MILANO IS: "MADE IN ITALY"

May is here... and while the world was either resting at home or protesting on the streets, this last May 1st (Primero de Mayo) I was moving homes from Zurich to Milano, ITALIA.

Do come back in a day or two.... while I get to "unpack" my first impressions of Milano.

Saluti e buona fortuna!
Guillermo

Follow up: Nearly a week since my arrival to this thriving city and a little more settled. I made my move "south-the-border" on Wednesday May 1. I got a direct train from Zurich-HB to Milano Centrale after a nice farewell by my girlfriend and friends at Rio Bar.

Thursday and Friday I finished setting up my studio-flat and other 'useless paraphernalia' such as domestic appliances, metro tickets, internet connection and so on. The process was surprisingly fast and smooth.

For accommodation I got a flat which belongs the Politecnico di Milano ("la residencia Archimede" here above). It is in a trendy 'Milanese' suburb walking distance from Garibaldi Train Station and only two train stops from the Politecnico's Bovisa Campus. Near my place there are couple of impressive towers recently completed, others near completion ... and other half-way through and currently under construction. A pair of those towers claim to be the world's first "vertical forest" with double and triple height balconies holding all sorts of vegetation.

The area is know as Porta Nuova and the planning and design has been carried out by the likes of SOM, Libdeskin (NY Ground Zero), Cesar Pelli, (the Petronas Twrs in Malaysia) and so on. My favorite spots include the Brera quartier, around the Duomo, Piazza Castello, la Colonne di San Lorenzo, Naviglio Grande and Porta Ticinese.... and I am sure there is a lot left to discover.

Now that I live in "the world's capital of design" what next?

This morning I got the last issues of architecture magazines the likes of casabella and domus. I came across an interesting design competition part of the Milano Expo 2015 titled: "Digital Ideas for EXPO-CITY 2015". The call is to develop ideas for the city of the future. Innovative concepts and solutions in the categories of Smart City, Mobile Applications and Digital Home&Office + Smart School. The winning entries will be developed as part of the Digital Smart City for Expo Milan 2015.

"Il concorso é promoso per reperiere progetti allo scopo di realizzare quelli di essi che si giudicheranno migliori per i fini aziendali di Telecom Italia ed Expo Milano 2015 per obiettivi e riconosciuti interessi della collettivitá, qualquelli indicati nel punto precedente."

The competition will be promoted by Domus and associations of design, architecture, cultural and academia.... so I can say that at least I can expect this to be a vehicle to immerse into the local "fashionista-culto"!

Bravo Milano - looking forward to unpack you!

GAM (7 di Maggio, 2013)