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Milan Arch Week is back at the Milan Triennale until Sunday 26 May 2019. This year’s edition is entitled Anthropocene and Architecture in close dialogue with the themes of the XXII Milan Triennale, curated by Paola Antonelli (until 1 September 2019).

What is anthropocene? Anthropocene is a word coined in the 80s by the biologist Eugene F. Stoermer (Nobel prize in 2000) to indicate our geological era where human actions have significant impact on the Earth’s geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change.

Environmental sustainability, technological development, social transformations – themes of the XXII Triennale Broken Nature – are fundamental themes of our era.
By 2050 2/3 of the world’s population will live in urban spaces, we have to reflect on these issues also in an urban and architectural perspective.

The Milan Triennale together with the Politecnico and the Municipality of Milan, in collaboration with the Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation and with the artistic direction of Stefano Boeri, promotes this Milan Arch Week with really interesting talks of great international architects. I wouldn’t miss the two Pritzker Prize winners: the archistar Rem Koolhaas (Saturday 25 May, 12 am) and Shigeru Ban (Saturday 25 May 2 pm).

Shigeru Ban is “the architect of emergencies”, his rapid construction architectures with cardboard tubes and poor materials are often used as emergency reconstructions after disasters such as earthquakes and emergency situations. I believe he can have a lot to say on the issues of environmental sustainability, use of new technologies and materials and city planning. Shigeru Ban also built churches such as the cardboard cathedral of Christchurch in New Zealand after the destruction of the 2011 earthquake. A few years ago we visited New Zealand and we visited this cathedral… Notre Dame will be closed to the public for years for reconstruction work after the fire, a temporary church will be built on the square, I expect Shigeru Ban to make it … who knows!

Many interesting talks, my favorite are: Mario Botta (tonight, Wednesday 22 May 6.30 pm, Politecnico di Milano), Kunlé Adeyemi, Nigerian architect, among his projects there is the interesting idea of urban development on water (tonight, Wednesday 22 May 7.30 pm, Politecnico di Milano), Italo Rota and Cino Zucchi (Thursday 23 May ore 1 pm, Gaggenau DesignElementi Hub), Andrea Branzi (Saturday 25 May 6.30 pm, Triennale Milano), Winy Maas – director of the year of Domus and one of the founders of the MVRDV studio that questions itself a lot about sustainability and intelligent urban development – with Stefano Boeri and Joseph Grima – Triennale Design Museum director (Saturday 25 maggio 8.30 pm, Triennale Milano), Paola Antonelli and Studio Formafantasma (Sunday 26 May ore 4.30 pm, Triennale Milano).

As every year during the Milan Arch Week there will be guided tours such as the ArchiScoot, around the city by motorbike (it will be possible to drive an electric scooter for free) with Stefano Boeri. There are two toures this year, Marmi Milanesi discovering the city’s marble architecture (Saturday 25th May 9.30am, departure from Triennale Milano) and Regeneration & the City, a tour of Milan’s urban regeneration spaces and projects, from San Siro to Dergano passing through Quarto Oggiaro (Sunday 26 May at 9.30 am, departure from Triennale Milan).

Throughout the week from 7.00pm to 8.30pm you can visit the Torre Branca inside the Parco Sempione, a few steps from the Milan Triennale (except Thursday and Sunday 26 May only from 9 to 10).

During the weekend, 25 and 26 May 2019, the Open House Milan event will open doors to over one hundred places usually closed to the public such as historical and institutional buildings, private houses, design studios, artist’s studios. .. here you will find the complete list.

Won’t you be in Milan? Don’t worry! With Open! Open Studios, architectural studios from all over Italy open their doors to the public! Here you will find the complete list of the studies will join the initiative.

 

Photo Micol Biassoni/Gianluca di Ioia (Triennale)