Palazzo della Camera del Lavoro: Former Fascist Industrial Unions Headquarters in Milan
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Italian
- Site type
- Civic
On this page10 sections
History
Palazzo della Camera del Lavoro is a monumental building in Milan, Italy, constructed between 1930 and 1933 as the headquarters of the Fascist Industrial Unions. Its monumentalism, an architectural approach based on imposing scale, symmetry, and formal axial composition, expressed the institutional ambitions of Italy’s Fascist regime. The building was originally known as the Palazzo dei Sindacati dell’Industria.
Competition and construction
A competition for the new public headquarters was announced in 1928 for a union representing approximately 500,000 workers. The jury placed the design titled “Anno VIII” first. It was prepared by Angelo Bordoni, Luigi Caneva, and Antonio Carminati. Designs by Fabbroni and Winderling, and by Marelli and Casale, received second and third place.
The project was commissioned by the National Confederation of Fascist Industrial Unions. Bordoni, Caneva, and Carminati served as architects, Raffaello Albani as engineer, and the Rusconi Carlo enterprise as contractor. The building permit was issued on 8 July 1930. Construction continued until 1933, and the occupancy permit issued on 5 December 1933 marked the completion of the works.
Postwar transformation
After 1945, following the fall of Fascism, the building underwent substantial architectural and structural alterations. These changes removed its Fascist commemorative features while retaining the building for institutional use. It remains known as the Palazzo della Camera del Lavoro.
Remains
The building occupies an approximately square site of about 2,000 square metres on Corso di Porta Vittoria, between the Palazzo di Giustizia and Piazza Cinque Giornate. Its U-shaped plan opens toward the street, with two lateral wings enclosing a raised central square and a tower at the rear. The wings originally had four storeys and were later increased to five.
Central square and tower
Raised square
The open part of the U-shaped plan contains a central square positioned approximately 1.5 metres above street level. Beneath it is a large hall originally intended for plenary meetings, with capacity for up to 2,000 people. Its construction required careful waterproofing and an iron reinforcement system because nearby waterways caused substantial groundwater fluctuations and upward water pressure. The size of the hall also required structural arrangements capable of carrying the heavy loads imposed on its ceiling.
Central tower
The central tower forms the backdrop to the square. It was originally 48 metres high and was approached by two identical, symmetrical staircases leading to the first-floor entrance hall. The tower was later raised by one storey, while the arcades and architectural screens that formed part of its terrace were removed.
Entrances and commemorative decoration
Lateral entrances
Two additional entrances open onto the lateral streets of Via Dandolo and Via Savaré. Via Savaré was still under construction when the building itself was erected, forming part of the later development of its immediate setting.
Reliefs and fasces
The lateral wings originally carried oblique fasces, the Roman-derived emblem of bound rods surrounding an axe that became a principal symbol of Italian Fascism. They also displayed two high-relief works, The March on Rome and The Charter of Labour. The first referred to the Fascist seizure of political power in Italy in October 1922, while the second represented the 1927 Fascist statement on labour, production, and the corporatist organization of the economy. Mario Sironi designed the works, which were executed by the sculptors Carlo Bertolazzi and Silvio Zaniboni.
After 1945, the reliefs and fasces were removed as part of the building’s post-Fascist transformation. A faint trace of the fasces remains in the current decoration.
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