Thoughts on the value of places that unite community and production is condensed in a single volume

Workplaces. As such, these are places shared by communities of men and women bound by the same destiny (albeit only as regards production).  These are places of shared purpose and of an entrepreneurial vision that develop into productive organisations and come alive with the work of many. It is one of the apparently paradoxical findings that can be arrived at by observing the productive systems of today. In the era of globalisation, digitalisation and immaterial labour, value is once again attributed to where production takes place. This not just the result of transient fashions linked to specific manufacturing sectors, factory locations are also being rediscovered. The importance of the local and community dimension of production is increasing too.

It is around this collection of ideas that Dove. La dimensione di luogo che ricompone impresa e società (Where. The character of a place that brings together business and society) gravitates. The book was co-written by Paolo Venturi and Flaviano Zandonai, respectively Director of AICCON, Centre for Studies on Non-Profits and Cooperation at the University of Bologna, and sociologist who has focused on the tertiary sector and social enterprise for over twenty years.

The concept behind the book is simple: the local areas, neighbourhoods and suburbs are privileged places for experimenting with social innovations, which leads to the creation of significant stimuli for development and well-being. Indeed, today as never before, the creation of value is taking place at the local level and the destiny of businesses is linked to that of the area where they operate. The manifestation of the culture of production rooted in well-defined geographical locations is enjoying its golden moment.

According to Venturi and Zandonai, obviously, putting together physical places, people, markets, companies and major global movements is not a simple matter but rather a challenge that places value in vision, social relations, material products and immaterial resources, infrastructural conditions and political regulations. The “where” to live and produce is thus determined, says the book, by the combination of openness and cohesion that make the difference because they act as generative mechanisms of new social infrastructures capable of transforming spaces into places and recreating what the authors call the “ecology of relationships”, something essential for communal life and economic development.

The pathway is not automatic, rather it requires assistance. For this reason, the authors propose a three-point manifesto (or three manifestos as explained in the book), aimed respectively at the business world (seen as an educating community), at political decision makers (who are required to pass measures in favour of the communities) and at the tertiary sector.

What is outlined by Venturi and Zandonai is a complex framework that isn’t easy but that many will have to deal with, although some will not fully agree. What is described in the book should certainly be given careful consideration.

The two authors write: “It is (…) around the regeneration of places that the decisive action is being played out: a challenge that involves those intangible assets, such as the participation of citizens in the decision-making processes and the social cohesion that today is under attack due to growing inequalities and the tendency for the communities to withdraw. These days, the resentful communities dominate as they display a preference to invest their capital of relationships and trust internally (bonding) and not to expand their connectivity (bridging). Indeed, it is precisely around an open and connected character of social ties that today the game of the “locale” is being played: and not only for companies and institutions but for civil society too.”

Dove. La dimensione di luogo che ricompone impresa e società
Paolo Venturi, Flaviano Zandonai
Egea, 2019

A large collection of essays published by Sapienza and LUISS outlines new horizons for cooperation

Public and private. These concepts influence the economy and the creation of wealth (which is not necessarily always purely material), financial gain and social returns, and a particular view of the market and labour.  There are numerous relationships between the public and private sectors, all of which are important, that can be established within the current social systems. The two spheres of society, both expressions of a culture of production (in tangible and intangible ways), interact continuously, generating consequences that in turn are a reason for interaction. They also condition each other. That is why we need to understand the nature and aspects of this relationship better. Reading the collection of essays Dialogo e cooperazione tra società, sistema pubblico ed imprese: politiche pubbliche e strategie di impresa (Dialogue and cooperation between society, the public system and businesses: public policies and business strategies) written by several authors and published by Sapienza University and LUISS, is a good way to start exploring these issues.

It is a collection of essays that all reflect on the different aspects of the links between the public system and private companies as seen from different perspectives. The collection is divided into a series of areas, each of which investigates public-private relations from a particular point of view, first in a general sense, then from the legislative perspective, followed by a look at the quality of public policies, then at the issues of autonomy, planning of interventions, relations with Europe and, finally, smart working. Each part of the collection begins with a Final Report tasked with summarising the results of the studies pertaining to that macro thematic area.

In one of the Final Reports, Mario Bonito of the Faculty of Political Sciences, Sociology, Communication of Wisdom writes of the “need for greater cooperation between the public and private sectors in order to ensure order and competitiveness. The lack of trust results in the dominance of one over the other and vice versa, a factor that produces a paralysis and a reduction of freedom.” The author adds: “Greater trust and cohesion between the public and private spheres would improve the quality of public policies both in the short term ‒ by strengthening the capacity for their formulation and the coordination of policies with the forecasts of their economic impacts ‒ and in the long term through mechanisms for implementation, monitoring, evaluation and responsibility.”

