Viganò planned this gated institution for delinquent youths on the basis of a new pedagogic concept. Order is demonstrated by the building’s readily comprehensible inner logic and also by the fact that the materials used are plain to see and the piping and wiring are exposed. Half-high walls ensure that larger parts of the complex are always legible as a whole. Banham praised it as “one of the major surprises of European architecture in the late fifties”.

The institute had been abandoned since around the 1980s. Then, the building has fallen into serious disrepair, has been repeatedly occupied and is now in a poor condition. The decay mainly affects the reinforced concrete works, especially the reinforcements and the concrete covers. Some of the original surfaces have already been lost. Windows are damaged or have disappeared. 

The building was listed in 2008. However, due to its condition, there were still difficulties in saving the substance of the building. In 2009, there was a project with Politecnico di Milano, supported by the Cariplo Foundation, in which concepts for a conversion into student accommodation were developed, but these could not be taken any further due to funding problems. In 2024, however, it was announced that the conservational renovation and conversion is now to be realized: The plan is to convert the building into a student residence with almost 170 places for the Fondazione Collegio delle Università Milanesi as well as a training venue for art and music. The investment amounts to almost 45 million euros. Work will begin in 2025 and is expected to be completed in spring 2028 (last updated on November 5, 2024).