Modern Milan architecture: a self-guided tour

Milan is a city of layers. The cathedral that took five centuries to complete sits fifteen minutes’ walk from tower blocks commissioned in the 1950s, which in turn neighbour the residential skyscrapers clad in actual forest that have become the most-photographed new buildings in Europe. Understanding how these layers relate to one another — why Milan built the way it did, and how the city’s postwar ambition gave way to the extraordinary urban experiments of the 2000s and 2010s — makes the city’s streetscape far more interesting than it initially appears. This self-guided tour takes you through the major sites in an order that makes geographical sense for walking and cycling, with notes on each building’s history, significance and the best vantage points for photography.

Why Milan’s modern architecture matters

Milan was not comprehensively bombed during the Second World War in the way that Turin or Genova were, but it was damaged, and the postwar reconstruction brought both thoughtful urban planning and, in some areas, the same rushed mediocrity that afflicted European cities throughout the 1950s and 1960s. What sets Milan apart is that its major postwar buildings — Torre Velasca above all — were genuinely ambitious architectural statements rather than functional infill. The architects of the period were debating ideas about what a modern Italian city should look like, and the results of that debate are still visible and still contentious.

The second phase of transformation came from the 1990s onward, accelerating dramatically in the run-up to the 2015 Universal Exposition (Expo 2015), which gave the city both a political mandate and substantial investment to remake its underused peripheral areas. The Porta Nuova district, CityLife and the Expo site itself (now repurposed as the MIND innovation district) are all products of this era. The result is a city in which world-class contemporary architecture is clustered in a few specific zones that can be reached efficiently from the historic centre.

For the city’s historic architectural centrepiece, see the Milan Duomo guide — the cathedral and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II together represent the foundational moment of Milan’s monumental ambition.

Stop 1: Torre Velasca (1958)

Where: Piazza Velasca (behind Largo Augusto), 5 minutes’ walk from the Duomo. Best viewed from: Via Albricci or Piazza Velasca itself.

Torre Velasca is the starting point for any serious tour of Milan’s modern architecture, and not only because of its age. Designed by the studio BBPR (Banfi, Belgiojoso, Peressutti and Rogers) and completed in 1958, the tower is 106 metres tall — genuinely impressive by the standards of its era — but what makes it memorable is its shape. The upper floors dramatically overhang the lower section, producing a silhouette that has no real analogue in European modernism. BBPR were deliberately referencing the medieval fortresses of Lombardy, the buttressed towers of the comune era, creating a building that is simultaneously modern in materials and technique and deeply rooted in Italian history. Critics hated it. Le Corbusier called it a “catastrophe.” The building has been beloved by Milanese ever since.

Torre Velasca is a private office building and not open to the public, but it can be viewed clearly from several points in the surrounding streets. It appears on the skyline from many other parts of the city and is one of the easiest buildings in Milan to accidentally find. If you are starting from the Duomo, walk south on Via Albricci and the tower appears ahead of you.

Stop 2: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (1877)

Where: Piazza del Duomo, immediately north of the cathedral. Best viewed from: From inside, looking up at the central dome; from Piazza della Scala at the far end.

The Galleria is not “modern” by most definitions — it was completed in 1877 — but it is included here because it represents the formative moment of Milanese commercial architecture and directly influenced the language of commercial space for the next century and a half. Designed by Giuseppe Mengoni (who fell from the roof and died the day before the official inauguration, an apocryphal but widely repeated story), the Galleria is a covered shopping arcade on a civic scale, its iron-and-glass vaulted ceiling reaching 47 metres at the central octagon.

Inside you will find the Milanese luxury brands that have been here since the nineteenth century — Savini restaurant, Prada’s original Milan store (founded here in 1913) — alongside newer arrivals. The floor mosaic in the central octagon depicts the symbols of the four capitals of unified Italy (Rome, Florence, Turin and Milan), and locals have a tradition of spinning on the bull’s testicles in the Turin mosaic for good luck. The floor around the bull shows evidence of this.

The Galleria connects Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala and is the natural route between the cathedral and La Scala.

Stop 3: Porta Nuova and the Bosco Verticale

Where: Via Gaetano de Castillia, Isola/Porta Nuova area, Porta Nuova and Isola neighbourhood. Best viewed from: Via Gaetano de Castillia (looking south toward the towers) or from Piazza Gae Aulenti.

The Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) is the building that, more than any other, announced Milan’s architectural ambition to a global audience. Completed in 2014 and designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti, the twin residential towers rise 80 and 112 metres above the Porta Nuova district, their irregularly arranged balconies carrying approximately 900 trees (weighing a total of around 80 tonnes), 5,000 shrubs and 11,000 perennial plants. The planting is not decorative — it is maintained by a permanent team of arborists who abseil down the building, and it is designed to absorb pollution, moderate the internal temperature of the apartments and create genuine biodiversity in the urban fabric.