A sort of new business culture is drafted together with a new culture of public intervention, both aimed at improving the local area, production and well-being.

Dialogo e cooperazione tra società, sistema pubblico ed imprese: politiche pubbliche e strategie di impresa

Various authors.

School for Public Policies, Sapienza University, LUISS, 2019

An exciting new adventure for the Pirelli Foundation: in collaboration with the progetto CYCL-e around™project, the exclusive new Pirelli service that offers users a chance to ride the latest-generation electric bicycles on Pirelli tyres. Like this, they will discover amazing places including the multi-day tour from Cortina d’Ampezzo to Venice, or the one from St Moritz to Milan.

The Pirelli Foundation has enriched these trips with new stories and anecdotes, illustrated by documents and images from the Historical Archive. In particular, “Pirelli Tales” will examine the links between Pirelli and some places, buildings and monuments along the proposed tour routes: these include the Olympic Ice Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, which in 1959 was the venue for the presentation of the revolutionary Pirelli BS tyre, and which in 2026 will host the twenty-fifth Winter Olympic Games. Then there is the Museo dello Scarpone e della Calzatura Sportiva (the museum of boots and sport footwear) in the province of Treviso, where the relationship between Pirelli and Vibram can be seen in the design of the “tank-tread” Carrarmato soles in vulcanised rubber. At the Glass Museum in Venice, visitors will find traces of Fulvio Bianconi, the designer of the blown glass objects on display here, as well as the illustrator of a number of articles in Pirelli magazine and the creator of humorous advertisements for the company. But there is also the house in Varenna where Giovanni Battista Pirelli, the founder of the company in 1872, was born.

The last stop is in Milan, with the Pirelli Tower, which strikes a perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality, and the Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, a fifteenth-century villa in the Bicocca di Milano district, now the Pirelli Group’s official reception venue, within its Headquarters.

Christened as the “Città di Milano”, the Pirelli cable-layer was built in the Sunderland shipyards in England, and launched in 1886.

70 metres long, it was fitted with three circular tanks that could contain up to 450 km of underwater telegraph cables, immersed in seawater and already joined at the factory before being placed on board. That year, Pirelli also built a special factory by the sea in San Bartolomeo, near La Spezia, where the submarine cables were to be made. It was bold challenge, due to the technical complexities of this type of production, but Giovanni Battista Pirelli was determined to wrest the monopoly of the cable industry from England. Since 1866, after a telegraph cable was laid, amid countless difficulties, between Britain and North America, English companies had been building a vast network of submarine cables throughout the world. Even the first connections in Italy, between the peninsula and the larger islands, had been laid by the British. In 1885 Giovanni Battista Pirelli managed to stipulate a gentleman’s agreement with the Italian Government for 12 submarine cables – for a total of 800 km – to be laid between the peninsula and the smaller islands, and the task was completed in 1887 and 1888.

Pirelli later began to win contracts also from other countries, competing with the most important British companies: in June 1888 it won a Spanish Government contract for a cable between Spain and the Balearic Islands and later, in 1890, for 7 cables connecting Spain with Morocco and Tangiers. After various repair campaigns, also on behalf of the British on their own networks, in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, in 1908 and 1909 the Città di Milano was engaged in repairing the cables across the Strait of Messina, which has been damaged by the earthquake, while also helping to bring food and aid to the population in the disaster zone.

During the Libyan war and the Great War, the Città di Milano was used on a number of military missions, such as that of cutting the Austrian’s Trieste-Corfu cable in May 1915, which was the only enemy cable still in use after war was declared. The glory days of the Città di Milano came to an end a few years later, in 1919: on 16 June of one hundred years ago, while sailing off Filicudi to repair the telegraph cable that connected the little island to nearby Alicudi, the steamer sank after hitting a rock. 26 crew members died in the accident, including the engineer Emanuele Jona, head of the submarine cables service and a pioneer of electrical engineering, as well as the author of important studies, particularly on the technical problems involved in the electrical insulation of cables. These works are now in the Pirelli Scientific and Technical Library at the Foundation.

The race slated for Sunday 8 September in Monza will be the 90th Italian Grand Prix. An outstanding number, built up year after year around a symbol of international motor racing: the Monza racetrack.

