The itinerary in the heart of Monza highlights the urbanistic and stylistic changes induced in the historical center of the city during the 1920s, operated in relation to the monumental canons and trends widespread in the artistic movement of the twentieth century and the Second Postwar period, following analysis of contemporary architectural buildings designed by notable architects.
Photographs by Marzio Franco
Design, graphic design and texts by Associazione Pro Monza
Typology: On Foot
Typology: residential and office building
Designer: Luigi Bartesaghi
Year: 1935
Address: Trento and Trieste Square
Five-story building overlooks Trento and Trieste Square. The central body is entirely clad in light-colored stone, while the side elevations have horizontal bands of dark brick highlighting the various levels. The elevation is characterized by several bow-windows that lighten the overall volume of the building.
Typology: residential building
Designer: Luigi Borradori
Year: 1935
Address: Via Passerini 6
The building is located along Via del Littorio, which was opened in 1925 as part of the historic center reform project. It is distinguished by the compositional clarity of the volumes and the design of the openings and facades. A characteristic element is the imposing entrance portal, which interrupts the succession of floors in height.
Typology: religious and ritual architecture, church and parish center
Designer: Luigi Caccia Dominioni
Year: 1963-1968
Address: Via Prina 19
Born from the need after World War II to build a new church to replace the 18th-century religious building, already damaged by wartime bombing. The building is articulated with a longitudinal Greek cross plan and is covered by a square tiburium with inverted sail and barely sloping pitches, as if it were a fabric stretched by supports flat on the ground. The reinforced concrete structure is supported by four central pillars and long, slightly curved beams resting on small pillars located in the corners. The interior features a single room focused on the raised altar.
Typology: residential and office building
Designer: Gio Punti, A. Fornaroli, A. Rosselli
Year: 1961
Address: Via Spreafico 3
Empressive residential complex, built by the aggregation of three forecourts to a rectangular plan body with a central cavity. The building has a concrete frame, reinforced with brick perimeter infill, and is clad in gray relief ceramic tiles that give the apartment building a proud and elegant appearance.
Typology: building for housing and shops
Designer: Ernesto Griffini, Dario Montagni
Year: 1966-1967
Address: Via Manzoni 42
The building stands out in the urban context thanks to the rigid geometry of the rectangular plan volume and the rigorous design of the elevations. On the facades emerges the latticework of the reinforced concrete structure left exposed, contrasting with the yellow color of the prefabricated Fulet-type slabs, which cover the perimeter curtain walls made of double planking with air chamber. The rear of the building is characterized by the presence of loggias and the glass-cement enclosure of the staircase body.
A renovation, carried out in 2022, resulted in a significant transformation of the building's original features.
Typology: housing building
Designer: Angelo Mangiarotti
Year: 1972
Address: Via Artigianelli 4
The building stands on the perimeter of the city's Historic Center and is designed to put prefabricated construction systems to the test and highlight the latest technologies in the residential sphere, enhancing the advantages of modularity derivable from prefabrication.
Typology: complex for stores, offices and residences
Designer: Luigi caccia Dominioni
Year: 1963-1964
Address: Corso Milano 23
The building complex occupies an irregularly shaped lot along the Milan-Monza axis, close to the railway station; it is built from two volumes of eight floors, above ground each, clad in brilliant brown clinker tiles. The compactness of the buildings is emphasized by the absence of balconies on the main elevations, while the side facades feature cantilevered circular balconies and small, stepped loggias on the sides.
Typology: former Balilla House
Designer: Aldo Putelli - Angelo Bugatti
Year: 1933-1934/2005
Address: Via Turati 7
The former GIL headquarters was built in 1933 to a design by Aldo Putelli, renovated by Angelo Bugatti in 2005. The complex was initially designed to accommodate spaces for the youth of the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio, where they could hold sports and cultural activities. The center consists of two bodies, the theater and gymnasium, and the third space intended for offices. The building is slightly curved, the facade is defined by simple lines, the maximum expression in Monza of the rationalism of the time, in which the functionality of the design predominated. Large windows in the facade break the monochrome of the building, enriched by the red "Piccinelli" lithoceramic stone plinth and the curvature imposed by the tower located to the side.
Start point: PALAZZO EX INA
Piazza Trento e Trieste, 20900 Monza MB
Get me there
Destination: EX SEDE GIL
Via Turati 7, 20900 MONZA MB
