41. Milano, La Citta Ideale (2013)

Milano (2022):

'During my first residence at m Politecnico di Milano as Visiting Scholar in 2012 I was placed in "la residencia Archimede", Via Gariliano no.3, Milano. The suburb is known as Isola (the Island), which ironically has become well connected and quite trendy with wine and jazz bars. Isola is adjacent to Garibaldi Train Station and only two stops from Politecnico's Bovisa Campus, my first campus at Milano. Near Residenza Archimede there were two impressive towers under construction near completion ... claiming to be the first "vertical forest".

The design ensured to accommodate leafy vegetation with balconies of double and triple height holding all sorts of vegetation.

The area is know as Porta Nuova and the planning and design has been carried out by the likes of SOM, Libdeskin (NY Ground Zero), Cesar Pelli, (the Petronas Towers in Malaysia) and so on. My favorite spots include the Brera quartier, around the Duomo, Piazza Castello, la Colonne di San Lorenzo, Naviglio Grande and Porta Ticinese.... and I am sure there is a lot left to discover.

Extract from my travel diary (May 7th 2013).

Since those early years in Isola, Milano I have returned many times. My last long stay was in 2017 near Politecnico Leonardo Campus where I ran an architecture class with my architects friends Massimiliano Nastri (formerly at Renzo Piano's in Genova and Paris) and Luisa Scambia (formerly at Foster+Partners in London). I have since returned many times to Milano but for shorter stays, as these days I have chosen to run my architecture and design studios of the campus in Mantua (Mantova), the a beautiful small city south of Verona (where Romeo found the poison, not to mention Juliette). Saying that, I always love returning to Milano and much enjoy all the culture, food, architecture and amazing things it has to offer!

Alla prossima volta Milano!  

Guillermo Aranda-Mena Ⓒ2023