A new book captures some of the Italian capital’s most unique design and architecture.

Though it’s undoubtedly the hub of the Italian style world, Milan is not often described as “beautiful”. Yes, there are some auteurs who have paid tribute to its sepia-toned streets, most notably Mr Luca Guadagnino in his 2009 film Io Sono l’Amore (I Am Love), but the general feeling of tourists, writers and artists alike is that the place is a bit “meh” aesthetically. In his introductory essay to new book Entryways Of Milan, architect Mr Fabrizio Ballabio notes how the perception of Milan as an “ugly city” is one that stretches back to the 16th century, when young men on the Grand Tour would complain that, although Milan was populous and rich in trade, it had nothing much comparable to the spectacular palaces that were then to be found in Rome, Naples, Genoa and Florence. Today, even when the visual language of Italian modernism – which is everywhere in Milan – is having something of a moment, we’re still reluctant to give the Italian capital its dues, design-wise.

Entryways Of Milan could very well change all that. Edited and directed by Berlin-based author Mr Karl Kolbitz, with specially commissioned original photography, the book is a compendium of photographs of 144 of Milan’s most attractive “ingressi” (that is, elaborate hallways that separate the heart of the building from the world outside), delving behind the often discouraging facades of Milanese architecture to reveal an idiom full of grandeur and a sense of spectacle (not to mention some truly excellent examples of marble flooring). In these impressive spaces, designers such as Messrs Gio Ponti and Piero Portaluppi worked with artisans of various disciplines to create complete environments in which every element is considered, from marble flooring to custom light fittings, bannisters and more.

Examples range from Mr Pierluigi Requliani’s polka-dot stairwell at via Pinturicchio 11 to the intricate mosaics found in the entryway of Casa Berri-Meregalli, designed by early modern architect Mr Giulio Ulisse Arata in the 1910s. All of them illuminate an aesthetic – heavy on the marble, brass and abstract geometry – which unveils a heretofore uncelebrated side of Milan’s architectural personality. As Mr Ballabio writes in his introduction, these entryways have “become one of the city’s enduring leitmotifs, making the ‘simple’ act of entering a timeless and geographically pervasive ritual”. In short, if you think you knew Milan, think again, and install this book on your coffee table as soon as possible.

Entryways of Milan (Taschen) edited by Mr Karl Kolbitz is out now

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