Cycle rickshaws

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Cycle rickshaws
Piazza Castello
Milan, November 2016

Piazza Cordusio

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Sign on a corner of the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali
Piazza Cordusio
Milan, November 2016

“Piazza Cordusio (also informally referred to as Piazzale Cordusio)[1] is a square in central Milan, Italy. The piazza takes its name from the Cors Ducis (Ducal court) which was found in the square during Longobard times. It is well known for its several turn-of-the-19th-century Neoclassical, eclectic and Art Nouveau buildings, banks and post offices. Even though many of these have now relocated elsewhere, it is still an important commercial square in the city and hosts the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali (Palace of the Assicurazioni Generali), the Palazzo del Credito Italiano (Palace of the Credito Italiano) and the Palazzo delle Poste (Palace of the Post Office), former Borsa di Milano (former Milan Stock Exchange). Piazzale Cordusio hosts the Cordusio metro station and is the starting point of the elegant pedestrian Via Dante which leads to the imposing medieval Castello Sforzesco, or Milan Castle. Opposite to Via Dante, Cordusio borders onto Piazza Mercanti, former city centre in the Middle Ages, which leads directly to Piazza del Duomo, today's city centre.” (Piazza Cordusio, Wikipedia)

Church of San Sepolcro

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Church of San Sepolcro
Piazza San Sepolcro
Milan, November 2016

“Chiesa di San Sepolcro is a church in Milan, Italy. It was originally built in 1030, but has undergone multiple revisions. The church is located at Piazza San Sepolcro in the historic center of Milan. The latest interior restoration was in 1713–1719, while the present Neo-Romanesque facade was completed in 1894–1897, under the designs of Gaetano Moretti and Cesare Nava. The Bramantino frescoes were moved from the portal to the inside of the church. Other works inside are attributed to Francesco Maria Richini and Carlo Bellosio.” (Church of San Sepolcro, Wikipedia)

Autogrill Olive Tree

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Autogrill Olive Tree
Il Mercato del Duomo
Piazza del Duomo
Milan, November 2016

“Michele de Lucchi is the architect of the entrance space and has created a vertical market next to the spectacular galleria designed by Giuseppe Mengoni in 1865. The building was completed on the 30th April in time for the the opening of Expo Milan 2015 but formally opens on 26th May.Four 500 year old olive trees that were due to be cut down were purchased and carefully excavated in a project of archeological precision. They were unearthed gradually in order to keep most of the extensive root structure intact. Olives can be successfully transplanted as long as all the roots that are covered by the trees shadow are retained. Three of these trees have been replanted. The roots of the weakest tree were carefully cleaned and prepared for casting. The upper parts of the other trees were moulded to produce one ‘archetypal olive tree'. The casting process followed a complex strategy - some was cast using lost wax casting techniques other parts were encased, burnt out and cast in a centrifugal casting system. Additional branches and leaves were obtained from a local farmer who was pruning his trees while roots were gathered from the local ‘environmental’ depot. The focus of the work is on the symbiotic relationship between man and his environment - the emphasis is on nurture through careful gardening based on an intimate understanding on our relationship with the physical world. After extensive research a special brass alloy was used when casting the tree. It was clear from early tests that a truly natural appearence could only be achieved with a flexibile material. The production of the tree started with the removal of the tree in Mid January and ended on the 20th April when the tree, packed in sections for transport was transported to Milan. The success of the project is due to the extraordinary work of Esfinge Foundry and a team from Factum who worked long hours, six days a week. In Milan the top hald of the tree was suspended from cables and lifted so the bottom half could be joined and secured. The final roots and leaves were then welded in situ and chased to remove all evidence of human intervention. From top to bottom the tree measures over 6 meters, weighs about 2 tons and hangs level with the 3rd floor of the building. Despite its weight the finished tree appears weightless - as if the tree is in the process of metamorphosing into something ethereal as it transformed from a living structure into an ideal representation of itself.” (The Autogrill Olive Tree, Factum Arte)

Biblioteca Ambrosiana

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Biblioteca Ambrosiana
Piazza Pio XI
Milan, November 2016

“The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose agents scoured Western Europe and even Greece and Syria for books and manuscripts. Some major acquisitions of complete libraries were the manuscripts of the Benedictine monastery of Bobbio (1606) and the library of the Paduan Vincenzo Pinelli, whose more than 800 manuscripts filled 70 cases when they were sent to Milan and included the famous Iliad, the Ilias Picta.” (Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Wikipedia)

