Milan Arch Week is back — a week of exhibitions, talks and workshops to explore the future of cities with the leading figures of contemporary architecture. From 23 to 27 May.
After the success of last year's edition, Milan Arch Week is back — the week of events dedicated to architecture and the future of cities, running from Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 May. Urbania, uno sguardo sul futuro delle città is the title of the 2018 edition, which presents the public with a rich programme of conferences, workshops, installations, exhibitions, performances and events to reflect and debate together on the future of the dynamics of architecture and contemporary urban complexity.
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The debate will take place at three of Milan's most representative institutions for the formation of thought and discussion about the city: the Politecnico di Milano, the Triennale di Milano and the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, all three of which are promoters of the event alongside the Comune di Milano. Artistic direction is by architect Stefano Boeri, who is also president of the Triennale.
Whilst the Politecnico and the Triennale address the themes of the future of cities from a design and architectural perspective through conferences and talks by leading international architects, the Fondazione Feltrinelli explores the implications and impacts of urban transformation on citizens through the programme About a city. Places, ideas and rights for 2030 citizens (Racconti di una città. Luoghi, idee e diritti per i cittadini del 2030). The latter unfolds across four days of talks, debates, performances and screenings, "to explore the urban scenarios of the near future and an opportunity for a comparison between the city of Milan and the development models of other major international urban centres," says Massimiliano Tarantino, secretary general of the foundation. Here, administrators, policymakers, scientists, philosophers, architects, writers, urban planners and internationally renowned scholars such as architect Cino Zucchi and writer Alberto Rollo examine the link between sustainable and inclusive development, urban transformation and citizenship.
The programme, with scientific curatorship by Boeri, sociologist and economist Mauro Magatti and archaeologist Salvatore Settis, opens on Wednesday 23 May at 6:30 pm at the Politecnico di Milano in the presence of Ferruccio Resta, rector of the university, Boeri, Tarantino and Pierfrancesco Maran, Milan city councillor for urban planning, green spaces and agriculture. Lectures by architects Massimiliano Fuksas (7:00 pm) and Alberto Campo Baeza (8:00 pm) will follow. The themes to be addressed include growing diversity and questions of coexistence, minority rights and access to services; the advance of the digital, technological infrastructure and the immaterial dimension of the urban future; solutions linked to sustainable architecture and resilient, green-based approaches, for urban design in alliance with nature.
Some of the world's most important architects will take part in the packed programme of events open to the public: Pritzker Prize winners such as Jacques Herzog, author of the Fondazione Feltrinelli (24 May, 6:30 pm, Fondazione Feltrinelli), Toyo Ito (27 May, 9:00 pm, Triennale), Kazujo Sejima, designer of the new Bocconi University campus in Milan (24 May, 6:00 pm, Politecnico), Wang Shu (26 May, 6:00 pm, Triennale). Also participating are architects who are younger but no less prominent on the international scene, such as Bjarke Ingels, David Adjaye, Sou Fujimoto, Jeanne Gang, Patrick Blanc, Carrilho Da Graça, Iñaqui Carnicero, the agency Ecosistema Urbano, the collective The Decorators and Ensamble Studio.
The Milan Arch Week programme will also be enriched by collaboration with some of the most significant institutions in the Italian and international architectural and cultural landscape: from the Ordine degli Architetti di Milano to the Fondazione Prada, from Artlab (the platform promoted by the Fondazione Fitzcarraldo), to Strelka KB in Moscow. In particular, as last year the Milan order will organise the Itinerari di architettura, an exhibition dedicated to the shortlisted projects for the Premio europeo di architettura Baffa Rivolta, and Rovista la rivista, an initiative to discover vintage architecture, urban planning and design magazines and volumes.
Among the exhibitions in the programme, the Politecnico is hosting the monographic show on Carrilho da Graça curated by Andrea Gritti, and Remix curated by Marco Biraghi. On 24 May, meanwhile, Luigi Ghirri. Il paesaggio dell'architettura opened at the Triennale — a retrospective on the great photographer from Modena, curated by Michele Nastasi and the Museo di fotografia contemporanea di Cinisello Balsamo. In the same venue, visitors can also see: an exhibition by Armando Perna and Saba Innab curated by Emilia Giorgi and produced in collaboration with the Fondazione Merz, which casts a gaze on Lebanese urban space; a focus on photography, science and architecture curated by Paolo Rosselli; and the e-flux Teatrino pavilion, designed by Matteo Ghidoni. A structure in the shape of a small theatre seating around 90, topped by an extremely tall fabric roof held aloft by a hot-air balloon: a scenographic and symbolic space that explores the sense of being collectively present at the ritual of the live interview.
The mornings of Milan Arch Week will be devoted to walks, incursions, guided visits to the house museums of some of Milan's historic designers, to architecture and to the Vesparch, the urban itineraries on Vespa scooters conceived by Boeri. But also cinema, music and theatre, such as the show Veduta by Mk as part of About a city, a performance dedicated to the city and to the perspectival vision of the urban landscape, in collaboration with Triennale teatro dell'arte.
The talks will bring together Italian and international guests to debate the state of architecture and the future of cities. The relationship with big data, sustainable mobility, urban forestry, the suburbs, the transformations experienced by Milan, New York, Tirana and other cities — these are just some of the topics to be addressed. The conversations, meanwhile, will offer a dialogue between two prominent figures from the world of architecture and design: Jacques Herzog and Stefano Boeri (24 May, 8:00 pm, Fondazione Feltrinelli), Francesco Librizzi and Cino Zucchi (26 May, 5:00 pm, Triennale), David Adjaye and Stefano Boeri (27 May, 9:00 pm, Triennale), Paola Antonelli and Joseph Grima (27 May, 7:00 pm, Triennale), Alessandro Mendini and Michele De Lucchi on the occasion of Domus's 90th anniversary (26 May, 2:00 pm, Triennale), and many more.
Urbania, uno sguardo sul futuro delle città, as well as bringing the city to life for five days through a programme of events and initiatives, offers everyone food for thought and reflections on the future of living. "It is now well established that Milan is one of the most interesting cities in Europe, including when it comes to architecture," declared mayor Giuseppe Sala. "I am firmly convinced that the future must, as much as possible, be built on broad shared consensus. And moments like Milan Arch Week are fundamental."