Alberto Pirelli ordered the tower in 1950, and Gio Ponti was the architect, with Pier Luigi Nervi assisting and Arturo Danusso as engineer. Construction ran from 1956 to 1958. The article calls it one of the first skyscrapers to abandon the usual block form, with tapered sides and curtain wall facades on a structural skeleton.
The height is given as 417 feet (127 m) to the spire, 407 feet (124 m) to the roof and 371 feet (113 m) to the top floor. It has 32 floors, including two below ground, and used about 30,000 cubic meters of concrete. The base footprint is 248 by 67 feet (75.5 by 20.5 m).
On April 18, 2002 a small aircraft struck it, killing the pilot and two people inside. The Lombardy regional government bought it in 1978 and uses it for offices.
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