ENTITRE

a tribute to physical matter in the digital age.

Capucine Falgas 13/09/2020 Capucine Falgas 13/09/2020

Fondazione Feltrinelli & Microsoft House

The Feltrinelli Fondation’s new building in the district of Porta Volta is a great example of how a positive social impact project can revitalise a neglected neighborhood and bring innovation through a combined architectural and urban solution.

Designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron, the modern glass building appears naked, like a skeleton where structure, space and façade coincide. The building’s minimalism brings to mind Milan’s medieval and gothic tradition, whereas the long stretched structure and repetitive window pattern echoes the region’s more rural Cascina architecture.

A third of the building is dedicated to the Giacommo Feltrinelli Fondation which combines the publishing group’s public bookshop and coffee shop, multipurpose hall for events and outstanding library compromised of more than 1.5 million archival items on historical, political, economic and social sciences matters. The Foundation is not only a place of study, research and conservation it prides itself in offering innovative educational and cultural activities such as exhibitions, conferences, plays, film screenings and concerts.

The rest of the building is occupied by Microsoft Italy and acts as their headquarters. Unlike most offices, three floors are open to the public: the ground floor, an open showroom showcasing Microsoft’s latest technologies, the first floor which houses the Microsoft Technology centre, an experiential centre for companies, startups and professionals to share ideas and discuss innovation and the Digital Classroom floor which provides a multimedia environment for students and teachers to learn about the latest education technologies. The rest of the building is allocated to Microsoft employees and combines open plan workstations with different areas designed for various workflows.

The ground on which the The Feltrinelli & Microsoft House is built used to be a wasteland and hadn’t been touched since the Second World War when Milan was severely bombed. Today the project is not only revitalizing the Porta Vera district, it is also honouring Milan’s past heritage, with the conservation of the former 16th century gate built during the Spanish occupation.

The Prada Foundation experience

Largo Isarco

It’s the middle of August 2020, the outside temperature is 38°C and the streets of Milan are mostly empty and quiet. Closed signs can be seen hanging from shop windows and tourists are scarce on account of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.

But in Milan’s industrial Largo Isarco neighborhood ever since the arrival of the Fondation Prada in 2015, there’s trepidation in the air - real estate projects are soaring, showcasing the region’s current potential and attractivity.

The Prada Foundation

The Prada Fondation is the work of OMA, Rem Koolhaas’s international architecture practice along with its research branch AMO. The project consisted in converting an old distillery from 1910 which included the renovation of seven existing buildings and the construction of three news ones (Podium, Cinema and Torre) into a new arts centre over 19 000 square meters.

In comparison with other museums, the Prada Fondation’s specificity and originality lies in its capacity to offer an infinite number of spatial typologies available to present art.

The Torre is the complex’s final architectural element and most adaptable space. The 60m white rectangular tower allows for extensive freedom of display on every level, with a wide variety of ceiling heights from 2,7m to 8m and an infinity of modular configurations. The signature tower, also known for its trendy restaurant with an unprecedented view of Milan is the Prada Foundation’s latest building, it was inaugurated in 2018 and beautifully completes the art complex.

The Fondation’s Haunted House is another captivating space. Unlike the Torre, this space was not built from scratch but simply renovated and covered in gold-leaf. It creates an unbelievable impression on the imagination and superbly highlights the old distillery’s simple structure and design.

Facing the radiant Haunted House is the Fondation’s café Bar Luce, imagined by non other than filmmaker Wes Anderson. The café was inspired by Italian popular culture and aesthetics from the 1950s and 1960s and includes a range of colours and formica furniture echoing Anderson’s short film Castello Cavalcanti (2013).

Today, the Fondation Prada is one of the largest privately-funded contemporary art museum’s in Europe with approximately 13,000 square meters of exhibition space creating new opportunities for Milan’s industrial district where culture and production go hand in hand, bringing activity back to city centers.

Art, fashion and friars on the Piazza del Carmine

Situated on the Piazza del Carmine, just off the via Vetero in the historic district of Brera, the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Milan is well worth the visit.

The Church’s beautiful neo-gothic facade imagined and completed in 1880 by architect Carlo Maciachini (famous for his design of Milan’s Monumental Cemetery) is truly captivating. Its foundations date back to the late 13th century when the Carmelite Friars first settled in the region, but the current edification (besides the facade) was designed by friar and architect Bernardo da Venezia and in the late 14th century and took more than 50 years to build.

The Church of Santa Maria del Carmine was named after the religious Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel in Palestine. From time immemorial, this mountain has been considered the lush garden of Palestine and symbol of fertility and beauty. Indeed, "Karmel" means "garden" and it is deeply associated with the prophet Elijah who “defended the true faith in the God of Israel” and the Virgin Mary who lived “ in the footsteps of Jesus Christ”.

The Piazza del Carmine’s natural charm emanates not only from its history, but from the harmonious exchange that coexist between each architectural element that composes it from Igor Mitoraj’s land art marble sculpture to the recent opening on the Square of the Swedish nonconformist fashion brand Acne Studios. The shop’s grand arched glass windows and granite floors smoothly reciprocate the Church’s pointed arches and the Square’s cobbled pavement. On the other side of it, trendy Milanese can be seen conversing away underneath large white parasols at God Save the Food, a stylish eatery facing the fascinating facade of Santa Maria del Carmine.