Acquario Civico e Stazione Idrobiologica di Milano

This guide traces the Acquario Civico back to Milan's 1906 International Exposition, when 225 throwaway pavilions went up in Sempione Park for a fair celebrating the new Simplon Tunnel. It explains why architect Sebastiano Locati had to build this one pavilion in cement, brick and artificial stone rather than the wood and canvas used everywhere else, and points out the Neptune facade by Oreste Labo, the hippopotamus fountain by Giovanni Chini and the Richard-Ginori floral tiles around them. The building also took damage in the Anglo-American bombing of Milan in August 1943, so look closely at the facade for what has been rebuilt since.