Visions of the tower: great photographers for the “Pirellone”
Guided tours of the exhibition Skyscraper Stories: The Pirellone and a Sixty-year Celebration of Corporate Culture and the Regional Government of Lombardy, put on for the 2021 edition of Archivi Aperti di Rete Fotografia, have come to an end. Photography was the underlying theme of the event, which also involved children and teenagers.
Aldo Ballo, Arno Hammacher, Paolo Monti, and Dino Sala are some of the great photographers who have captured the Pirelli Tower in their shots, giving even greater emphasis to the drive towards the future that the building designed by Gio Ponti has always inspired. Its essential finished form also became the backdrop for great films, as well as for numerous photographic reportages, like the one by Ugo Mulas for the La Moda e il grattacielo catalogue. The photographs on display include the iconic picture by Uliano Lucas of an immigrant in front of the building. In one of the video installations in the exhibition, the photographer himself explained how it came about. One of the activities was for children and young people, who were able to discover the Pirelli Tower with a “logbook” that was added to, on each step of the way, with illustrations, quotations and collages that showed them the past, present and future of this extraordinary building. A building that has witnessed more than sixty years of Milanese history.
