1975

Palazzo Mondadori

In the mid-60s, Arnoldo Mondadori and his son Giorgio decide to commission a new building in Milan for the company’s administrative offices and for its newsrooms. The historic headquarters on Via Bianca di Savoia is in need of expansion, which is difficult due to its central location. The decision is taken to construct in Segrate just outside of Milan a functional building that meets the company’s needs (more than 166,000 square meters of space), but is also prestigious.

In 1967, Giorgio Mondadori gives the commission to build the new headquarters to Oscar Niemeyer, the Brazilian architect who built the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building (the Palace of the Arches) in Brasilia.

The building started in autumn 1971 and ended in 1975 after Niemeyer had developed several versions of the project. The Brazilian architect pursued for some time the idea of architectural innovation, not only of the structure, but also the way in which the building is lived. He wanted to create an open space where a thousand people could communicate and work in harmony. The intuition of Mondadori and the ideas of Niemeyer made it possible to realise a project that was truly courageous for its time and to this day still symbolises art and culture.