Pirelli tower

In 1950 Alberto Pirelli, the president of the Pirelli Company, required that a skyscraper be built in the original area where the first factory was constructed in the 19th century. The project was developed by architect Gio Ponti, with the assistance of Pier Luigi Nervi and Arturo Danusso. At 127.1 meters (417 feet), it is the tallest building in the city and was built of concrete (est. 60,000 tons). Construction of the tower began in 1956 in a time that Italy was experiencing an economic boom. The tower was to be surrounded by low lying buildings on a hectagonal plot of land. Upon its completion in 1958, it became one of the symbols of Milan and of the national economical recovery. The building was later sold to the Lombardy region, of which is now the head office. Characterized by a bold, structural skeleton, smooth refined curtain wall façades, and tapered sides like the bow of a ship, it was among the first skyscrapers to abandon the customary block form.