Palazzo dell'Arte

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Palazzo dell'Arte by Giovanni Muzio, 1933
Viale Alemagna
Milan, November 2016

Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker

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Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker by Antonio Canova, 1811
Courtyard of the Palazzo di Brera
Via Brera
Milan, November 2016

“Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker is a bronze cast of the marble sculpture of the same name by Antonio Canova. It was commissioned from Canova in spring 1807 by Charles-Jean-Marie Alquier, French ambassador to Rome, commissioned it from Canova for 5,000 Louis as a gift to Eugene de Beauharnais, viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy. It was cast in 1811 and De Beauharnais sent it to Milan in May 1812, but the city found it difficult to find a site for it. It was finally moved to its present site in the main courtyard of the Palazzo di Brera (now the Pinacoteca di Brera and inaugurated there on 14 August 1859 during Napoleon III's visit.” (Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker, Wikipedia)

Palazzo dei Giureconsulti

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Tower of the Palazzo dei Giureconsulti
Piazza Mercanti
Milan, November 2016

“The Giureconsulti Palace (Palazzo dei Giureconsulti), also known as Palazzo Affari ai Giureconsulti or simply Palazzo Affari, is a 16th-century building of Milan, Italy. It is located in Piazza Mercanti, former city centre in the Middle Ages. The construction of the palace began in 1562 on a design by architect Vincenzo Seregni. The palace replaced an older one (dating back to the 13th century), which was demolished. The overall style of the building and its decoration is Manneristic. A pre-existing tower by Napo Torriani was preserved and adapted to the new architecture as a bell tower; the bell, which was nicknamed ‘Zavataria’ after Zavatario della Strada who donated it, rang to announce such events as public executions. The bell was later replaced by a clock. The building originally served as the seat of the Collegio dei Nobili Dottori (College of the Noble Doctors), a school for aspiring politicians and lawyers. After the 18th century it was used for other functions, including as a stock exchange, as the seat of the telegraph company, as the seat of the Popolare di Milano bank, and finally as the seat of the Chamber of Commerce (from 1911). Today, the building is still the property of the Chamber of Commerce. The palace was severely damaged by the bombings of World War II but was thoroughly restored in the 1980s by Gianni Mezzanotte. During this restoration, the palace was enhanced with hi-tech equipment, such as modern communication lines and multimedia appliances, to create a prestigious multi-functional venue to accommodate events, conferences, and such. It was at this time that the new denomination of ‘Palazzo Affari’ was adopted, although the Palace is still largely known by its former name.” (Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, Wikipedia)

Signorvino

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Signorvino, wine shop and restaurant
Via Dante
Milan, November 2016

Monument to Giuseppe Parini

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Monument to Giuseppe Parini by Gaetano Monti, 1838
Palazzo Brera
Via Brera
Milan, November 2016

“Giuseppe Parini (23 May 1729 – 15 August 1799) was an Italian enlightenment satirist and poet of the neoclassic period. Parini (originally spelled Parino) was born in Bosisio (later renamed Bosisio Parini in his honour) in Brianza, Lombardy from a poor family. His father, who was a petty silk trader, sent him to Milan under the care of his great aunt: there he studied under the Barnabites in the Academy Arcimboldi, sustaining himself in the meantime by copying manuscripts. In 1741 his great aunt left him a monthly payment, on the condition that he entered the priesthood. Parini was thus ordained, although his religious studies were not profitable because of his need to work in a lawyer's office during his free time and his intolerance of the old-fashioned teaching methods used.” (Giuseppe Parini, Wikipedia)

Arengario Staircase

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Staircase, Palazzo dell'Arengario
Piazza del Duomo
Milan, November 2016

“The Palazzo dell'Arengario is a Fascist-era complex of two symmetrical buildings in Piazza del Duomo, the central piazza of Milan, Italy. It was completed in the 1950s and currently houses the Museo del Novecento, a museum dedicated to 20th-century art. The word ‘arengario’ refers to its original function as a local government seat in the Fascist period. The Arengario was designed by Piero Portaluppi, Giovanni Muzio, Pier Giulio Magistretti e Enrico Agostino Griffini. Construction began in 1936, but experienced several delays and suffered from the World War II bombings; it was eventually completed in 1956. The façade is decorated with reliefs by Arturo Martini.” (Palazzo dell'Arengario, Wikipedia)

Monument to Cesare Beccaria

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Monument to Cesare Beccaria by Pompeo Marchesi, 1837
Palazzo Brera
Via Brera
Milan, November 2016

