Villa Malpensata was built in the half of the eighteenth century according to the style that at that time characterized the monumental and landscape rearrangement of the banks of the great alpine lakes.

Used from 1893 onwards as a museum, it became in 1973 the permanent seat of the Art Museum and an appreciated site of temporary exhibitions of different kinds, often also of great success. 
Completely restructured it accommodates from 2016 the Museum of Cultures.  The restoration, started in 2014, involved - in addition to the main building - both the two buildings that flank it to the north, intended for offices and the research and documentation center, and the garden terrace to the south, reorganized to accommodate the open spaces of the museum, the cafeteria and the raised terrace that leads to the new main entrance.

All the spaces have been rearranged according to international climatic and museum-technical standards and equipped with the best safety conditions.