Designed by architect Francesco Leoni and engineer Carlo Liguori and built between 1938 and 1939, the building originally served as a seaside holiday camp for boys and girls from all over Italy during the summer. Its distinctive aeroplane-shaped layout was designed to pay homage to Gabriele d'Annunzio's 'Impresa di Fiume' (Fiumian Expedition). Converted into a hospital during the Second World War, it was later returned to its original use as a holiday camp before becoming the focus of a major restoration project that will transform it into the headquarters of the University of Chieti-Pescara's laboratories.

Entrance reserved for FAI members.

This modernist landmark, a reinforced concrete water pump, is located in the Terralba Plain in Sardinia, which was reclaimed in the 1930s. The area was transformed from marshland into fertile farmland, and this building, designed by the engineer Flavio Scano, has become one of its symbols. The measured gestures of the cornices accentuate the curved and asymmetrical straight lines of the complex, in which elements of rationalism and futurist influences can be recognised. The guided tour organised by FAI is a unique opportunity to visit the building, which is usually off limits, and which is still in use today.

While Villa Necchi Campiglio is one of FAI’s most famous properties in Milan, the villa that Piero Portaluppi designed for his sister in the Lombard heath is less known. Built between 1932 and 1934, the estate spreads across 17 hectares of land inhabited by deer and fallow deer. Conceived as a hunting lodge, it combines elegant, restrained lines with refined interior spaces, opened up by large windows that ensure continuity with the outdoors. Portaluppi’s signature can be seen in some of the original furnishings and in the meticulous choice of materials.

Casa L'Orto is an 18th-century house built by the ancestors of Carol LeWitt, wife of the American artist Sol LeWitt. In the 1970s, Sol LeWitt restored the building, transforming it into an artists' retreat and designing an organic vegetable garden that blends the house into the Mediterranean landscape. Inside, he created two large murals, which he completed on the day of his death on 8 April 2007 in New York. The house has a multi-level structure with terraces and courtyards that interact with light and sea views, and traditional materials have been reinterpreted in a contemporary style. Thus, Casa L'Orto combines historical memory, landscape and creativity, and is now a key location for artist residencies and cultural projects.

Among the three skyscrapers that redesign the CityLife skyline, the Libeskind Tower – also known as Il Curvo – is the project with which Daniel Libeskind reinterpreted the theme of the contemporary office tower. Completed in 2020 and now home to PwC Italia, the building stands out for its slightly curved shape, inspired by Michelangelo's Pietà Rondanini, and follows the elliptical outline of the square below. During the FAI Days, it will be possible to gain extraordinary access to some areas that are not normally open to visitors.

Admission reserved for FAI members, by reservation only.

Designed by Gio Ponti, Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini, the Rai headquarters on Corso Sempione were conceived in the late 1930s as a building for EIAR radio, and were completed after the war. The first official Italian television broadcast was made from here in 1954. Organised around recording studios, offices and technical spaces, the complex reflects the rational and functional language of Ponti's architecture. Domus recently featured this masterpiece, characterised by its continuous handrail, in a special in-depth article.

Admission is by reservation only

The Margherita Theatre, which overlooks the seafront of Bari, was built between 1912 and 1914 based on a design by the engineer Francesco De Giglio. The building was conceived as an ingenious response to the ban on constructing new theatres in the Bari area — to circumvent the restriction, it was built directly on the sea. It rests on reinforced concrete pillars fixed into the seabed, making it the world's only stilt theatre. 

Originally opened in 1959 as the Stadio San Paolo, this sports facility in the Fuorigrotta district was designed by the architects Carlo Cocchia and Luigi Corradi for the Mediterranean Games. It was expanded in the 1980s for the 1990 World Cup and officially named after Diego Armando Maradona in 2020. During the opening ceremony, visitors will also be able to view large murals by the artist Jorit depicting the champion and the neighbourhood's popular identity.

Located in the heart of Vicenza's manufacturing district, the Bisazza Foundation is an exhibition space dedicated to exploring the dialogue between contemporary art and design. Designed by architect Carlo Dal Bianco, the building transforms old industrial spaces into venues for exhibitions and installations. The permanent collection includes pieces by Alessandro Mendini, Ettore Sottsass, Richard Meier and John Pawson. The foundation is continuously expanding, and in 2015 it inaugurated an area dedicated to architectural photography, further enriching its exhibition programme.

In the heart of Trentino, the Mach Foundation houses a lesser-known work by Carlo Scarpa: the Venetian architect renovated the agricultural institute's wine centre here between 1964 and 1966. The 17-hectare campus stands on the site of a former 12th-century Augustinian convent. During the visit, you will have the opportunity to explore the school's teaching spaces and state-of-the-art equipment, as well as the large historic wine cellar and paintings by South Tyrolean artist Hans Rabenschneider, which are preserved in the rooms of the former monastery.