Filzi 25

Between Milano Centrale station and the unmistakable silhouette of the Pirellone, Filzi 25 finds its voice once again. Park approaches this mid-20th-century building with care and respect, through a philological and conservation-driven intervention that restores its original design qualities and lets them shine anew. The history of the building, known as Palazzo Galbani and designed by Eugenio and Ermenegildo Soncini together with Giuseppe Pestalozza, with structures by Pier Luigi Nervi, guides every choice. Overlooking the axis that connects Pirelli and Gioia, the building presents regular façades, contrasting materials, and a play of transparency and depth. Conceived as an office building, Filzi 25 is today reinterpreted as a contemporary workplace that brings together historical value and modern comfort. The project re-establishes continuity with the urban landscape, restoring the original rhythm of the curtain wall and the proportions of the horizontal bands on the main volume. These elements appear lighter than the modifications introduced in the 2000s. The glass is neutral and minimally reflective in order to highlight the building’s most distinctive element, the prefabricated wavy slabs that represent a true structural invention by Nervi and once again become central. Inside, the intervention aims for clarity. Suspended ceilings and exposed systems are removed to open up the office floors. Integrated fan coils along the façade free the ceiling and reveal the original structural pattern. The historic circulation layout is preserved, the lobby is renewed, and the typical floors become flexible and ready to accommodate different ways of working. At the top of the building, the design takes on a more harmonious character. A single metal screen gathers and conceals the mechanical equipment, while a recessed green basin completes the crown and offers an orderly view over Piazza Duca d’Aosta and the skyline of Milan. The palette, composed of light grey aluminium, neutral tones and terracotta, creates a link between memory and the present without resorting to mimicry. The intervention seeks a balance between form and function, restoring both beauty and comfort to the spaces. On the terraces, the presence of greenery introduces seasonality and fragrance at height. Evergreens such as Pittosporum tobira “Nanum,” cushions of Geranium macrorrhizum, seasonal blooms of agapanthus, and a mix of herbaceous species and grasses including aster, echinacea, miscanthus, pennisetum, erigeron and verbena create a living roof that is easy to maintain and able to interact with the city from above. Filzi 25 returns to its true identity with more light, greater comfort and enhanced spatial quality. It stands as a fragment of Milanese modernity, ready to welcome companies and professionals into spaces conceived for today’s ways of working.