Imagine, if you will, a futuristic landscape. Sweeping concrete arches meet a suspended glass box. This is the Mondadori Palace.
Welcome to the headquarters of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. It is Italy’s biggest publishing company. The Mondadori Palace represents architectural audacity and monumental presence.
Let’s step back in time. In 1907 eighteen-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori founded his company in Ostiglia. He began by publishing the magazine Luce. In 1912 he founded La Sociale. He then published his first book Aia Madama with his close friend Tommaso Monicelli.
The publishing house worked intensely through World War I. It focused mainly on magazines for troops. These magazines included contributions from famous illustrators and writers. Soffici De Chirico and Carrà contributed.
In 1919 Mondadori moved its headquarters to Milan. After World War I Mondadori launched several successful book series. Gialli Mondadori launched in 1929. It became the first Italian book series dedicated to detective and crime novels. International writers wrote them. The series is known for the yellow color of its covers.
The public responded positively. Five thousand copies sold in a month. Eight thousand sold after a hundred days. Even some Italian writers began writing yellow novels. Thanks to the series’ success “giallo” became the Italian name for the literary genre.
In 1933 Mondadori began publishing international writers’ works. This happened despite a period of cultural autarky. The Medusa book series was created. In 1935 Mondadori began publishing children’s magazines based on Disney comics. This was through an agreement with Walt Disney.
In 1950 Mondadori returned to information magazines. It had abandoned them ten years earlier. This abandonment was due to the war. The weekly Epoca started. It imported the American model of photojournalism into Italy.
A few years later in 1962 Mondadori published Panorama. The magazine started as a monthly information magazine. In 1967 it became a weekly. It was inspired by Time and Newsweek. It transformed into a successful newsmagazine.
In 1965 Mondadori became the first Italian publishing house to launch low-cost paperbacks. These were sold through newsstands as Oscar Mondadori. The series aimed to reach an audience not used to buying in bookshops.
Between 1950 and 1965 Mondadori’s employees rose from 335 to 3000. The company decided to construct a new building in Segrate near Milan.
Giorgio Mondadori assigned the project to Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1968. He admired Niemeyer’s work on the Foreign Ministry in Brasilia. Construction began in 1971. The new headquarters was inaugurated in January 1975.
The Mondadori Palace shows Niemeyer’s characteristically curved sculptural forms. It represents an evolution of ideas first explored in the Itamaraty Palace. The building has a cantilevered glass office block. It is suspended under gigantic parabolic arches of raw concrete.
The Mondadori Palace is one of Niemeyer’s most important works in Europe. It is acclaimed for its structural audacity and monumental presence. The Palace remains an iconic architectural landmark in Milan today. As you leave consider the power of publishing. Mondadori shaped Italian culture. Its influence continues to this day.