‘We must educate in the language of respect,’ says President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, emphasising the need for a commitment from institutions, cultural organisations, schools, families and the wider community to try to stop the increasing violence against women. This political and moral commitment is presented as a long-term strategy and a basic condition of civil coexistence and, therefore, of a full democracy founded on the combination of freedom and responsibility.

Anniversaries such as the celebration of 25 November, the ‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women’,  are fundamental in raising public awareness, and initiatives in this vein are therefore welcome,  such as the ‘minute of noise’ organised in Piazza della Signoria in Florence by Quotidiano Nazionale/La Nazione,  which is the opposite of the fearful silence of the victims and the often complicit silence of many others. Other examples of events in Italian cities include the ‘red wave’ of ten thousand women in Milan’s square (accompanied by many men)  and the recent protests against a ‘rape list’, which appeared on the walls of the boy’s toilets at ‘Giulio Cesare’ high school in Rome just the day after the 25 November anniversary.

However, we must go beyond the symbolism of designated days  and insist on fundamental choices that will reverse the increasingly serious, dramatic and intolerable climate of violence and rape, including femicide (77 cases in 2025 according to the NonUnaDiMeno Observatory), harassment, verbal insults and hate speech online, manipulation and discrimination. We need to work on education, culture and norms, and indeed on  ‘educating in the language of respect’  and caring about feelings.

Parliament has addressed this issue with a law that was unanimously approved by the Chamber of Deputies. This law introduces the crime of femicide and defines consent in sexual acts as ‘free and current’, meaning it must be evident at every moment of the act. ‘Only yes means yes’, as Il Sole24Ore summarised on 25 November. But progress ground to a halt in the Senate on the anniversary of the protests against violence towards women due to resistance from Lega, who held back the centre-right and the government. ‘Missed opportunity’, read the headline in La Stampa on 26 November.  The parliamentary majority assures that it will be discussed again  in January.

Setting aside political manoeuvring, it is worth heeding President Mattarella’s advice to raise our eyes.  The law is important, of course,  but enforcement alone is not enough. We continue to be confronted with deep divisions in society regarding gender equality. This was recently exemplified by a government minister’s statement that ‘there is a resistance to gender equality in man’s DNA’.  This divide affects rights, labour, wages, incomes and the values that characterise a civilised society.  The goal  must be to promote female independence,  including economic independence.

Let’s talk about language. La Stampa (25 November) ran a headline reading  ‘The violence of words’ for an article by Massimiliano Panarari documenting how ‘hatred flows every day, especially against women’, and how  ‘from politics to sport, even language becomes a weapon to crush those perceived as weaker’. Words are stones, not because of their solid, incisive importance (in the sense of Carlo Levi’s beautiful literary synthesis) but because they are capable of striking, hurting and upsetting.  In male-dominated and patriarchal societies, stoning is used as a form of punishment against women.

The context is one of degradation. For years, we have been facing an increasing impoverishment of language: a drying up of vocabulary (everything is ‘cute’, ‘cool’, ‘extraordinary’ or ‘fantastic’), and emotions are being reduced to basic social media tools such as ‘likes’ and emojis. So, crude expressions that open the door to love/hate dynamics.  Tribal and clan logic (friends and enemies).  And violence.

However, feelings, even those concerning affection, are a complex mix of often conflicting emotions.  Accurately representing them requires words and images capable of doing justice to their rich complexity. As evidenced by the verses of the Song of Songs and the Greek lyricists, as well as the contrasting works of Catullus and Ovid (‘I can live neither with you nor without you’) and Prevert (‘Young people in love embrace standing up, leaning against the gates of the night’), not to mention the countless songs that speak of love (‘…empty is the city if you are not there’ by Mina), love is a universal theme.

Educating on love and feelings is essentially educating on language,  and the richness, variety and strength of words.

Looking again at Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, with Portia’s legal trickery and romantic twist that reverses the fortunes of Antonio, the debtor. Then Mozart’s Don Giovanni, with Zerlina’s emotional turmoil and Donna Elvira’s torment and redemption.  These are extraordinary women who deserve our attention and respect.  Then there is Leopardi with his Silvia.  Then Szimborska’s ‘Love at First Sight’: ‘Every beginning, in fact, is only a continuation, and the book of events is always open in the middle’.  And Alda Merini: ‘Last night was love, you and I, fugitives and runaways…’.  Listening again to Schubert’s music and Brahms’ compositions dedicated to his beloved Clara Schumann. And thinking about great works of art,  like Antonello da Messina’s depiction of the face of the Annunciation, with her hand stretched forward to ask the Angel with gentle firmness to stop time and thus allow her to understand what that act of love, that conception, of which she had just been made aware was (the model for that Madonna was the woman intensely loved by the painter).