The first of these ninety Italian Grand Prix races, however, was not held in Monza but on the street circuit of Montichiari, near Brescia. It was 4 September 1921 and the Monza racetrack would be opened only the following year: however, there was a burning desire to return to motor racing after the war years and the 17 kilometres of road in the Montichiari countryside thought up by Commendator Arturo Mercanti, then director of the Automobile Club di Milano, appeared perfectly suitable for the first race under an Italian flag. In actual fact, the enormous interest among the public did not fire the imagination of many drivers for that September day in 1921. Indeed, only six cars turned up at the starting line: three French Ballot 3-litre cars driven by Jules Goux, Jean Chassagne and Ralph De Palma were pitted against three Fiat 802s driven by Pietro Bordino, Ugo Sivocci and Louis Wagner. All six were fitted with brand new Pirelli Cord tyres with an innovative casing structure that allowed for previously unimaginable levels of performance. There was some uncertainty caused by the novelty of the race track and some ingenuousness in the organisation – this was, after all, the dawn of motor racing – but the Italy-France race was won by Jules Goux, who completed the thirty laps at Montichiari in his Ballot in just over three and a half hours. He beat his compatriots Chassagne and Wagner, the latter in the only Fiat to reach the finish line. But then Goux already knew his “pneus”, at least since the French Grand Prix in 1913, when he came second behind Georges Boillot, giving the Pirelli-fitted Peugeots a double win.

Today, in a rare photograph in the Historical Archive, we see Goux at the wheel of his blue racer staring out defiantly at the photographer, with his mechanic, Lebouc, peeping out beside him. The photo is dated 4 September 1921. Then came July 1922, with the home champions Pietro Bordino and Felice Nazzaro inaugurating the brand-new Monza circuit: at that point, the Italian Grand Prix had found its almost definitive place, except for a couple of editions in Livorno and Turin, though it was suspended during the war. It was none other than Bordino and Nazzaro who dominated that second Italian Grand Prix on 10 September 1922. They finished first and second respectively, both in Fiat cars, both on Pirelli Cord tyres. Just one week earlier, on 3 September 1922, Bordino, Enrico Giaccone, Evasio Lampiano and Carlo Salamano, all in Fiat 502 SS cars, had dominated the second Gran Premio Vetturette at Monza. The Historical Archive also has a wonderful photo reportage of that glorious week of motoring at Monza: these shots are made even more unique by the fact that the precious sepia-coloured postcards were dated back by hand to 1921.

Pirelli has helped shape the history of visual communication, in Italy and beyond. Ever since it was founded, the company has always understood the importance of effective advertising, through experimentation, innovation, and quality, involving artists, designers, photographers, and writers of international renown, from concept to creation. The huge collection of Pirelli advertising materials in our Historical Archive consists of a variety of items, including sketches, layouts, camera-ready copy and proofs, and final printed materials, dating from the early twentieth century to the 1980s, making it possible to examine many aspects of history. These include company strategies, clients, and advertising graphics, but also production and printing techniques before the advent of the computer. Until the 1960s, both the sketches of the various advertising proposals and the final layouts were made by painters and graphic designers on paper or cardboard using crayons and coloured pencils, watercolours, tempera, charcoals, inks, and collages. From the 1960s onwards, the use of photography and texts became common in advertising and, with the advent of photocomposition, also the production techniques changed. Layouts and print-ready copy in the 1970s and 1980s consisted of a card on which the texts and images were composed after being printed by the filmsetter, and then cut out and applied with adhesive tape or glue. One or more transparencies laid on the card added other parts of the layout, or information for printing.

Some time ago, the Pirelli Foundation, which is committed to the conservation and promotion of the Historical Archive, started work on restoring these advertising materials with experts in the restoration of works of art on paper. The first project to salvage and restore advertising sketches, dating from 1910 to 1966, took place from 2010 to 2013 and involved about 200 drawings for advertisements and for illustrating Pirelli magazine. Work on these materials included cleaning, consolidation of the margins, correcting lifting and loss of colour, and mending tears. The restoration of camera-ready copy from the 1970s and 1980s has been underway since 2016: thousands of items consisting of different parts – cards, papers, transparencies, and photographs – that had been assembled using glue and adhesive tape. In addition to cleaning and consolidation, the task thus involves removing harmful substances and materials such as glue and adhesive tape, wherever possible, and replacing them with materials that are suitable for permanent conservation.

