Our values in a building: introducing the new Navigli Campus

POLIMI Graduate School of Business has a new campus and – I can’t hide it – I’m excited about it. This is a special occasion for us, in at least two ways.

The inauguration of the Navigli Campus, located in Ripa di Porta Ticinese 77 in Milan, is an important moment, testimony to the growth of POLIMI GSoM in recent years in terms of both quantity and quality.

The new building now stands alongside the Bovisa Campus in Milan, which has been operational since 2009 and which will remain the beating heart of our School, and the hubs in Rome and Paderno del Grappa. Covering almost 2,000 square meters, the building has an innovative architectural concept, designed to accommodate up to three hundred people, be they students (many of which international), lecturers and staff members.

The investment in the new campus stems from the need to welcome a growing number of students, managers and professionals who see POLIMI Graduate School of Management as a premier management training establishment, in particular those international students who also want to live in the heart of our city.

The Navigli Campus is also very important to us in that it represents not just our growth but also our change of direction.

In 2020 we embarked on a path that led us to reflect on our purpose and our values. This has helped us to understand what sort of School we want to be. This new path has led to our recent change in name and “brand”. With the new Campus, the values we have come to believe in and the ambitions we have set for ourselves have materialized in a building.

The new POLIMI GSoM campus overlooks the Naviglio Grande, one of Milan’s most lively and busy zones, an area which has recently been redeveloped. Our presence in this area sends a strong signal: it reaffirms our connection with Milan, and gives students, especially those from abroad, the best chance to seize all the opportunities that our city offers.

Attending a Business School is not an experience limited to turning up for lectures, it covers all aspects of a student’s life: personal relationships, culture, fun, networking. We believe that there is no real separation between “inside” and “outside”, between the curricular activity and all the other things that surround and complement it. We are convinced that with its infinite stimuli and international atmosphere, Milan is the ideal place to “dive into” such a world. So we are particularly pleased that this new campus has brought us closer to the heart of the city.

When one enters the building, it is like taking a journey into our new “soul”, fully living the experience of our new “brand”. The three floors of the Campus have names that describe our path of change. The Ground Floor is called MAKE. It reminds us that we want to be a Business School that can get its hands dirty and make change really happen. The First Floor is called CONNECT: here we find spaces where people can meet and interact. Finally, the Second Floor is called IGNITE: an invitation to set off the spark for a better future.

Throughout the building, technology is at the service of sharing and experimentation. Innovative and versatile spaces encourage meetings and exchanges of ideas. Students live a “blended” experience, marked by physical and digital spaces that merge. Classrooms are inspired by hybrid learning: they can be modified in terms of number, layout and capacity, depending on different needs. And with smart building and digital signage solutions, sustainability is also well catered for.

When designing the new campus, we attempted to translate the purpose “We are committed to inspire and partner innovators to shape a better future for all” and the values of our school into a physical space. However, on closer inspection, the Navigli Campus reflects not only the evolution of POLIMI Graduate School of M