Torre Velasca, Milan

Torre Velasca is the unmistakable mushroom-shaped skyscraper before you, created by the Milanese partnership BBPR. Its concrete mass widens dramatically above a narrower base, giving the building a profile that recalls Lombard medieval fortresses while making room for larger residential and commercial spaces higher up. The tower reaches 106 metres to the roof and contains 26 stories; construction finished in 1958, and it opened in 1961.

It is regarded as one of Italy’s few examples of post-rationalist brutalist architecture. Look at the exposed diagonal braces supporting the projecting upper section. They explain the Milanese nickname “the skyscraper with braces” and make the medieval reference tangible: this is a modern tower shaped through an interpretation of historic castle construction.

BBPR originally explored a steel-and-glass scheme, but switched to reinforced concrete with stone cladding when cost and national production made that proposal impractical. The replacement reduced the expense by a quarter and suited Milan’s architectural setting better. The building’s unusual silhouette provoked strong disagreement when it appeared, challenging the glass-and-steel conventions of its era.

Its standing grew over time, and in 2011 it received historic protection. What you see is therefore both a working mixed-use building and a deliberately local answer to the international skyscraper.