This was the first residential building in Milan to be divided into two separate blocks – one with a courtyard, and one linear, divided by an internal street (Via Mangili) accessed through a tall arch.

Equipped with all the state-of-the-art features of its time, Ca’Brütta marked the passage from traditionalism to the Modern Movement in Milan.

The design was developed by the young Muzio (in the Barelli & Colonnese studio) for the garden of the former small mansion of Borghi-Milius. When the scaffolding was removed, the stylised and flattened classical elements applied to an abstract and two-dimensional box provoked a sceptical reaction from many locals, who petitioned for it to be torn down, giving it its nickname Ca’Brütta (Milanese dialect for “ugly house”).

The lower part is faced with travertine; the middle is sprayed with natural cement; and the top level is finished with pink and black Venetian stucco.

Other significant buildings by Giovanni Muzio:

Residential Building, 1930, Via Mario Giurati 5
Residential Building, 1934-1935, Via Andrea Maria Ampère 95/97/99/101
Bonaiti-Malugani Dwellings, 1935-1936, 1936, Via Giuseppe Marcora 8/10/12; Piazza della Repubblica 7/9/5 Casa dei Giornalisti, 1936, Viale Monte Santo 7; Via Andrea Appiani 23/25
Loggia and porticos of Palazzo Reale (with E.A. Griffini, P.C. Magistretti, P. Portaluppi), 1937-1942-1956, Piazza del Duomo; Via Guglielmo Marconi 1/3; Via Rastrelli 1
Casa dei Giornalisti, 1939, Via Sandro Sandri 2, on the corner of Via Montebello and Via Renzo Bertoni
Residential Building, 1940-1941, Piazza Sant’Erasmo 4
Residential Building, 1951, Corso Magenta 32, on the corner of Via San Nicolao
I.N.A. Block (with L. Muzio), 1966, Via Andrea Doria 17; Via Giulio e Corrado Venini; Via Giovanni Pier Luigi da Palestrina