We share our curated list of art, architecture and design spaces in Milan to inspire year-round.
Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano | Photography courtesy of Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano & Alberto Lagomaggiore
ART & DESIGN
Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano
Second Floor, Via Giorgio Jan, 15, Milano, Italy
Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano is a beautiful home museum that exhibits the art collection of owners Antonio Boschi and Marieda Di Stefano. The art is predominantly Italian modernist works from the 20th Century, providing an interesting insight into the movement. The museum is situated in a Piero Portaluppi building designed in 1929 – a few blocks north of Porta Venezia. The designer Alessandro Mendini lived in the apartment as a student. The museum is generally quiet and free to enter.
Fondazione Prada | Photography by Willem-Dirk du Toit
Fondazione Prada | Photography by Willem-Dirk du Toit
Fondazione Prada
Largo Isarco, 2, Milano, Italy
The work of influential architect Rem Koolhaas, Fondazione Prada has resuscitated an uninspiring part of Milan in the city’s east. The amazing contemporary art gallery space is set across seven existing buildings with three new structures, Podium, Cinema and Torre. The venue is the result of the transformation of a distillery dating back to the 1910s.
Armani Silos
Via Bergognone, 40, Milano
Situated in Porta Genova, the old garment district of Milan, Armani/ Silos displays more than 600 garments and accessories spread across four floors in a converted former Nestlé granary. In addition to the permanent display of Armani garments from 1980 to the present day, the museum has a changing exhibition programme, with the current exhibition covering the work of fashion photographer Guy Bourdin until August 31 2023.
Armani Silos | Photography by Adriano
Triennale Di Milano | Photography by DSL Studio
Triennale Di Milano (Milan Design Museum)
Viale Emilio Alemagna, 6, Milano, Italy
Milan’s design museum is the type of mecca you would expect of a designed-obsessed country. Founded in 1933, Triennale Di Milano was designed by Giovanni Muzio and hosts multiple exhibitions simultaneously in its grand halls, becoming a key destination each year during Milan Design Week. The permanent design exhibition is vast, with virtually all of the most important design objects of the 20th century on display. Entrance is 12 euro – six euros for students.
Nostra Signora Della Misericordia | Photography by Marco Introini
ARCHITECTURE
Nostra Signora Della Misericordia (Our Lady of Mercy church)
Via Conciliazione, 22, Bollate, Milano, Italy
This contemporary church from 1956 by Angelo Mangiarotti is an amazing combination of perfectly formed concrete and glass. The glowing white interior is achieved by daylight passing through a white membrane sandwiched between sheets of glass. Recently restored, it is definitely worth the trip from central Milan to Rho (the location of Salone del Mobile) which is the nearest metro. Taxi from there is approximately eight minutes.
Teatro Manzoni | Photography by Craig Wall
Teatro Manzoni
Via Alessandro Manzoni, 40, Milano, Italy
You don’t need to see a film or a play to enjoy this Alziro Bergonzo-designed theatre from 1950. Situated in the Brera district, the marble floors, frescos and circular ticket booths are worth the visit on their own, but the glass ceiling lights in the lobby and arcade-style entrance area are also spectacular.
Casa Della Memoria
Via Federico Confalonieri, 14, Milano, Italy
You don’t need to see a film or a play to enjoy this Alziro Bergonzo-designed theatre from 1950. Situated in the Brera district, the marble floors, frescos and circular ticket booths are worth the visit on their own, but the glass ceiling lights in the lobby and arcade-style entrance area are also spectacular.
Chiesa Di San Nicolao Della Flue | Photography by Elena Galimberti
Chiesa Di San Nicolao Della Flue (Church of Saint Nicholas of Flüe)
Via Dalmazia, 11, Milano, Italy
Designed by Ignazio Gardella, co-founder of influential Italian furniture and lighting brand Azucena, the church of Saint Nicholas of Flüe (1968-69) is an imposing structure based on the shape of an upturned ship hull, using reinforced concrete and copper for the lyrically-shaped roof. The interior displays an impressive futuristic succession of cast concrete arches.
Contemporary Park: Parco della Portello
Viale Renato Serra, 31, Milano, Italy
Charles Jencks and landscape architects LAND and Margherita Brianza built Parco della Portello on a 17-acre former industrial site in north-west Milan.
Villa Necchi | Photography by Willem-Dirk du Toit
PALAZZOS & VILLAS
Villa Necchi
Via Federico Confalonieri, 14, Milano, Italy
You don’t need to see a film or a play to enjoy this Alziro Bergonzo-designed theatre from 1950. Situated in the Brera district, the marble floors, frescos and circular ticket booths are worth the visit on their own, but the glass ceiling lights in the lobby and arcade-style entrance area are also spectacular.
Palazzo Litta
Corso Magenta, 24, Milano, Italy
The Baroque-era palazzo, also known as the Palazzo Arese-Litta, is often used during Milan Design Week to host events. Designed by Elisa Ossino Studio, Cristina Rubinetterie is a monochromatic and textured space for discovering and testing the latest tap collections.
This feature originally appeared in the Milan 2023 Special Issue of est magazine.