
Photo © Andrea Martiradonna
Façade detail. Thanks to the delicate lighting design, the façade was completely preserved.
Photo © Andrea Martiradonna
View of the building complex from Corso Italia. The complex consists of several buildings, of which two were the object of redevelopment.
Photo © Andrea Martiradonna
Architects
Park Associati
Location
Corso Italia 13, Milan, Italy
Year
2019
Client
Prelios Società di Gestione del Risparmio S.p.A.
Team
Filippo Pagliani, Michele Rossi, Marco Siciliano (Project Leader), Davide Cazzaniga, Luna Pavanello
Façade Lighting
IGuzzini
Plants project
Tekser
Lighting project
In-Visible Lab
Site Supervision
Arch. Marcello Rossi
Security Coordination
Studio Nozza
General Contractor
Sercos

A luminous design enhances a twentieth-century architectural icon.

The restyling project on part of Luigi Moretti's complex enhances and highlights a bold architecture that, in the 1950s, had an impact on an entire block of Milan.

The complex consists of several buildings, of which two were the object of redevelopment.
Studying Moretti's historical archive was crucial to understanding the project's genesis and evolution over the years. The project drawings revealed how the tallest building, called La Nave (The Ship), was built following Moretti's original design to the letter, while the design of the lower one was the object of several reappraisals.

Complying with and respectful of the original intervention, Park Associati's project aims to enhance what for the city has become an iconic building. The name Nave (Ship) comes from the fact that, in the elegant layout of the two buildings overlooking Corso Italia, the higher one leaning on the lower one resembles the bow of a ship breaking through space towards the street. This perception is further emphasised by the light-coloured façade covered with white marble mosaic tiles.

The restyling focused on the communal areas and on some of the floors for office use.
Thanks to a delicate design idea that emphasises the original forms, the façade was completely preserved. In the dark, the discreet but effective lighting intervention highlights the horizontal string courses, thus emphasising the building's character and creating a 'floating' effect of the structure over the underlying base.
The lower body of the complex was renovated following Moretti’s first original drawings. The horizontal string courses were thus emphasised while on the first and second floors the windows' layout was accentuated by box-shaped slats made of micro-perforated aluminium. In the dark, their presence is highlighted by the slats' internal lighting.

All the office spaces were redesigned through interventions on systems, lighting and air conditioning focusing on transparency and the search for quality space, thus making them more open and flexible.

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