Sarfatti Building, University building in Milan, Italy
The Sarfatti Building is a university structure in Milan featuring a cross-shaped floor plan with geometric precision. It contains two lion sculptures in the entrance hall and decorative bas-relief panels along its exterior porch.
The Sarfatti Building was designed by Giuseppe Pagano with Gian Giacomo Predaval and built from 1937, inaugurated on 21 December 1941. It was the first structure of Bocconi University's new campus, after the institute moved from its 1902 seat in largo Treves, founded by Ferdinando Bocconi in memory of his son Luigi, killed at Adua in 1896.
The two green glazed-ceramic lions at the Via Sarfatti entrance were made by sculptor Arturo Martini in a neo-medieval style; they guard the doorway and give the building its nickname, I Leoni. Along the porch on the same street run bas-reliefs by Leone Lodi, set at the corners as well as the sides.
The building stands at Via Sarfatti 25, on the Bocconi University campus; the nearest metro stop is Porta Romana, about ten minutes on foot, and buses and trams also serve the area. It is a working university building, so access to the interior follows the academic calendar rather than fixed visiting hours.
The two green glazed-ceramic lions at the Via Sarfatti entrance were made by sculptor Arturo Martini in a neo-medieval style; the bas-reliefs under the porch along the same street are by Leone Lodi, not Leone Todi. The cross-shaped plan is thought to draw on Walter Gropius's Bauhaus Dessau of 1925-1926.
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