Istituto Marchiondi Spagliardi, Educational institute in Baggio district, Milan, Italy.

Istituto Marchiondi Spagliardi is a former reform school in the Baggio district of Milan, built between 1955 and 1957 to Vittoriano Viganò's design. Its load-bearing structure of exposed reinforced concrete, cast with metallic formwork, remains visible throughout; a 20x80 cm rectangular beam supports 60 cm wide blades, and red is the dominant colour.

The institution dates from the 19th century, when it occupied a hexagonal building at Via Quadronno 26 in central Milan; among its pupils was the painter Giovanni Segantini. That building was demolished after World War II bombings, and the institute moved to Via Noale in Baggio in 1952, taking the name Marchiondi Spagliardi. In 1954 the Opera Pia Istituti Riuniti Marchiondi Spagliardi e Protezione dei Fanciulli held a competition for a new complex for boys aged six to sixteen, won by Vittoriano Viganò, whose project was built from 1955 with engineer Silvano Zorzi handling the structures.

Viganò called the Marchiondi a "school of life" rather than a reformatory: he removed bars and used open spaces to encourage democratic socialisation. The red colour and exposed concrete were meant to give the building a vital energy, and he recalled the boys' joy as they took possession of the lockers and clothes racks.

The complex stands on Via Noale in the Baggio district, on Milan's western edge, and is not open as a regular school. The building has been under heritage protection and subject to unauthorised occupations, so it is seen from the street rather than visited inside. Look for the exposed concrete frame and the red colouring from the perimeter.

Viganò said the people who truly understood the Marchiondi were not the organisers, school authorities or architecture critics who praised it, but the boys themselves; he recalled their shout of joy as they swarmed inside and took possession of the lockers and clothes racks. A campaign by Vittorio Sgarbi led to the building being placed under architectural protection, and its full recovery is entrusted to the Politecnico di Milano.