We are a Research Center
We foster reflection on the significant issues of contemporaneity and investigate the transformations that concern us as citizens. By combining historical sources, research, and public dissemination, we cultivate novel ideas and perspectives to imagine possible futures and provide a space for in-depth exploration, entertainment, and interaction open to everyone.
With the same attitude of questioning and dismantling certainties that guided our founder Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, we address topics such as globalization, sustainability, politics, rights, work, and cities. We position ourselves as a platform for inclusion and dialogue among academics, local actors, and communities.
Our research center houses an archive, a library, a reading room, offices, and a bookstore.
The Multifunctional Hall is the hub of our activities, including public events, exhibitions, reviews, educational workshops, screenings, and performances.
We are an Archive
In over 70 years, we have built a unique archival heritage. With 1.5 million items, 250,000 volumes, 17,500 periodical titles, and 15,000 posters, our catalog brings together internationally significant sources, valuable for reinterpreting the social history of modern and contemporary Europe, as well as delving into themes of social justice, multiculturalism, citizenship, activism, and forms of representation.
Our documentation center is open to the public and fuels research and cultural production through collaborations, publications, and events.
We are a Library
W
e are an open book, rich with stories and characters. The first chapter tells the life of Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, the heart of our archive.
The volumes preserved in our library reflect his sensitivity and that of the group of young scholars who have ‘built’ this institution and have emerged as protagonists in Italian cultural life and European historiography.
Bibliographic collections, in-depth studies, and a digital library.
Giangiacomo Feltrinelli
H e left a profound mark on Italian culture and publishing. Creating culture, for him, meant being an active part of change. As the founder of the Cooperativa del libro popolare in 1949, he believed that a country’s level of civilization depended on what people read. For this reason, through his publishing house and the Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation, he made literature accessible to the general public and took on the challenge of ‘bringing the world home’ without sacrificing cultural identity. Giangiacomo Feltrinelli was a modern publisher and a committed intellectual who expanded opportunities for discussion, and highlighted voices and public themes. His legacy encourages us to discover, question, actively engage with the world, and take a stance.
Stories that are part of mine.
Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, culture as a promise for the future
Our History
We are an institution in constant evolution: first a Library, then an Institute, and finally a Foundation, into which Giangiacomo Feltrinelli poured his energies, intelligence, commitment, resources, and creativity from 1949 onward. Not alone, but by selecting young intellectuals, scholars, and collaborators willing to embark on an ‘almost desperate endeavor,’ a project capable of sustaining itself and continuing to grow after him.
This video from the Archivio Luce documents the inauguration of a collection of 200,000 volumes dedicated to European social history at the Feltrinelli Institute on March 31, 1961. An important testament to the cultural heritage and mission of the Foundation.
Our Headquarters
You can find us in Milan, at Viale Pasubio 5, in the new headquarters designed by the international architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron and inaugurated in 2016: 2,700 square meters over five floors with multifunctional spaces.
The structure
- Ground floor: 400 sqm Bookstore featuring Feltrinelli books.
- First floor: Multifunctional Hall for conferences, screenings and performances.
- Third floor: Offices.
- Fourth floor: Rooms for meetings and seminars.
- Top floor: Reading room with multimedia sections.
- -2 floor: Archive (open for public festivals and for pre-booked guided tours).
Contacts
For info about our spaces, please call +39 024958341 or send an email to spazi@fgfservizi.it, rossella.pompa@fgfservizi.it.
Viale Pasubio, 5
20154 Milano
Tax ID code: 80041090152
Telephone: +39 02 4958341
How to reach us:
M2 Garibaldi – Moscova, M5 Garibaldi – Monumentale
Stazione ferroviaria Milano Porta Garibaldi / Tram 10 – 33