The Bosco Verticale is private residential property and not open to the public, but it is one of the most photographed buildings in Milan from the exterior. The best vantage point is Via Gaetano de Castillia, where you can see both towers together with their full forest-clad profiles. Early morning on weekdays gives you the clearest view with the fewest other photographers. In autumn the deciduous trees on the balconies turn orange and yellow, making the building even more dramatic.

Immediately adjacent to the Bosco Verticale, Piazza Gae Aulenti is a raised public square (designed by Cesar Pelli) that serves as the social centre of the Porta Nuova district. It is surrounded by restaurants, cafés and the glass-and-steel forms of Varesine and Garibaldi towers. From the piazza you can see in one glance the full range of Porta Nuova’s development: the curved glass of the Varesine cluster, the diamond-shaped Palazzo della Regione Lombardia (described below), and the towers of the Garibaldi district.

Unicredit Tower

The Unicredit Tower, designed by Cesar Pelli and completed in 2012, rises 231 metres — the tallest building in Italy. It anchors the Garibaldi cluster of Porta Nuova from its position on Piazza Gae Aulenti, its slender profile topped by a distinctive spire that is lit at night. The tower is an office building and not open to visitors, but it is impossible to miss from anywhere in the Porta Nuova area.

Palazzo della Regione Lombardia

A few minutes’ walk from Piazza Gae Aulenti, the Palazzo della Regione Lombardia (the headquarters of the Lombardy regional government, completed in 2010 and designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners) is notable for its dramatically curved glass curtain wall and the large public atrium at its base, which is open to visitors during business hours. The building is commonly described as “diamond-shaped” due to the angular glass towers that frame the central curved section. The internal atrium — a tall, glassed-in public space — is worth a look.

Stop 4: CityLife

Where: Piazzale Giulio Cesare, CityLife district, 3 km west of the Duomo (M5 metro to Tre Torri). Best viewed from: Piazzale Giulio Cesare and the CityLife shopping centre walkway.

CityLife is Milan’s most ambitious single piece of urban redevelopment, occupying the former fairground site in the west of the city. The project brought three of the world’s most celebrated architects to the same square kilometre, each designing a residential skyscraper that would anchor a quarter of the new district. The result is a trio of towers that are simultaneously unified in material language and completely different in form.

Hadid’s tower (completed 2019 as the last of the three to finish) is known colloquially as “Lo Storto” — “the crooked one.” The building twists as it rises, its glass-clad profile curving against the Milan skyline in a way that can only be appreciated by walking around it. Zaha Hadid died in 2016, three years before the building’s completion, and it was finished posthumously by Zaha Hadid Architects. It is the most photographed of the three.

Libeskind’s tower, “Il Dritto” (“the straight one”), is the tallest of the three at around 175 metres. Daniel Libeskind’s building is angular and faceted where Hadid’s is curved, creating a deliberate visual dialogue between the two. The tower is an office building.

Isozaki’s tower, completed in 2015, was the first of the three to finish. Arata Isozaki’s design is more rectilinear than its neighbours, though the chamfered corners and facade treatment give it a refined character.

The towers surround a large park and a significant shopping centre (CityLife Shopping District, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects) with a distinctive wave-roof form. The park and shopping centre are publicly accessible, and the area around the towers is an excellent place to photograph all three together from ground level.

Stop 5: MUDEC — Museo delle Culture (2015)

Where: Via Tortona 56, Tortona neighbourhood. Best viewed from: Via Tortona.

The MUDEC (Museum of Cultures) was designed by the Spanish firm Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos and completed in 2015 on the site of a former Ansaldo factory complex in the Tortona district — the same area that hosts some of the most significant Milan Design Week events. The building is an interesting exercise in adaptive reuse: the original brick factory walls have been retained and a new glass-and-steel internal structure inserted within them, creating a layered building that is simultaneously old and new.

The museum’s permanent collection focuses on non-European cultures and the collection of objects brought back to Italy through the colonial period. Temporary exhibitions have included major retrospectives on fashion, music and global material culture. Entry to the permanent collection is approximately €5; temporary exhibitions have separate ticketing. Check the MUDEC website for current programming.

Stop 6: Expo 2015 and the MIND district (optional, peripheral)

Where: Via Cristina Belgioioso 171, Rho (same general area as Fiera Milano). Metro M1 to Rho Fiera, then a walk or shuttle. Note: This is 18 km from the city centre and only worth visiting if you have a specific interest in the topic.