“Cesare Bonesana di Beccaria, Marquis of Gualdrasco and Villareggio (15 March 1738 – 28 November 1794) was an Italian criminologist, jurist, philosopher, and politician, who is widely considered one of the greatest thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. He is well remembered for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), which condemned torture and the death penalty, and was a founding work in the field of penology and the Classical School of criminology. Beccaria is considered the father of modern criminal law and the father of criminal justice. According to John Bessler, Beccaria's works had a profound influence on the Founding Fathers of the United States.” (Cesare Beccaria, Wikipedia)

San Giuseppe

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Church of San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph) by Francesco Maria Richini, 1630
Largo Victor de Sabata
Milan, November 2016

“San Giuseppe is a Baroque-style Roman Catholic church in Milan, region of Lombardy, Italy. Construction was begun in 1607 and completed in 1630. The architect was Francesco Maria Richini. The right side of the church overlooks Via Andegari, after a family with this name. It seems that the title of the street comes from the name of a family known as the ‘Andegardi’ or ‘undegardi’. The interior contains large altarpieces depicting the Marriage of St Joseph and the Virgin Mary by Melchiorre Gherardini; the Death of St Joseph by Giulio Cesare Procaccini; a Holy Family by Andrea Lanzani; and a St John the Baptist by Stefano Montalti.” (San Giuseppe, Wikipedia)

Corte Verde

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Corte Verde (Green Court) by CZA, 2013
Corso Como
Porta Nuova
Milan, November 2016

Perspective in Galleria

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Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Piazza del Duomo
Milan, November 2016

“The structure consists of two glass-vaulted arcades intersecting in an octagon covering the street connecting Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala. The street is covered by an arching glass and cast iron roof, a popular design for 19th-century arcades, such as the Burlington Arcade in London, which was the prototype for larger glazed shopping arcades, beginning with the Saint-Hubert Gallery in Brussels (opened in 1847), the Passazh in St Petersburg (opened in 1848), the Galleria Umberto I in Naples (opened in 1890) and the Budapest Galleria. The central octagonal space is topped with a glass dome. The Milanese Galleria was larger in scale than its predecessors and was an important step in the evolution of the modern glazed and enclosed shopping mall, of which it was the direct progenitor. It has inspired the use of the term galleria for many other shopping arcades and malls.” (Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Wikipedia)

“Egg”

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“Egg” by Alberto Garutti, 2012
Piazza Gae Aulenti
Porta Nuova
Milan, November 2016

St. Mark Preaching in Alexandria

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St. Mark Preaching in Alexandria by Gentile Bellini and Giovanni Bellini, 1507
Pinacoteca di Brera (Brera Art Gallery)
Palazzo Brera
Via Brera
Milan, November 2016

“The huge canvas adorned the reception room of the Scuola Grande di San Marco in Venice, one of the city’s most prestigious and powerful confraternities. It was commissioned from Gentile Bellini in 1504 but was left incomplete on the death of the artist in 1507. We do not know what stage the picture had reached, but it was finished by his brother Giovanni, who was requested to do so in Gentile’s will. The attribution of the various parts of the work to each artist is still a matter of debate among scholars; however, the most widely held view assigns to Gentile the definition of the main lines of the scene, in which elements of Venetian architecture are superimposed on structures of clearly Mediterranean and Oriental derivation (for example the obelisks and the minarets of a mosque). These must have been familiar to the artist, who had been sent to work for Mehmed II at Constantinople in 1497. Giovanni, on the other hand, was probably responsible for the intense portraits of the members of the confraternity in the group on the left.” (St. Mark Preaching in Alexandria, Brera Pinacoteca)

Giuseppe Missori

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Monumento to Giuseppe Missori by Riccardo Ripamonti, 1916
Piazza Missori
Milan, November 2016

“Giuseppe Missori (11 June 1829 - 25 March 1911) was an Italian patriot, military leader during the Italian unification, and politician. He served under Garibaldi during the Second Italian War of Independence, the Expedition of the Thousand, and the Third Italian War of Independence. After the unification of Italy, he was twice a member of the City Council of Milan.” (Giuseppe Missori, Wikipedia)

A Modern Staircase

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The new staircase by Marco Dezzi Bardeschi, 1986
Palazzo della Ragione
Piazza Mercanti
Milan, November 2016

Rivoluzione

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Detail of the “Rivoluzione” (Revolution)
Monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi by Ettore Ximenes, 1895
Largo Cairoli
Milano, November 2016