[1] The word "arengario" refers to its original function as a local government seat in the Fascist period.

The Arengario was designed by Piero Portaluppi, Giovanni Muzio, Pier Giulio Magistretti and Enrico Agostino Griffini.

The palaces were meant to be connected by an arch to insinuate symmetry with the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II entrance across the Piazza.

Construction began in 1936, but experienced several delays and suffered from the World War II bombings; it was eventually completed in 1956.

In the 2000s, the palace was restored and adapted by Italo Rota and Fabio Fornasari to house the Museo del Novecento, a museum of twentieth-century art inaugurated in 2010, especially renowned for its unique collection of Futurist paintings.