CRA and Italo Rota transform Mondadori offices into playful landscape

CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, in collaboration with the late Italo Rota and Maestro Technology, has redesigned the interiors of Oscar Niemeyer's Palazzo Mondadori in Segrate, Milan. The project reconfigures over 20,000 square meters across five floors, involving more than 1,300 original USM modular furniture units that were disassembled and reassembled with wood additions. New elements include plant containers and transparent meeting rooms to enhance natural light and connection to the surrounding park designed by Pietro Porcinai. Carlo Ratti, curator of the 2025 Architecture Biennale, stated that offices must become more like playgrounds to encourage physical interaction. The intervention is part of a broader renovation program for the Mondadori Group headquarters, built between 1968 and 1975. CRA's previous workplace innovations include the Fondazione Agnelli in Turin, Zambon headquarters in Milan, and ILOW complex for Bouygues in Paris La Défense.