Management center of the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, Banking palace in Florence, Italy

The Centro direzionale della Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze stands between via di Novoli and via della Torre degli Agli, on the former Fiat area. Giorgio Grassi's winning 2003 design sets several satellite buildings around a quadrangular garden laid out by Mariachiara Pozzana with Grassi's contribution, joined by bridges recalling the Vasari Corridor. The complex also holds the 490-seat Cosimo Ridolfi auditorium.

In 2003 the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze left its via Bufalini headquarters and built the new complex on the former Fiat area at Novoli, beside the courthouse then under construction. An international competition that year drew seven entries; Giorgio Grassi's scheme won for geometries recalling Florentine Renaissance architecture and the writings of Leon Battista Alberti.

The design shows how banking and city life can share the same space through open passages and courtyards. Visitors notice how the layout encourages people to move through and around the buildings as part of their daily routes.

The complex sits between via di Novoli and via della Torre degli Agli, beside the courthouse under construction. Buildings are grouped around a quadrangular garden and joined by linking bridges, so you pass from one block to another without returning to street level. The auditorium named for Cosimo Ridolfi seats 490 and hosts conferences and cultural events.

A continuous portico at ground level links all six buildings with mature trees growing above the underground parking structures beneath. This unusual feature demonstrates how modern infrastructure can be hidden below while preserving green space above.