Milan wins the Wallpaper design award 2019, positioning itself as city of the year according to the British magazine that recognises the vanguard of design, architecture and art.
Milan is city of the year for design, architecture and art. The Lombard capital has won the Wallpaper design award, a prize established by the prestigious British trade magazine to identify the best work achieved in these fields internationally over the preceding twelve months. Milan takes first place in a highly competitive ranking, overtaking Canada's Vancouver, China's Shanghai, Finland's Helsinki and Sharjah, a city in the United Arab Emirates.
Among the judges of the well-known awards are Paola Antonelli, Italian designer and architect and curator of architecture and design at the Moma, New York's museum of contemporary art, Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, founder of studio Big, Philippe Malouin, named designer of the year 2018 by Wallpaper itself, and internationally acclaimed Korean artist Do Ho Suh. In its reasoning for awarding the prize to Milan, Wallpaper cites the new architectural works that have altered the skyline and appearance of the city, whose urban landscape has evolved to combine its traditional grandeur with a contemporary architectural language; works that feature the most prominent international designers and whose effects are influencing and renewing the metropolis's lifestyle, habits and attitude.
"Enlightened figures from the fashion world such as Miuccia Prada and Giorgio Armani have left their mark with projects that are developing into key destinations for art and culture – reads Wallpaper –. The Torre Prada, designed by studio Oma, was one of the most anticipated openings in Europe last year, making its debut with works by Carsten Höller and Jeff Koons, while the Armani empire includes the Museo Armani/Silos and the Armani Hotel. Moshe Tabibnia's Building gallery, recognised as a centre of excellence in the field of antique textile art and an international point of reference for admirers of carpets, tapestries and high-period fabrics, has stimulated the contemporary art scene, while the long-running restoration project of the Cavallerizze designed by Luca Cipelletti has given a decisive new direction to the Museo nazionale della scienza e della tecnologia. Meanwhile, Herzog & de Meuron's Porta Volta development, the Apple Store by Foster + Partners, the Torre Generali by Zaha Hadid architects and Piuarch studio's Gucci headquarters see the urban landscape evolving to combine its traditional grandeur with a contemporary architectural language".
Among the cultural attractions, those dedicated to design and contemporary art come out on top: the British publication highlights the Salone del Mobile, the Miart fair, the Triennale and the Fondazione Prada. Prominence was also given to Arch week, an event in the Yes Milano programme that held its second edition last May. The prestigious magazine finally cites the most interesting works still under construction, among them the Torre PwC by star architect Daniel Libeskind, the new Bocconi university campus and the Museo di arte etrusca by studio Mario Cucinella.
Industry insiders are rewarding us as a city living through a period of exciting transformation, projected into the future thanks to its excellence in the fields of culture and education. Milan is the city of design thanks to its most prestigious institutions, starting with the Politecnico, and to world-class events such as the Salone del Mobile. In recent years it has been reborn precisely through the projects of leading international architecture studios. This is a golden moment for us, and one we intend to continue. Our transformation of the city has only just begun.Beppe Sala, mayor of Milan
After being named the queen of Italian smart cities by the ICity Rate 2018 ranking, the Lombard capital was recently also recognised by Il Sole 24Ore for quality of life in Italy's provinces. The 2018 edition did indeed crown Milan as the best Italian city, whose wellbeing was "measured" on the basis of various indicators and areas of investigation: business and work, environment and services, demographics and society, justice and security, culture and leisure. In the case of the Wallpaper design award, on the other hand, it is essentially the city's cultural dynamism that has distinguished itself at a global level.