ABSTRACT

In January 1632, the Chapter of the Venerable Factory of the Dome, one of the biggest property owners in Milan, decided to put up for sale a property with two apartments and five workshops. 1 To establish the value of the property, situated in one of the most important marketplaces of the city, 2 the Chapter consulted Carlo Buzzi, a member of the College of Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors in Milan (hereafter referred to as ‘the College’), an institution founded in 1563 following the forced closure of a Universitas, in existence since the Middle Ages. 3 Carlo Buzzi paid a visit to the property and prepared a report in which he used only one evaluation criterion: the capitalization at 5 per cent of the sum of the rents from the apartments and workshops. 4