Working with words and stories told through images that evoke intense feelings and values,  insisting on the importance of emotions, even in the inevitable cycle of love and pain, waiting and meeting, ecstasy and mourning.  In recognising that all love is imperfect because we are all imperfect, men and women alike,  and that in the intertwining of feelings, truth is a fire that burns away the dross of silence and misunderstanding, opening up new, unexplored paths.

A lesson in literature, art and everyday life. It is an unusual and surprising way of life that overturns apparent oxymorons.  Lucio Piccolo, the elegant and melancholic poet and cousin of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, wrote, ‘Even the bramble had its bends of sweetness, even the plum tree had its whiteness.’  It is about learning to look beyond the banality of appearances.  Knowing that even in the worst moments, there is hope for change,  the ‘sweetness of the bramble’, as it were.

The emotional, sexual and relational education that schools are asked to provide is just that: far from a rigid manual on gender,  it is the thoughtful reading of the classics and current affairs (the reasons of the heart, even plumbing the depths of the ‘heart of darkness’).  It is a cultural and  civil education. Words indicating the quality of relationships are emphasised:  kindness, for example; listening; gentleness; the attitude of ‘taking charge’; the ability to recognise ‘the other’s gaze’ and thus recognise oneself;  the habit of using ‘we’ instead of the egocentric ‘I’ in love stories.

And so, we should avoid the unhappy and mournful myth of Narcissus (unfortunately so fashionable today, especially among powerful men).  Instead, we should reflect on the myth of Ulysses, a man capable of loving knowledge and a woman,  Penelope,  and the other precious women who have given meaning to our lives.  My patient grandmother was a teacher, for example.

There it is: education in the language of feelings,  and the ability to come to terms with one’s emotions; to understand, process and renew them; and to keep them alive.  It means avoiding the intoxication of success, and accepting the heaviness of defeat and the loneliness of night, as in every human story.  It means going ‘beyond fragility’ and taking an example from the Japanese art of kintsugi: repairing precious things with a golden thread and giving them life again. Trying to find harmonies in our lives and relationships,  with patience and perseverance.  Love is passion and impetus, of course,  but also the careful cultivation of feelings and bonds.

Life, even love life, is a sense of limits,  of falling  and recovering. ‘The daring descents and the climbs,’ sang the lovable musical poet, Lucio Battisti.

It is in this complex wealth of values that we must build and strengthen the ‘family lexicon’, in order to cope with violence against women and  to understand the meaning of love that is not based on domination, prevarication, manipulation or violence,  but on care and respect,

good manners and consideration,  from childhood onwards,  at school and  in workplaces and  in society as a whole.

This is precisely the ‘language of respect’ of which President Mattarella speaks.  It is up to each of us to build and strengthen this language, as a social, cultural and civil duty and responsibility, starting with ourselves as individuals.

(Photo Getty Images)

A book that is essential for understanding social and economic action is republished

Understanding the concepts behind words  is always necessary, especially when it comes to the social and economic systems in which we operate.  Returning to classics such as Giovanni Sartori’s ‘Democrazia e definizioni’ (Democracy and definitions), first published in 1957 and reprinted several times since, is a good place to start.

In his book, the author, who was just over thirty years old at the time of writing, tackles the fundamental problems and essential, perennial issues of democracy with logical rigour. He begins by emphasising the importance of precisely defining the meaning of the linguistic terms used.

However, as we continue reading, we delve into an examination of democracy in which the descriptive and normative dimensions become closely intertwined. Indeed, the entire book can be summarised in the opening lines of the preface (correctly reproduced in the newly published edition). The author writes,  ‘This book is not intended to be technical and therefore does not discuss “definitions” in the technical sense of the term.  By “definition”, I simply mean the need to establish the meaning or meanings of a linguistic term with a certain clarity and precision:  in our case, that of democracy’. But why? The answer is given immediately:  ‘Definitions are important because our judgements and our corresponding behaviours depend on the definitions to which they refer.  We are anti-democratic, democratic, or hyper-democratic depending on our conception of democracy’. This is where we move from definitions to behaviours and then to rules:  ‘Within a democratic experiment, we want a certain kind of democracy and reject another, measuring reality against a yardstick made up of definitions,’ as Sartori points out. These are the cornerstones from which Sartori proceeds in his writing and which the reader encounters, starting, of course, with ‘defining democracy’ (in the first part of the book) and moving on to the history of democracy (in the second part) through the analysis of the different ways (and therefore rules) in which this concept has been put into practice over time.

Taking into account what the author writes, ‘An investigation into democracy ends up being democratic.  I mean that it is not intended for a specialised circle of readers’, Giovanni Sartori’s book is certainly dense and must be approached with great attention. This is not because it is difficult for most people, but because it should be a tool of knowledge and culture for the reader.  A tool to be used in numerous areas of social and economic activity.

