Pirelli Tower
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Pirelli Tower (Italian: Grattacielo Pirelli – also called "Pirellone", literally "Big Pirelli") is a 32-storey, Script error: No such module "convert". skyscraper in Milan, Italy. The base of the building is Script error: No such module "convert"., with a length of Script error: No such module "convert". and a width of Script error: No such module "convert"..[1] The construction used approximately Script error: No such module "convert". of concrete. The building weighs close to Script error: No such module "convert". with a volume of Script error: No such module "convert"..
Characterized by a structural skeleton, curtain wall façades and tapered sides, it was among the first skyscrapers to abandon the customary block form.[2] After its completion it was the tallest building in Italy[3] until 1961, when the restoration of the Mole Antonelliana's pinnacle was done. The architectural historian Hasan-Uddin Khan praised it as "one of the most elegant tall buildings in the world" and as one of the "few tall European buildings [that made] statements that added to the vocabulary of the skyscraper".[4]
The building inspired the Pan Am Building (now MetLife Building) in New York, the National Mutual West Plaza in Auckland and the Banco Sabadell Tower in Barcelona.[5]
History
In 1950, Alberto Pirelli, president and owner of the giant Pirelli tyre company, ordered that a skyscraper be built in the area where the corporation's first factory was located in the 19th century. The project was developed by architect Gio Ponti, with the assistance of Pier Luigi Nervi and Arturo Danusso.
Construction of the tower began in 1956, when Italy was experiencing an economic boom. The tower was to be surrounded by low-lying buildings on a pentagonal plot of land. Upon its completion in 1958, it became a symbol not only of Milan, but also of the economic recovery of Italy after the devastation of World War II. At Script error: No such module "convert"., it was the tallest building in Italy after Mole Antonelliana until 1995. The company sold the building to the Lombardy regional government in 1978.
Incidents
2002 plane crash
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See also
References
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- ↑ Il cielo in una stanza, informative brochure from Lombardy Region.
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Further reading
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External links
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