The Padiglione Italia (Italian Pavilion) designed by Nemesi for Expo 2015 is the most architecturally significant survivor of the Universal Exposition. Its surface is made from biodynamic cement that absorbs carbon dioxide — a genuine technical innovation displayed through an articulated white facade that references ancient Roman relief sculpture. The Expo site has been repurposed as MIND (Milano Innovation District), a science and technology hub that is actively developing. Public access to the site is possible but limited; the most interesting element for architectural visitors is the Padiglione Italia itself.

For most visitors to Milan, this stop is not worth the journey time unless you have a specific interest in sustainable construction technology or the Expo legacy.

Self-guided walking and cycling route

The following route covers the city-centre stops (excluding CityLife and MIND) in a single day. The walking distance is approximately 10–12 km; by bicycle it is considerably more manageable.

Morning: Start at Piazza Velasca and Torre Velasca (10:00) → walk north to the Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (30 min) → take metro M2 from Cadorna to Garibaldi, or walk 30 minutes north → Porta Nuova: Bosco Verticale from Via de Castillia, Piazza Gae Aulenti, Unicredit Tower, Palazzo della Regione Lombardia.

Midday break: The bars and restaurants around Piazza Gae Aulenti and Isola are a good option for lunch. The Brera neighbourhood is also within 15 minutes’ walk if you prefer a different atmosphere.

Afternoon: Take metro M5 from Garibaldi to Tre Torri for CityLife (40 minutes at the site) → return to city centre via M5 to Cadorna → walk 20 minutes south to Tortona for MUDEC.

A guided electric bike tour covers more of this ground with less fatigue and adds architectural commentary that is difficult to replicate from a written guide:

Milan e bike tour explore the historic and the modern city

Alternatively, a walking highlights tour of the city provides a strong foundation in Milan’s built environment before you embark on the architecture-specific route:

Milan highlights walking tour

Connecting modern architecture with the broader city

Milan’s modern buildings do not exist in isolation — they are most interesting when understood in the context of the city around them. The Navigli canal district was itself an infrastructure project of the sixteenth century (Leonardo da Vinci contributed to the design of its locks, as explored in the Leonardo da Vinci in Milan guide), and today’s contemporary architecture is simply the latest phase of a city that has always rebuilt itself.

If you are visiting during Milan Design Week in April, several of the buildings on this tour become venues for the Fuorisalone, and the relationship between architecture and design culture becomes directly legible.

For the broader context of planning a Milan trip that includes architecture alongside the city’s other major attractions, the Milan in 2–3 days guide includes an itinerary that balances the major sights.

Frequently asked questions about modern Milan architecture

Can you go inside the Bosco Verticale?

No. The Bosco Verticale is a private residential building and the apartments are not open to visitors. The exterior, however, is fully visible and photographable from the surrounding public streets, particularly Via Gaetano de Castillia.

How do I get to CityLife by public transport?

Take metro line M5 (purple) to the Tre Torri stop, which brings you directly to the base of the three towers. Alternatively, the M5 stop San Siro Stadio (followed by a 15-minute walk) passes through a different part of the same district.

Is Torre Velasca open to visitors?

Torre Velasca is a private office building and does not offer regular public access. On specific cultural heritage open days (Giornate FAI di Primavera, typically in March), there have been occasional guided visits to the building’s public floors. Follow FAI (Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano) announcements for any scheduled openings.

What is the tallest building in Milan?

The Unicredit Tower in the Porta Nuova district, designed by Cesar Pelli and completed in 2012, is 231 metres tall — the tallest building in Italy. The three CityLife towers range from approximately 140 to 175 metres.

Who designed the Bosco Verticale?

Bosco Verticale was designed by Stefano Boeri Architetti and completed in 2014. The two towers have 113 and 87 floors respectively (counting residential floors only) and are recognised internationally as a benchmark for biophilic skyscraper design.

Are there architecture tours available in Milan?

Yes. Several operators offer walking and cycling tours that focus on Milan’s architecture, covering both the historic centre and the modern districts. An electric bike tour is particularly effective for the Porta Nuova to CityLife distance, which is comfortable by bike but tiring on foot.

How does Milan’s modern architecture relate to its design culture?

Milan’s modern architecture and its design and fashion industries are deeply intertwined. The same culture that produced Gio Ponti’s Pirelli Tower in 1958 produced the Salone del Mobile in 1961 and the Quadrilatero della Moda’s global prestige in the 1980s. The Bosco Verticale is as much a design object — studied in architecture and design schools worldwide — as a residential building. The Milan Design Week guide provides additional context for this relationship.

Is MUDEC worth visiting?

MUDEC is worth visiting if you have an interest in global cultural collections or if there is a strong temporary exhibition running during your visit. The building itself is architecturally interesting without being extraordinary. For art, the Pinacoteca di Brera and the best museums in Milan guide cover the city’s collections more comprehensively.