In order to make known and to promote this important historical and artistic heritage, the restored materials were also digitised and analysed in two publishing projects edited by the Foundation and published by Corraini Edizioni: A Muse in the Wheels (2015), devoted to Pirelli advertising from the early 1960s and Advertising with a Capital P (2017), which looks at Pirelli advertising from the 1970s to the early 2000s. From restoration to publication, telling the story of almost 150 years of visual communication.

Italy is in a “zero growth” swamp. The autumn looks to be laden with economic and social worries. A “near-sighted” and bickering government has, so far, produced nothing more than recessive reforms, neglecting development and the construction of a better future for the country. Carlo Bonomi doesn’t pull his punches. The chairman of Assolombarda(the main local branch of Confindustria with 6,000 registered businesses in Milan, Lodi, Monza and Brianza, an area abounding in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies) published a lengthy, detailed opinion piece on “Il Foglio” addressing the economic crisis and the government’s inconclusive policies, opening with a razor-sharp title: “Enough is enough”. And further to the point: “A year of growth, lost”.

There’s growing malaise in the world of business, including in regions (Lombardy and Veneto) where the majority of businessmen voted Lega, counting on the party’s traditional sensitivity to the manufacturing sector and its needs. But a slew of provisions and announcements, from “decreto dignità” to citizenship income, from “quota cento” for pensions to tax amnesties and the proposed “minimum wage” have brought about the realisation that social spending and the burden on businesses will increase, without in any way helping to fuel growth. The standstill on incentives and tax benefits for “Industry 4.0” only makes matters worse and frustrates the expectations of businesses that had already taken steps to keep up with the challenges of the digital economy. Bonomi is a worthy representative of such numerous concerns.

Milan is, after all, the best indicator of economic trends. It is a key European metropolis that knows how to weigh concerns and expectations, embodying a widespread desire for sustainable development. After all, Milan knows full well that its own growth can’t help but correlate closely with that of the rest of the Country, with Rome the capital and with the South. In that sense, Milan is Italy. And the city’s entrepreneurs are social actors who share a deep understanding not so much of the specific needs of their sector but of the nation’s greater interests within its European setting.

Like any skilled entrepreneur, Bonomi knows his sums and has an appreciation for numbers, knowledge and know-how. His critique starts from the economic situation, with growth at 0.1% of GDP for 2019 (a figure confirmed by the most recent report by Banca d’Italia), which leaves us trailing as Europe grows by 1.4%. Germany, with an export economy like ours, is also reeling from the tension in international trade, especially after the clash between USA and China, but is somewhat better off with growth at 0.5%. “Stagnant”, says the latest study of the third trimester by Centro Studi Confindustria, with a 0.6% decline in industrial production.

More data: sales and exports of machine tools have collapsed; employment is limited; and youth unemployment is at record-setting levels in the South. But there’s also a lack of attention to strategic investments in the digital economy: a mere €85 of public spending per citizen, compared to €186 in France, €207 in Germany and €323 in the UK. The development of the digital economy and the digitalisation of Public Administration are key factors on which the growth of the Country depends. Unfortunately, the government is “seriously near-sighted”, looking out for “electoral interests in the short term” without considering “a serious and sustainable approach to encourage growth”.

It’s not a matter of partisan politics or prejudice. Bonomi points out that entrepreneurs don’t cheer for a given party. They “cheer for Italy”. He highlights the positive events of the past months, such as the convergence of the public and private sector and the joint efforts of the (politically diverse) administrations of Milan, Lombardy and Veneto in the successful bid for Milan and Cortina to host the 2026 Winter Olympics. And he reminds us that manufacturers must “stay the course for development”.

There’s appreciation for the work done by Premier Conte and Minister for the Economy Tria to avoid conflict with Europe (it would have been “a form of self-harm”). And for Conte’s decision to play an active role in the election of Ursula von der Leyen to the head of the European Commission (which the Lega objected to under Matteo Salvini).

As he turns to foreign politics Bonomi, speaking on behalf of entrepreneurs, is consistently severe in his criticism: there’s Italy’s lonely signature, the only EU founding member and the only member of the G7, in the agreement with China; there’s friendship with Russia, despite “Putin’s practically scornful consideration of liberal and democratic values and of market values, which are the foundation of the EU”; and there’s the risk of isolating Italy from Europe and becoming “a sort of Serbia of the Mediterranean”. Our businesses are deeply embedded in Europe. They are an integral part of a value chain whose roots are set in Europe. Multilateral trade policies serve the country’s best interests, as opposed to bilateral shows of force, which leave Italy weak and alone with everything to lose.

