The Palazzo delle Stelline, where the Foundation is located, is one of the most rooted historical place in Milanese history, opposite the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie where is placed The last supper of Leonardo da Vinci, and  is one of the most striking features of Milan’s urban fabric.
It was once the whole complex of the suppressed monastery of St. Maria della Stella, then – in the 1600 - having become a public institution for housing and educating orphan girls (the “Stelline”), by the will of San Carlo Borromeo.
Today the palace - bound up indissolubly with the history and culture of Milan and outstanding figures such as  Leonardo da Vinci and Saint Carlo Borromeo, as well as more contemporary personages such as  like Paolo Grassi  who here founded his School of Dramatic Art -  has undergone profound structural changes and uses.
Purchased by the city of Milan to become the headquarters of the International Institute for Management Technology, the corresponding section at number 61 was restored to a design by the architect Jan Battistoni in the Seventies.
The whole project was faithful to the original structure of the building and retains its original features, the stone staircases, the passages in the cloister and the magnolia in the centre, which has become its symbol.
In 1986 the Lombardy Region and the City of Milan established the Stelline Foundation, in order to maintain and enhance the refurbished Palace, encourage the development of nationally and internationally social and economic, cultural enterprises, and from the last years in order to promote exhibitions devoted to contemporary and 20th century art.