One secret of Milan is that the city’s most remarkable spaces are hidden from plain view: in courtyards, behind walls, or just inside the door of a nondescript apartment building.
A Taschen’s book, Entryways of Milan (Ingressi di Milano) highlights lavish entry halls across the city.
In this unprecedented photographic journey, editor Karl Kolbitz opens the door to 144 of the city’s most sumptuous entrance halls, captivating in their diversity and splendor. These vibrant Milanese entryways, until now hidden away behind often restrained façades, are revealed as dazzling examples of Italian modernism, mediating public and private space with vivid configurations of color and form, from floors of juxtaposed stones to murals of minimalist geometry.
Viale Regina Giovanna 32 - Giuseppe Roberto Martinenghi, 1936–38; Ph. © Matthew Billings
Viale Giustiniano 5 and Viale Severino Boezio 2; Ph. © Matthew Billings
Via Pinturicchio 11, Milan, Italy built in 1960 by Pierluigi Requliani.
The collection spans buildings from 1920 to 1970 and showcases the work of some of the city’s most illustrious architects and designers, including Giovanni Muzio, Gio Ponti, Piero Portaluppi, and Luigi Caccia Dominioni, as well as non-pedigreed architecture of equal impact and interest. The photographs for the publication were exclusively created by Delfino Sisto Legnani, Paola Pansini, and Matthew Billings, each evoking the entryways with individual sensibility and a stylistic interplay of detail shots—such as stones, door handles, and handrails—with larger architectural views.
Via Marcona 49 - Gian Angelini, 1960–62; Ph. © Paola Pansini | Via Paravia 37 - Umberto Riva, 1965; Ph. © Delfino Sisto Legnani
Via Antonio Canova 39; Ph. © Paola Pansini
Via Giuseppe Dezza 49 - Gio Ponti, Antonio Fornaroli, Alberto Rosselli, 1952–56 | Via Mario Giuriati 5 - Giovanni Muzio, 1930–31; Ph. © Delfino Sisto Legnani
The images are accompanied by outstanding written contributions from Penny Sparke, Fabrizio Ballabio, Lisa Hockemeyer, Daniel Sherer, Brian Kish, and Grazia Signori, together bringing a wealth of architecture, design, and natural stone expertise to guide the reader through the applied materials and fittings as well as the art-historical and social implications of each of the ingressi. As much an architectural city guide as an aesthetic study, the book provides the exact address and an annotated Milan map for all featured entryways, as well as the architect name and date of construction.
Viale Tunisia 10; Ph. © Matthew Billings | Via Aristide de Togni 14 - Pier Giulio Magistretti, 1934–36; Ph. © Delfino Sisto Legnani
Via Giuseppe Marcora 11 (Casa Borgognoni) - Gabriele Mucchi, G. Peraro, 1934–35; Ph. © Paola Pansini
Via Francesco Cilea 106 (Gallaratese) - Carlo Aymonino, 1967–74; Ph. © Delfino Sisto Legnani | Via Gabriele Rossetti 19 - Gustavo Latis, Vito Latis, 1960; Ph. © Delfino Sisto Legnani
Viale Vittorio Veneto 20 - Achille Luigi Ferraresi, 1952–57; Ph. © Paola Pansini
Cover photo: Piazza VI Febbraio 10 - Renato Ferrari, 1934–36; Ph. © Paola Pansini
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