Milan, Poldi Pezzoli Museum's Orangerie opens.

In Milan, the Poldi Pezzoli Museum has unveiled theOrangerie, a new environment that will enrich the spaces of the house museum on Via Manzoni. The Orangerie is a multi-purpose room of more than 100 square meters, set within the Poldi Pezzoli garden-a new overlook on greenery for the whole city.

Consider that Via Alessandro Manzoni, the large street on which the museum stands, before being dedicated to the great writer was called “Garden Lane” because of the presence of an ancient large vegetable garden, almost a neighborhood in itself. The earliest documents concerning the garden that was to become the Poldi Pezzoli date back to 1737: in the present space there were initially as many as four gardens, bordering each other, belonging to different owners: Count Porta, Count Olgiati, Count Alario and Marquis Olivazzi. On this line, noble palaces began to be erected from the 17th century: in the spaces of Via Manzoni 12, site of the museum, around 1777 the palace already present was purchased together with the garden by Giuseppe Pezzoli d’Albertone (1743- 1818), uncle of Gian Giacomo’s father. The Italian-style garden From 1787 he entrusted architect Simone Cantoni (1736-1818) with the neoclassical renovation of the palace and garden, which was adorned with statues. The garden was laid out in the Italian style, with four geometric flowerbeds connected centrally by a small rotunda. The English-style garden In 1819 Giuseppe Poldi inherited from his uncle the surname Pezzoli d’Albertone, the noble title and the palace, which he chose as the main residence for him and his bride Rosina Trivulzio. In 1838 Rosina Trivulzio had the “English-style” garden transformed according to the Romantic fashion, with a freer and more natural effect, and different views opening up as one walks through it. It is described as “English garden divided into several green carpets with fruit-bearing plants, exotics, holes and with bushes with mounding between sandy paths and at the back two statues of Adonis and Diana with a chariot and two pigeons.”

In 1853 Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli bought the buildings and land next to his on Giardino lane, and had architect Giuseppe Balzaretto erect a new palace, the present Via Manzoni 14, twin to his own. Giuseppe Balzaretto (1801-1874) was a famous garden architect, who designed among others the public gardens on Via Palestro. He designed a serliana connecting the two buildings at 12 and 14 Manzoni Street, allowing a view of the garden from the street. The greenery is also redesigned with a traffic circle layout and flower beds linked together in various paths.

The garden remained the property of the heirs’ descendants. Many of the Museum’s first-floor rooms overlook the greenery below, and their windows are equipped with modern solar-controlled films that ensure, along with technological curtains, the proper conditions for the preservation of the works. As of today, this opens up an unexpected panoramic view of one of the largest gardens in central Milan.

Now, with the new space, designed and built in 2021 by the Square Garden company, the aim was to restore not only the view of the garden, but also the visibility of the lower part of the inner facade of the Palace, which until now has been obscured by the old structure; at the same time, it was deemed appropriate to take into account the style of the building, using a series of decorations of great simplicity, evocative of those in use in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which articulate the new construction. The structure, made of steel and glass, has a roof made of manually machined and bent sheet metal, like the canopies of the early 20th century, with finely crafted wrought-iron glazing and decorations: Versailles ridges on the ridge and Milan-style valances below the eaves. The perimeter window frames are also made of steel, like the window iron of the buildings of the period. The flooring is solid wood. The new space lends itself to hosting workshops, conferences, and activities for all audiences, as well as exclusive private events such as aperitifs, placée dinners, and corporate meetings.

“We wanted a space that would restore to visitors that desire for green that we are all rediscovering, taking into account the issues of sustainability and energy conservation,” says the museum’s director, Annalisa Zanni. “Moreover, Milan is famous for its hidden gardens, such as the Museum’s splendid example of an English garden. In fact, let’s not forget that the current Via Manzoni was still known at the time of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli as the Garden Lane. So our desire is to give back to the public through the activities that will take place there a contact with nature, through a structure that dialogues with the surrounding environment. We are very proud to be able to cut the ribbon on this new environment, which is intended to be a large window from which to contemplate the garden, at one time Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli’s private ’oasis’ of serenity and whose overall beauty can now be admired.”

The intervention was made possible thanks to the irreplaceable engineer Mario Franzini, who for years now has generously supported the Museum in its policy of expanding its spaces. The Museum expresses its thanks to Immobiliare Molgora S.p.A. which made available a small area of the garden to enable the creation of a comfortable space; to architect Francesco Patrini, director of works; to engineer Pietro Palladino of the Ferrara-Palladino lightscape studio for lighting consulting; to GiPas for the implementation of the lighting system; to Mitsubishi Electric for the air conditioning system; and to all the Museum staff, headed by Mr. Duilio Marsiglio, head of security; and to the company Pastor Flowers.

Milan, Poldi Pezzoli Museum's Orangerie opens.

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