Guerrilla allotment

Found illegal veg plots whilst visiting Connecting Cultures in south of Milano,  just shows that all is not lost.

Pirelli

View of Milan from Helipad on top of the cooling tower

Tower of Power - Renovated cooling tower

Table of power at the top of the tower

Old table of power in Arcimboldi's villa

Auditorium in the base of the tower

1920's Pirelli factory workers house. Now swamped by the large developments in the Biccoca area

Arcimboldi's villa

For the last week i have been visiting the Foundation section of the Italian company Pirelli. This department hosts an archive of Pirelli's history. They started in the second half of the 19th century and had massive growth in the industrial revolution, they are now one of the world leaders in tyre manufacturing including F1.
 Although enjoyed seeing the tyre testing plant with its machinery and other top secret stuff my research was concentrated on the part they had played in the development of Milan both as an industrial location on the world market and socially as their employee numbers increased and they moved from central milan to Bicocca a suburb further north. The Pirellione was the first skyscraper in the city but is now dwarfed by the new structures surrounding it. Pirelli built social housing for his workers in 1920's and then further projects after the war. Through out Pirelli's history Arcimboldi's villa has stood as a symbol on the factory site in Bicocca. This is meant as a sign of Pirelli's acknowledgment to its history and love of culture. It now stands in contract to the old cooling tower which has been renovated into offices and is housed in a glass box also offices. They are also constructing a new art center nearby which presently houses Kiefer Towers. http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/kiefer.html