Democrazia e definizioni

Giovanni Sartori

il Mulino, 2025

The Montessori school experience at Falck

It’s called corporate welfare today.  A company focusing on its people. Caring for the well-being of those who work in the factory and offices. While this is certainly not common to all companies, it is widespread enough to find examples of it in a number of significant cases.  One such case is that of the Falck steelworks and ironworks in Sesto San Giovanni, Lombardy, which promoted the application of Montessori pedagogy in schools for the children of its employees between 1952 and 1993.

Irene Pozzi (of the University of Bologna) writes about this experience in her article, ‘L’applicazione della pedagogia montessoriana nelle scuole delle Acciaierie e Ferriere Lombarde Falck’ (The application of Montessori pedagogy in the schools of the Lombard Falck steelworks and ironworks) (1952–1993), which was recently published in Nuova Secondaria.

Based on unpublished company sources (publications and archive documents), the article describes the educational initiatives implemented at Falck. These initiatives were made possible thanks to the collaboration between Maly Falck (wife of the company chairman at the time, Giovanni Falck) and Giuliana Sorge, a renowned disciple of Maria Montessori. On the one hand, the Falck Montessori schools were an extremely significant educational experiment for the company, and on the other, they were an important centre for Montessori education in the post-war period.

Therefore, the research has the characteristics of both pedagogical analysis and historical and corporate culture analysis. Irene Pozzi begins her investigation by focusing on the initiative’s educational approach and historical origins. She then moves on to its growth and consolidation in the 1960s, which culminated in a crisis in the steel industry and the closure of schools due to a decline in the school population and the steel crisis.

IIrene Pozzi’s narrative – because it is indeed a narrative, given the language used – guides the reader through an important experience that is an expression of a corporate culture whose memory must not be lost.

L’applicazione della pedagogia montessoriana nelle scuole delle Acciaierie e Ferriere Lombarde Falck (1952-1993)

Irene Pozzi

Nuova Secondaria – No. 2, October 2025 – year XLIII

The relationship between digital technologies, development and humanity

The development model that dominated at the turn of the century no longer holds sway.  So how do we keep an increasingly large and fragmented society together when it is discarding traditional moral order in the name of personal freedom? This is a very important question that everyone must answer, with the level of intensity growing according to one’s individual responsibilities within social systems. This question is successfully answered in ‘Macchine celibi.  Meccanizzare l’umano o umanizzare il mondo?’ (Celibate machines: Mechanising humans or humanising the world?), a book co-authored by sociologist and media anthropologist Chiara Giaccardi and sociologist Mauro Magatti.

So, how can we do it? The solution seems to lie in digital technologies, which offer themselves as an antidote to the disruptive impulses of our age. However, they also prove to be a powerful catalyst for new problems. The two observe that the result is paradoxical: maximum efficiency and maximum communication chaos are achieved with digital technology. While intelligent machines are becoming more human-like, humans are in danger of becoming ‘celibate machines’, i.e. isolated, high-performance individuals capable of great things, but lacking bonds and unable to recognise others. In other words, as Giaccardi and Magatti put it, ‘To move forward, it is necessary to think of digitisation not as a means of standardising and controlling, but as a way of nurturing the vital intelligence of people and groups. Technology alone cannot provide us with guidance; we need a new way of thinking that transcends the limitations of modern rationality.’ We need a ‘new way of thinking’ that restores fundamental principles of existence and human coexistence. This must start with the rediscovery of a ‘politics of the spirit’ that can give our societies meaning, connections and a future. The way forward lies in reviving what modernity has marginalised:  dialogue, thought and spirit.  After all, happiness is not celibate — nor is freedom.

The book takes the reader through several stages on a journey with a destination.  First, the concept of ‘digital rationalisation’ is clarified. Then, the many aspects that this rationalisation determines, from narcissism to aggression, are explored in depth. Finally, a way forward based on thought, complexity, plurality and dialogue is outlined.

Chiara Giaccardi and Mauro Magatti emphasise that we are at a crossroads.  It is up to us to choose the right path, otherwise we will end up as Luigi Pirandello astutely pointed out, as quoted by the authors themselves: ‘We are all becoming like machines; we no longer need a soul’.

Macchine celibi. Meccanizzare l’umano o umanizzare il mondo?

