City after the City

On the occasion of the XXI Triennale di Milano International Exposition, the Expo Milan 2015 area houses the exhibition named “City after the City“.

The “City after the City” exhibitions, which form an authentic string of events, present a succession of situations that illustrate a longing for a different kind of city. They avoid the trap of nostalgia for some mythical ideal city, and make no claim to reach the place where our real origins are rooted. If we admit that cities are no longer able to self-certify traditions and roots, then we can say we are facing a divisive event of great impact, which above all testifies to the opaque nature of today’s urban model. “City after the City” examines the symptoms of a global trend towards going beyond the conventional city. These symptoms are displayed to the general public in an effective manner.

In the two pavilions of the Expo site giving onto the Cardo entrance to the square from the Cascina Merlata walkway, the Triennale is creating the City after the city environment with the following exhibitions:

Lanscape Urbanism
Curated by Gaia Piccarolo
A preview of the effects of planning through a prefiguration of landscape: the ecological paradigm, the aestheticization of the urban landscape, urban regeneration and landscape design.

Urban Orchard
Curated by Maite Garcia Sanchis
The expression “urban agriculture” refers to the diffusion of cultivated areas by city farmers. Food production and the creation of islands of sustainability have encouraged the idea to take off in many cities like an enzyme regenerating the urban ecosystem.

Expanded Housing
Curated by Matteo Vercelloni
Going beyond the built environment and the concrete jungle. Mankind is multiplying and with it its footprint on the planet. Out of this concern comes a new contribution of design to questions such as nomadism, welcome and flexibility, etc.

People in Motion
Curated by Michele Nastasi
Geopolitics is leading to new migratory flows. New migratory routes have sprung up, leaving the marks of distant cultures of origin and new forms of settlement with new forms of life within them. This show explores the dynamics in the refugee camps and the creations of young volunteer architects.

Street Art
Curated by Nina Bassoli
Street art is widespread in many cities, bringing renewed attention to social and visual communication in city thoroughfares. At the confine between public and private, individual and society, architecture and the environment, permitted and prohibited, it concerns both the emotive sphere of the individual and the conventions of the public space.

Meeting Bookroom
Curated by Sonia Calzoni
A venue for meeting, comment and discussion, with its own bar and lounge area, this is the biggest bookshop on the Expo themes in Europe and in general on art, architecture and landscape design. The Bookroom also contains an Expo XXI Triennale info point.

Blackloth
Curated by Giovanni Chiaramonte and Joel Meyerowitz
Two large projections on the walls at the back of the halls.

Planetary Vegetable Garden
Curated by Maria Teresa d’Agostino
Between the two pavilions a large Planetary Garden parterre will be built. The idea stems from the desire to incorporate the “Feeding the planet, Energy for Life’” theme into future transformations of the Expo 2015 site. The intention is to try during the six months of the Triennale to realize an extraordinary environment in the Cardo area and keep alive the hope of planting something unique and innovative in Milan.