The institutional headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce is located in Bergamo Bassa, within the complex that is now considered the “living room of the city,” the hub of strolling and commerce.
Its history is closely linked to that of the Piacentiniano Center: in fact, it was designed by architects Piacentini and Angelini (1912-1927) precisely to be a business center that would include the Palace of Justice, the Bank of Italy and the Chamber of Commerce.
The area where it now stands was once the site of city fairs, which drew merchants and exhibitors not only from the city, but also from the valleys and the plains.
Over the centuries, however, its use was reduced until it was limited to fair periods only; by the early 1900s, the area was in a state of disrepair.
It was then that it was decided to redevelop it completely.
Between 1912 and 1914, the first building was constructed, intended for the Bank of Italy.
Seguirono la Torre dei caduti, il Credito Italiano e infine il palazzo della Camera di Commercio (1924), progettata e realizzata da Luigi Angelini.
Il primo mattone del blocco di edifici sul Sentierone fu posato invece nel 1925, mentre nel 1926-27 arrivarono la Banca Bergamasca (affidata a Giovanni Muzio per l’architettura e la decorazione interna), il Palazzo di Giustizia e quello delle Poste e Telegrafi.
Completed in 1925, the chamber building is an elegant building, characterized according to Fernando Noris ‘…by cultured classical quotations reworked with a subtle and refined modernity, reconnecting the city’s artistic and architectural past to contemporary times’.
Luigi Angelini’s work went as far as designing, down to the smallest details, even the building’s minor components, such as flooring, roofing, staircase handrails, wrought-iron gates, window frames and capitals.
In its halls and offices today are works of art of considerable value, a heritage that testifies to the happy bond and strong relationship with the cultural environment of the province.
Thus, the Chamber of Commerce building represents an’excellence in the artistic heritage Bergamasque.