Milano Arch Week 2017

Milano Arch Week, seven days in which Milano will host events dedicated to the future of architecture and of cities, with Stefano Boeri as curator and promoted by the City of Milan, the Politecnico di Milano and the Triennale.

The events start on Monday, June 12 with a pre-opening party at Fondazione Catella. From that moment on the Milano Arch Week will be hosted at the “Patio” of the Architecture School of the Politecnico di Milano on Tuesday, June 13—with the attendance of Chancellor Ferruccio Resta and the Triennale’s Vicepresident Clarice Pecori Girardi—and from Wednesday, June 14 to Saturday, June 17 will occupy both the garden and the internal spaces of the Triennale di Milano located in viale Alemagna.

Milano Arch Week will be characterized by the participation of many leading actors in the international architectural scene, such as the Catalan RCR, Pritzker Award winners of 2017, and the North American Master Peter Eisenman. The list of attendees continues with Elizabeth Diller, designer of the renowned New York City High Line and Francis Kéré, the Burkina Faso architect designer of the future Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London. The events will host also many other well-known international architects like Winy Maas (MVRDV), Giancarlo Mazzanti, Philippe Rahm, Sam Jacob, Martin Videgård, Petra Blaisse (designer of Milan’s new Porta Nuova Park), and the Chinese urbanist Lee Xianing.

Many worldwide known Italian architects will be involved in the initiative as well: Alessandro Mendini, Cino Zucchi, Michele De Lucchi, Benedetta Tagliabue, Italo Rota, Carlo Ratti, Patricia Urquiola, Mario Bellini, as well as Archea, TAM associati, AouMM, Baukuh, Piuarch, 5+1 aa, OBR, Metrogramma, Startt, LAN, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli from OMA and many more.

A section of Milano Arch Week is dedicated to emerging Italian architecture groups, including Parasite 2.0, Raumplan, Small, Fosbury Architecture and Waiting Posthuman Studio, that will take place inside the Triennale garden.

The week will be characterized also by times of reflection dedicated to great Masters of Italian architecture and culture, such as Aldo Rossi (commemorating 20 years from his passing with a reading session of Giovanni Testori texts) and Ettore Sottsass (as an anticipation to the planned autumn exhibition at the Triennale). An exhibition will be dedicated to the Florentine architect Vittorio Giorgini, precursor of zoomorphic architecture, curated by Emilia Giorgi, will be exhibited at the Quadreria.

On Friday, June 16, at 6:30pm, the Triennale’s Salone d’Onore will house a great party, a tribute to Gillo Dorfles, 107 years old, and attended by Milano’s mayor Giuseppe Sala.

Milano Arch Week will then end on Sunday morning with a preview visit to the new swimming pools building within the bounds of Franco Parenti’s Theatre. Many additional events related to architecture will be held in other city locations for the entire week, such as walks, VespArch scooter excursions, guided visits to Milan’s architecture by architects, open studios, and more.

Particular attention will be given to the relationship between architecture and other arts, such as cinema, through the contributions of Amos Gitai, Paolo Vari and Davide Rapp with Giorgio Zangrandi; ohotography, with the participation of Oliviero Toscani, Paolo Rosselli and Antonio Ottomanelli; art, through the involvement of artists such as Adrian Paci; and theatre, with a special event dedicated to Luca Ronconi, at Teatro dell’Arte, directed by Margherita Palli and Giovanni Agosti, and an unique show schedule directed by Umberto Angelini.

Many themes will be discussed and examined during Milano Arch Week, such as the periphery of contemporary cities, social differences, urban transformations and the great challenge of the Central Italian reconstruction (attended by, among others, Commissioner Vasco Errani). Other themes that will be analyzed and include international conflicts (through the participation of the Israeli architect Eyal Weizman) and the relationship between Architecture and Geopolitics in the development of African cities.

In the evenings the Triennale’s garden will light up and house reflective moments interlaced with shows and entertainment.