Armani/Teatro (アルマーニ・テアトロ)

Giorgio Armani wanted to turn the former Nestlé factory in Milan into a theatre able to hold a thousand people. Tadao Ando recalls receiving his call in 1998; Armani then showed him the place himself. The building was inaugurated in 2001 as Teatro Armani.

It stands at 59 Via Bergognone, directly opposite Armani/Silos, the house's museum, opened in 2015 at number 40 of the same street. That museum hosted the 2019 exhibition "The Challenge" devoted to Ando, which counts the theatre among its fifty projects.

The building was once a Nestlé chocolate works, in the Porta Genova area of Milan. From the outside it looks almost unchanged, apart from a modest "Armani" sign.

Inside, the concrete shell is fitted out sparely: sliding glass screens, walls lined with columns, free-standing monolithic blocks and curved dividing walls. The vaulted ceiling, lit from concealed coves, has been opened up in places to expose the building's original steel frame. The palette is a stark grey, signature of the Armani house.

The theatre is used for the Armani house's fashion shows, notably during Milan Fashion Week.