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Restoration of the Pirelli skyscraper

The refined elegance of its three-dimensional profile and its singular formal completeness of the Pirelli skyscraper are still strikingly evident to any visitor “disembarking” at Milan’s Stazione Centrale. In the words of Ponti himself, the skyscraper is an “opera finita”, an exemplum of what architecture can ultimately be likened to: a crystal.

In 1998 the Lombardy Regional Government announced two international competitions for refurbishment projects in its headquarters, the Pirelli building: the Auditorium (won by Corvino+ Multari) and the Belvedere on the 31st floor (won by Renato Sarno).

General restoration work on the Pirelli tower began following the accident on 18 April 2002, when a light aircraft hit the building. There were three basic guidelines for the project: an organic conception; proper compliance with principles of conservation and restoration; observance of current safety, comfort and energy saving requirements.

The purpose of the project, and its main theme, is to restore the integrity of the monument by renewing its status as executive headquarters of the Lombardy Regional Authority, through an improved distribution and clarity of its functions, introducing new support services and technological systems, adopting a different hierarchy and a layout respectful of the original spaces.
In detail, design solutions were adopted for the refurbishment of certain reception areas (access from Via Fabio Filzi), distribution of serial spaces and the relative architecture (offices), repair and finishing of existing spaces (31st floor), organization and accessibility of ancillary areas (housing systems and utilities), philological reinstatement of certain spaces in accordance with the formative ideas of Ponti (one floor per office), also the recovery of formal and material quality, and of a certain presentational value of functional areas (auditorium).


For the auditorium, in particular, affording some 1000 m2 of floor space and destined to serve as a Conference Centre, the key principle was to be guided by the intention of Giò Ponti. It was decided to retain the long sequence of exposed beams characterizing the volume of the interior, and provide the main access route into the auditorium from the piazza. In a mirror image of the original design, a small cut was made in the elevated garden along the front overlooking the piazza, creating an access way to connect the foyer with the street.

The structures of the auditorium, designed by Pierluigi Nervi, are accommodated in a suspended ceiling of microperforated panels filling the spaces between the beams overhead.