Simply put, Bonomi’s lengthy article in “Il Foglio” is a list of things that aren’t working. But it’s an equally long list of political decisions that need to be made. The upcoming Budget Law to begin with: stop the deficit from growing any more than it did in 2019 (which means excluding measures wanted by Salvini that would exceed this limit), put an end to new flat rates for the IRPEF, avoid “fanciful last-minute solutions, like obtaining €18 billion through divestiture” and privatisation – when “Alitalia is being nationalised once again”.

The priority: “A fresh start for potential GDP, both for supply and demand”. The means: invest the entire, unspent cost of “quota 100”, citizenship income and the €80 bonus (formerly known as the Renzi bonus) in “the permanent, structural and universal elimination of the tax wedge”. In other words, eliminate “the number one anomaly that weighs down both hiring and company budgets”.

The basic idea is to put growth back on track. Reinstate all the incentives for “Industry 4.0”, initiate a special, multi-year plan for the digital economy and create the necessary infrastructure for development (the very projects opposed by the Cinque Stelle). In other words, be serious about politics.

A matter of merit. And of method: “Avoid the contorted series of party parades masquerading as meetings with employer’s organisations and unions”. The reference to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Salvini, who called everyone to the Viminale, is clear. The appeal, straightforward: no demagoguery to the detriment of social partners. But total willingness to dialogue: “There’s a President of the Council, he should summon us…”. “Seriousness”, indeed. Not unscrupulous propaganda.

Unions are called to share the fight “against the minimum wage”, a useless measure that reduces the income of most workers, who are already properly covered by contracts, and creates higher costs for businesses. It would be better to insist on contracts, which now affect not just salaries but welfare, training, quality of work and quality of life.

There’s a final caution, a call for dignity and responsibility: “Political threats will not keep us from speaking for Italy, which deserves better”.

It deserves politicians and leaders who are capable of listening and learning, who demonstrate foresight and responsibility.

Two universities take a joint look at the “Cucinelli case study”

Good examples of business culture are beneficial to all. Such experiences are not meant to be copied, but they serve as a source of guidance when learning to do more and better. When it comes to business and to the manufacturing culture, being a copycat is dangerous while inspiration can be helpful. There are, after all, too many different variables at play from one company to another – the men and women involved, the setting, the prospects that arise from time to time. However, it is always a good idea to learn from others who have invested their will and their resources to ensure that the business achieves more than merely turning a profit by the end of the year.

An interesting read in that direction is “Brunello Cucinelli: la creazione di valore condiviso nell’impresa umanistica” [Brunello Cucinelli: the creation of shared value in the humanistic business], written by Maria Rosaria Napolitano and Floriana Fusco (from the Universities of Naples and of Milan, respectively). The objective of the study is to delve into the entrepreneurial experience of one of the most important businesses for the textile sector and for the Italian industrial scene as a whole.

The researchers start by noting that corporate social responsibility has been studied as a strategic lever, to make businesses more competitive while creating shared value for all stakeholders. The study, therefore, first underscores the theoretical basis that defines business culture and corporate social responsibility and, subsequently, describes (both in terms of its historic evolution and of its current management), the “Cucinelli case study” – taken as the perfect incarnation of the socially responsible business: a success story and a boast for the Made in Italy brand globally.

What makes the difference? According to Napolitano and Fusco, the entire corporate structure must be built around social responsibility as a strategic objective that is “capable of affecting the company’s culture and identity, as well as providing a unique and distinctive positioning for the products”. The section that addresses the relationship between Cucinelli and his employees is particularly clear: “Trust is the glue that binds together all those who work for him. A shared vision of the business objectives is the key to a healthy and dignified relationship that unites the businessman-philosopher and his employees”.

Of course, the study by Napolitano and Fusco focuses on a virtually unique – and therefore inimitable – example of business culture elevated to the highest degree; however, as was noted at the outset, that is exactly what makes it a wellspring of, at times provocative, ideas. For reading and contemplation.

Brunello Cucinelli: la creazione di valore condiviso nell’impresa umanistica

Maria Rosaria Napolitano, Floriana Fusco

Micro & Marco Marketing, 2, 2019, August

A book about good management told using the metaphor of a meal

Managing a business is difficult and complex. But that’s no reason for always addressing the matter with a boring, theoretical approach. Vivacity and practice – not play (the topic is, of course, serious) – are needed, with attention to the human side of aspects and events. After all, that’s what good manufacturing culture is about.

