Herzog & de Meuron have unwrapped the packaging on the new Feltrinelli Porta Volta building in Milan, the firm's very first public structure in Italy. Around the corner from Corso Como and a short walk from the city’s Porta Nuova district, the new twin-building structure has been erected on the site of a former garden nursery, which was previously encircled by a less than desirable mix of cracked sidewalks, post-World War II rubble and run-down car washes.
The steel and glass building, whose steeply pitched roof cuts a jagged, shark tooth-like line against the skyline, will now house shops and restaurants on the ground floor and will be further bolstered by 11,000 sq m of public park tbat will bring an oasis of green grass and public benches to the city – a rarity in Milan. 'It holds an important strategic potential for creating a positive impact on the entire surrounding area,' remarked Jacques Herzog. '[The project] has an important urban dimension, strengthening and reinforcing the city of Milan.'
Feltrinelli Porta Volta adds a modern layer to the palazzo-laden neighbourhood
The secret weapon aiding this endeavor is COIMA, a real estate investment company whose main mission is urban landscape refurbishment. COIMA specialises in transforming city wastelands into flourishing bastions of gleaming skyscrapers and lush public lawns, as has been demonstrated in its mighty overhaul of Milan’s Porta Nuova district. The project saw 22 new skyscrapers – all LEED Gold-certified buildings – erected over a brisk (for Italy, at least) five year period.
The Feltrinelli Porta Volta building has a similar ethos in that a crumbling, misused slice of the city has now found a new lease of life, while also reflecting and respecting its neighborhood environs. Inspired by the cascina buildings of traditional rural architecture in Lombardy, the building is only five stories high, but its first two floors boast 7m-high ceilings that allow for fantastic light and its modest size fits in with its palazzo-lined street. One of its buildings will house the headquarters of the Feltrinelli Foundation, while the second will serve as Microsoft’s new Italian hub.
'It holds an important strategic potential for creating a positive impact on the entire surrounding area,' says Jacques Herzog. '[The project] has an important urban dimension, strengthening and reinforcing the city of Milan'
The twin building structure has been erected on the site of a former garden nursery
The building is only five stories high, but its first two floors boast 7m-high ceilings that allow for plenty of light to stream in
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Herzog & de Meuron website
-
Dine within a rationalist design gem at the newly opened Cucina TriennaleCucina Triennale is the latest space to open at Triennale Milano, a restaurant and a café by Luca Cipelletti and Unifor, inspired by the building's 1930s design
-
The collections you might have missed this S/S 2026 menswear seasonBetween the headliners in Paris, Milan and Florence, a few off-schedule displays are deserving of honourable mention – from Martine Rose’s sexually-charged portrait of Kensington Market to Sander Lak’s appointment-only namesake debut
-
Meet artist Michael McGregor, using hotel stationery as his canvasMichael McGregor unveils an exclusive postcard set made with notepads from The Luxury Collection properties in Minneapolis, San Francisco and Savannah
-
Herzog & de Meuron are renovating New York's iconic Breuer Building. Here's a first look at the renderingsThis fall, the brutalist icon will be re-opening as the New York headquarters for Sotheby's.
-
Bold, geometric minimalism rules at Toteme’s new store by Herzog & de Meuron in ChinaToteme launches a bold, monochromatic new store in Beijing – the brand’s first in China – created by Swiss architecture masters Herzog & de Meuron
-
Herzog & de Meuron’s Children’s Hospital in Zurich is a ‘miniature city’Herzog & de Meuron’s Children’s Hospital in Zurich aims to offer a case study in forward-thinking, contemporary architecture for healthcare
-
Look inside Sixth&Blanco, Herzog & de Meuron’s first project in TexasStep inside Sixth&Blanco by Herzog & de Meuron, as the Swiss studio reveals interior images of its first ever Texas design, a forward-thinking, sustainable and mixed-use scheme
-
Herzog & de Meuron’s SIP Main Campus weaves together nature and sculptural concreteSIP Main Campus, a new workspace by Herzog & de Meuron, completes on the Swiss-French border
-
Royal Academy’s Herzog & de Meuron show in London spotlights architecture for careThe Royal Academy of Arts launches its Herzog & de Meuron exhibition in London; we speak to them about the show, their approach to healthcare architecture and caring, and their rich body of work
-
Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf unveil Philadelphia’s Calder Gardens designHerzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf's design for the new Calder Gardens in downtown Philadelphia is set to be a tranquil tribute to artist Alexander Calder
-
AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre is ‘a landscape of different situations’Tour AstraZeneca's brand new research and development hub, The Discovery Centre, designed by Herzog & de Meuron in Cambridge, UK
