The Mondadori Palace consists of three main elements emerging from an artificial lake designed by landscape architect
Pietro Porcinai - a long five-story glass box containing the offices and newsrooms suspended under sweeping concrete arches, and two smaller curved ancillary structures with more organic shapes. The inspiration from Niemeyer's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasilia is apparent in the concrete arched colonnade, however the implementation is distinct. Rather than sitting directly on the ground, in the Mondadori Palace the 38m wide x 200m long glass box is fully suspended from the arches above, housing flexible open plan office space and floating 13m above the water. This produces a sense of lightness contrasting the solidity of the concrete. The massive concrete arches have an irregular undulating rhythm unlike the regular modular bays in Brasilia. Niemeyer stated: This irregular colonnade has been likened to "musical rhythm" and is one of the most distinctive elements of Niemeyer's design. The building reflects Niemeyer's "plastic symbolism", with the curving concrete structure fused seamlessly to the aesthetic form in a way that would have been impossible with traditional materials. The Mondadori Palace represents the productive collaboration between architect, structural engineer, and contractor that characterized many of Niemeyer's projects. Sitting in the artificial lake in front of the entrance is a large steel sculpture entitled "Colonna dai grandi fogli" (in English: "Column of Large Sheets") by artist
Arnaldo Pomodoro, dedicated to the power of communication. == Significance ==