Our headquarters
Opened in 1975, our headquarters stands as one of the most significant works by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.
Between 1950 and 1965, the workforce at Arnoldo Mondadori Editore grew from 335 to 3,000 employees. This rapid expansion made it clear that a new home was needed for the company’s headquarters, then located in central Milan. A decision was therefore taken to build a new head office on the outskirts of the city, in the municipality of Segrate, close to Milan Linate Airport and the main motorway links.
In 1968, Giorgio Mondadori, son of Arnoldo and then Chairman of the publishing house, entrusted the project to Oscar Niemeyer, having admired the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Palácio Itamaraty) that the architect had completed in Brasília three years earlier.
For some time, Niemeyer had been pursuing the idea of creating an innovative architectural project, not only in its structure and form, but also in the way it would be experienced. He envisaged an open environment in which people could communicate and work in harmony. Giorgio Mondadori’s foresight, combined with Niemeyer’s vision, resulted in a bold project for its time: a building truly unlike any other, one requiring no signage and capable of leaving a lasting impression. What Niemeyer himself described as a form of “advertising architecture”.
In the architect’s original design, the new headquarters of the Mondadori Group was conceived as a complex of three elements rising from a striking 20,000-square-metre expanse of water. At its centre stands a five-storey rectangular block, suspended within a series of distinctive arches and housing the offices and editorial departments. This central volume is balanced by two lower, sinuous buildings: one circular, the other with an irregular, wave-like footprint reminiscent of a leaf. The entire complex is set within a large park designed by the landscape architect Pietro Porcinai.
In 2025, fifty years after its inauguration, Palazzo Niemeyer underwent a comprehensive renovation and internal refurbishment. The aim was to enhance the building while respecting its distinctive character, reinterpreting it for the present day through innovative, functional and sustainable solutions.
The works, which began in 2023, covered a total area of more than 20,000 square metres. They were carried out through a collaboration between the Mondadori Group’s Real Estate team, Generali Real Estate, the owner of the property through the Mascagni fund, and the international practice CRA Carlo Ratti Associati. The project was led creatively by Carlo Ratti, founding partner of the firm and curator of the 2025 Architecture Biennale. It also included the contribution of Italo Rota, one of the most respected figures in contemporary Italian architecture.
