STUDIO

Architect Paolo Asti was born in Milan on 4 September 1963 and graduated in Architecture with a degree in design at the Milan Polytechnic in 1990.

In 2004 he founded in Milan his studio “Asti Architetti”, today located in Via Sant’Orsola 8.

The studio’s activity ranges from residential to commercial or tertiary sector, and it is focused on the field of integrated architectural design with a keen interest in buildings, perceived in their organic unity, and in view of the redevelopment of entire historic buildings built in the heart of Milan between the 1930s and the 1960s.

Paolo Asti is the architect of real estate, of private clients, including banks, insurance companies, and big real estate operators who envisage the investments in the city as great business opportunities and, above all, he is an accurate and sensitive professional who deals with the historical building renovation and restoration to a useable condition, trying to interpret the urban regulations in force and the current demands of living in the best possible way and, furthermore, he has carved out a key role for himself as “re-qualifier and transformer of what is existing” with the intent of giving buildings a new life, while being aware that buildings in themselves have a potential historical continuity which does not necessarily have to go through demolition.

OUR COLLABORATORS

Adamo Federica, Alessandrini Patrizia, Antenore Paola, Bartoli Raffaella, Bazzi Laura, Benaglia Debora, Benedetto Alessandro, Bettinelli Erica, Bonaventura Maria Teresa, Bonfigliuoli Sara, Bradanini Luca, Bruno Gallo Serena, Chiarini Ludovica, Costamagna Luigi, Cova Anna, De Bellis Mariangela, De Ponti Andrea, Figliuolo Maria Antonia, Francario Iolanda, Galvalisi Camilla, Giampietro Lorenzo, Giocoli Enzo, Godoy Paula, Kielland Alessandra, Lioce Gregorio, Mapelli Luca, Mazzolini Sergio, Meyrat Alessandra, Mirizzi Ivan, Muscio Simone, Novelli Giovanni, Panelli Davide, Pastore Luca, Persiani Monica, Quinté Simona, Romeo Alessandro, Rosazza Alberto, Rosso Tommaso, Rusconi Arianna, Scarvaci Riccardo, Schianchi Elisa, Selvetti Elisa, Signorelli Mattia, Sinopoli Sergio, Spiriti Sara, Talo' Alessandro, Viglianisi Stella, Zita Matteo, Zonco Paola.

34. Bossi 2
35. Ceresio 7
36. Piranesi 38
37. San Fedele 1-3
38. Porta Romana 13
39. Velasca 7-9
40 Alserio 10
41. De Cristoforis 6
42. Giotto 5
43. Pola 4
44. Muratori 27
45. Amedei 9
46. Vasari 19
47. Crescenzago 105
48. Del Lauro 1
49. Borgonuovo 26
50. Monte Grappa 20
51. Sandro Sandri 1
52. Del Bollo 6
53. Pola 2
54. Torino 44
55. Meda 3-5
56. Plezzo 24
57. Italia 13
58. Bisceglie 76
59. Manzoni 38
60. Borgospesso 15
61. Manin 3-5
62. Dell'Orso 20
63. Europa 2
64. Cairoli 2

Projects for Milan

Since 2005 the Asti Architetti studio’s mission has been only one: to give new life to the Milan buildings. The 64 projects that follow were carried out over a period of just 15 years and fit into the dense fabric of the historic centre, by contributing to increase the widespread architectural quality. Grafts, transformations, renovations or demolitions which, by improving the visual and planivolumetric impact of the buildings concerned, in addition to their performance and energy capacity, increase their real estate value. For Asti Architetti the design philosophy, common to all their projects in Milan, aims to renew historical buildings and regenerate the urban fabric in a balanced way but without camouflage, without sacrificing “doing architecture”. After all, dealing with the built environment requires a profound dialectical comparison. The challenge is to “act into and onto the existing building” with a contemporary and clearly recognizable language, consistent with the memory of the place. It is a re-functionalisation of architecture according to the real estate current needs to give the building a new appeal on the market. The intervention is global: from the redesign of the façades to the redefinition of the has committed himself to leave an important andinterior spaces with appropriate divisions of the apartments and an optimized surface area. It continues through the design of the common parts with quality details and the inclusion of greenery where possible, as well as the enhancement of the ground floor to host public and private activities in direct contact with the city. All projects aim at fitting and transforming extremely stratified pieces of historical fabric of the centre of Milan in a respectful way.

In fact, even in their different morphology, the interventions intentionally relate to the context. “Starting from the identification of the features of the surroundings, my work develops from an interpretation of the existing building and the urban fabric, trying to identify the dominant structural elements. Then, depending on the customer’s needs, ‘commercial works’ of absolute dignity can be made, in the belief that an operation that is structurally and technically well integrated, in terms of use, in the city context can work optimally also on the market. The attempt is to guarantee continuity in the life of the city”. Over the last ten years of profound transformation of his city Paolo Asti, being a “ Milanese” and an “architect”, responsible contribution through his work. “I am proud to be part of this ‘Milanese Renaissance’ as the creator of precise interventions which, even in their discreet character, have renewed the urban landscape”. In fact, the “new” has always been part of the DNA of a city like Milan which is able to metabolize it more than anywhere else. “Here the building has shaken off its concept of ‘static’ to become a fluid reality to be transformed and enhanced,” claims Paolo Asti. Therefore, beyond the most extraordinary projects, such as Porta Nuova and City Life, which have redesigned a new skyline, Milan has changed its skin also and above all thanks to a dense interstitial design of the old city centre where “the new” can live in symbiosis with “the existing” in a respectful dialogue, as this book clearly shows. Paolo Asti’s projects leave a recognizable mark in a Milan that is eager to renew itself, in continuity with changing historical needs.