AMDL CIRCLE, founded by Michele De Lucchi, presents a strategic masterplan for Palazzo Litta in Milan that seeks to open the monumental spaces of the historic building to the public while retaining its institutional role. Commissioned by the Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Lombardia, which has managed the palace since early 2025, the plan reorganizes the 17th-century complex around exhibition, cultural, and administrative functions, proposing the restoration of currently unused areas and the reopening of its long-inaccessible Monumental Garden.
Palazzo Litta | image by Melancholia~itwiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
balancing heritage and contemporary use
Located on Corso Magenta, Palazzo Litta is among Lombardy’s significant examples of Baroque architecture. Its core develops from a project by architect Francesco Maria Richini, commissioned by Bartolomeo III Arese in the first half of the 17th century. Later architectural and decorative interventions substantially altered the palace, with the most important transformation taking place in the mid-18th century, when the interiors of the piano nobile acquired the elaborate character associated with Lombard Baroque.
The building now accommodates the Milan offices of five institutions belonging to the Italian Ministry of Culture, including three superintendencies, the Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Lombardia, and the Museo nazionale dell’Arte Digitale. AMDL CIRCLE’s masterplan reorganizes their relationship with the parts of Palazzo Litta intended for cultural use. The Milan-based architecture studio‘s strategy separates circulation according to use, reorganizing vertical connections and horizontal distribution so that visitors and office users can move through the building without unnecessarily overlapping. The approach also allows spaces that have become disconnected from the contemporary life of the palace to acquire new roles.
the palazzo is among Lombardy’s significant examples of Baroque architecture | image by Chabe01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
the masterplan reorganizes the palace around public access
At ground level, the Cortile d’Onore becomes the principal threshold between Palazzo Litta and the city. The courtyard is planned as an urban court open to the public, with a ticket office, bookshop, exhibition areas, spaces presenting the sites managed by the Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Lombardia, and a new multipurpose hall.
New elevators connect the courtyard to the piano nobile and the office areas, while a direct route provides access to the garden behind the palace. In the rear buildings, the plan introduces more operational functions, including a library, conservation laboratories, artwork storage, and the export office. Archives are distributed between the basement and attic spaces. The arrangement establishes the courtyard as a point of orientation and circulation, connecting public programs with the deeper operational infrastructure required to keep a cultural institution functioning.
On the piano nobile, exhibition and event spaces are organized around a circular visitor route beginning at the monumental staircase and continuing around the Cortile d’Onore. The plan also introduces backstage areas that are currently lacking, acknowledging the practical requirements of programming exhibitions and events within a historic building. The ministerial offices remain in the more internal portion of the first floor and on the second floor, while the third floor undergoes renovation to accommodate their expansion. Guest residences for institutional and cultural use occupy the side wings and attic. New building services, including air-handling units serving the piano nobile, heat pumps, and photovoltaic panels, are placed on the roofs of the internal buildings, in areas that are less visible and had already undergone reconstruction after World War II.
the Cortile d’Onore becomes the principal threshold between Palazzo Litta and the city | image via MoscaPartners
the Monumental Garden becomes part of Palazzo Litta again
The plan also proposes restoring the 19th-century garden on the north side of Palazzo Litta, which has long been inaccessible. The intervention brings the garden back into the visitor route and allows it to host cultural events outdoors. More broadly, the masterplan reorganizes the palace around its existing mix of historic, cultural, and institutional uses, aiming to make more of the building accessible while continuing to accommodate the Ministry of Culture offices.
For De Lucchi, the challenge is to adapt the Baroque building to contemporary life while preserving its historic elements and original typology. Palazzo Litta has already changed use several times, from aristocratic residence to offices and, later, to the current Ministry of Culture headquarters. The masterplan adds another layer to this history by introducing a more public role for the building.
the building now accommodates the Milan offices of five institutions | image via MoscaPartners
archives are distributed between the basement and attic spaces | image via MoscaPartners
Lina Ghotmeh’s Metamorphosis in Motion at Palazzo Litta during Milan Design Week 2026 | image by Nathalie Krag
Nobody Owns the Land: Earth, Forest, Mahk By Byoung Soo Cho | image courtesy of MoscaPartners
A Beach in the Baroque by Aires Mateus at Palazzo Litta’s Cortile d’Onore during Milan Design Week 2021 | image © designboom
Courtyard Village by Francis Kéré, Milan Design Week 2016 | image © designboom
project info:
name: Palazzo Litta masterplan
architect: AMDL CIRCLE | @amdlcircle, founded by Michele De Lucchi
commissioner: Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Lombardia
location: Milan, Italy
The post AMDL circle plans new public life for milan’s palazzo litta appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.