Which is why reading “Dessert. Management, dintorni e contorni. Menu per lavorare bene e vivere meglio” [Dessert. Management, servings and sides. A menu for better work and better living] co-authored by Gianfranco Dentella and Ezio Paolo Reggia (both experienced managers, the first in the finance sector and the second in insurance), is a necessary and profitable experience – primarily for the cultural benefit but also for the operational input.

The book’s title can be misleading. Which is why the two authors explain right from the start that the product of their literary efforts “is not a recipe for food”, but an attempt to use food as a multifaceted metaphor to offer explanations and a new perspective for a topic as complex as business management.

“Dessert” is, to all intents, a book about management written from an unusual angle. It’s not just the title and the way the topics are arranged; the authors also address each topic with a novel style: an anthology of short stories, a collection of parables, sometimes outright jokes. The objective is to provide advice and observations about life, work and company relations, following the traditional format used when preparing a meal. The text is arranged into fifteen servings, for a lunch with twenty-four “flavours”, a full menu to be taken metaphorically. The roughly 230 pages do a good job of covering everything that life as a manager (and simply life itself) has to offer: from betrayal to hearsay, from ingratitude to know-how, from prejudice to not taking things for granted, and much more beyond.

Seemingly a book to be read for enjoyment, “Dessert” should in fact be read seriously and with great care.

Among the many quotes, one stands out and, in some sense, holds it all together: “It is necessary to restart the journey, always” (José de Sousa Saramago).

Dessert. Management, dintorni e contorni. Menu per lavorare bene e vivere meglio

Gianfranco Dentella, Ezio Paolo Reggia

Guerini e Associati, 2019

“The Bicocca district in the 1990s should not be a closed space, inaccessible to the local population, but on the contrary a place that is open, with enormous potential for communication and economic, social and cultural interaction. An area where new technologies ‘will speak the language of the people’, restoring urban value to the old city-factory of Bicocca.” This is how Leopoldo Pirelli described the Bicocca Project in 1986. It was the largest urban redevelopment project in Europe, covering an area of 700,000 square metres in the area north of Milan, where the Pirelli factory had produced tyres, cables and miscellaneous rubber items ever since 1908. The redevelopment plan was about to transform the Bicocca district, turning it into an area devoted to new technologies, services, and the advanced tertiary sector. After this long transformation process, which is still underway today, the area is home not just to Pirelli – with its headquarters, its Research and Development laboratories, and the Pirelli Foundation – but also to the University of Milano-Bicocca, research centres, a number of companies, private homes, and places devoted to culture. The traces of the past that Ingegner Pirelli referred to are dotted around the present-day Bicocca district, which was conceived by the architect Vittorio Gregotti, whose firm won the international competition for the redevelopment of the area with a project that was “inspired by simplicity and respect for the site and its traditions”. But the place that more than any other has preserved the history of the district is the Pirelli Foundation, which contains the company’s Historical Archive. Here, documents, projects and, above all, photographs make it possible to reconstruct a map of the area and of how it has changed. Places often immortalised by the lenses of great photographers, with whom Pirelli has always worked to document its activity and its development, such as Gabriele Basilico, Toni Nicolini, Francesco Radino, to mention but a few. This rich heritage will be shown off in particular on Sunday 27 October at an event designed for those who love photography and the history of Milan. The occasion is part of the fifth edition of “Archivi Aperti”, or Open Archives, promoted by Rete Fotografia. Participants will be able to go through the area on Pirelli e-bikes – the latest generation of pedal-assisted bicycles – focusing on the traces and echoes of the past that have survived to the present day, and taking photographs from the same angles chosen by the greatest photographers. The tour leaves from the Pirelli Foundation and continues along the streets of the district: from the Pirelli Headquarters to the Borgo Pirelli, which was built in the 1920s, passing by the Deutsche Bank building designed by the architect Gino Valle, all the way to the Greco Pirelli railway station and the Teatro degli Arcimboldi, which opened in 2001. And then on to the University, with building 184, the first construction to be renovated as part of the Bicocca Project. A constant dialogue between past and present, in one of the most fascinating areas of Milan.

The most successful shots will be published next to the historic ones on the Pirelli Foundation’s digital channels: if you wish to take part in the event, send us your social media profile and tell us about your interest in the world of photography and in the city of Milan, indicating which tour you would like to go on, by writing to visite@fondazionepirelli.org  – we will get back to you as soon as possible.

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