Chiara Giaccardi, Mauro Magatti

il Mulino, 2025

When we say Milan, what city are we talking about?  A city of 1.5 million inhabitants, into which at least another million people travel every day for work or study? Or a metropolis consisting of 133 municipalities and home to over three million people?  Or Italy’s largest university city, with 230,000 students across ten prestigious universities that are also well respected abroad? We could also tell the story of an area that produces 11% of the national GDP and is home to 34% of the foreign multinationals based in Italy, according to data from Assolombarda, the largest territorial organisation of Confindustria which brings together almost 8,000 companies in Milan, Monza and Brianza, Lodi and Pavia — ‘the productive and innovative heart of the country’. Or we could talk about the metropolitan centre of gravity of a vast industrial and dynamic area in Europe, stretching from Turin and Genoa to Veneto and Trieste, and from the Alps to the Via Emilia. Milan is therefore the ‘infinite city’, to repeat Aldo Bonomi’s pertinent and famous definition.

And it is a Milan to be governed.  But how? The sheer scale of the ongoing transformations and the radical nature of the changing processes (from economic growth to social issues) reveal that, although Milan is a market metropolis, it cannot be reduced solely to the logic of the market and productivity. Its attractiveness to people, capital, ideas and businesses requires foundations that are more solid than the fundamental parameters of competitiveness. Civic virtues and social values are needed, as are international cultural exchanges and, above all, good politics and effective public administration.

As the figure at the beginning shows, these issues cannot be governed solely at the municipal level. With one and a half million residents, and another million people arriving in the morning and leaving in the evening, Milan’s population almost doubles on a daily basis, with all the attendant problems of transport, cleaning, services, security, catering and waste.

Therefore, the scale must be at least of a metropolitan city, with better application of the relevant regulations (the founding law dates from 1990, inclusion in the Constitution from 2001, implementation from 2014 and formal operation instead of the old provinces from 2015 —  a quarter of a century, a very long time).  It must also be provided with financial and professional resources.

However, the trouble is that the metropolitan city has never worked well. ‘The Great Ghost of Milan,’ writes Corriere della Sera (28 October) and ‘A restrained but strategic giant’ (29 October). The mayor of the metropolitan city is the same as that of the capital, Beppe Sala.  But the perception of the role and relative powers has always been marginal. With negative consequences for all the areas concerned.

So, do we need a ‘special law’ for Milan, like the one in force for Rome? Maybe, as long as there are adequate allocations for public services and fiscal incentives for private investment to accompany public resources, and as long as the standards are based on the metropolitan area.

However, we need to go one step further. The real issue with services is to consider them not only from an administrative perspective, but also in terms of the movement of people, products and jobs.  This would involve developing proposals for unions, consortia of municipalities and public-private partnerships, depending on the services to be provided, and would create a new political, economic and administrative landscape.  However, this would need to be tested, bearing in mind the positive fiscal examples of other European countries. Piero Borghini, who was mayor of Milan in the early 1990s, refers to Manchester’s experience of using locally produced tax resources to build governance of services ‘from below’ rather than ‘from the top’ of administrative leadership. New ideas, the dynamism of a society on the move (Corriere della Sera, 31 October).

In any case, Milan is multifaceted and, to use Lucio Dalla‘s words, ‘close to Europe’.  And it is certainly not ‘livid and sunk by its own hand’, as Ivano Fossati wrote in ‘Steam Trains’ (but that was in 1992, the year investigations began into the Tangentopoli system of political and financial corruption). Polycentric Milan cannot be reduced to the stereotypes of a hectic and wealthy city, a ‘city of a thousand lights’ for fashion, design and luxury living. However, it is also difficult to understand based solely on the stylistic features derived from the widespread reports of corruption in public administration (although the judicial inquiries into alleged urban planning irregularities in the municipality have not found solid evidence), and the growing violence in the ‘movida’ areas, where petty crime is perceived as an emergency.

However, there are shadows over the soul of a city said to be losing its ability to combine work and culture, productivity and solidarity. Bonomi is right to write of a metropolis in the midst of an ‘interrupted metamorphosis’, at risk of losing its social cohesion (IlSole24Ore, 29 October). This is partly due to an increasing inability, or perhaps unwillingness, to combine the dimensions of needs and rights. However, even in the most challenging neighbourhoods, it is possible to find stories of solidarity and social commitment brought to life by organisations, institutions, and voluntary groups in the ‘third sector’ (Caritas Ambrosiana is a prime example, though by no means the only one).

Therefore, before the city plunges into the rhetoric of electoral propaganda for the election of a new mayor and city council in 2027, it makes sense to discuss in depth the ongoing transformations and the political and cultural tools needed to tackle the problems exacerbated by Milan’s status as the Italian region most affected by overwhelming economic phenomena, such as the transition from industrial to post-industrial production at the end of the 20th century, and the current mutations linked to the ‘knowledge economy’ and the pervasiveness of artificial intelligence.

Much has been said about the ‘crisis of the Milan model’. But Milan is by no means a model; it is a land in motion, an economic engine and a ‘factory of the future’ (a term dear to Assolombarda), as well as a magnet for attracting intelligence and capital. It is also a cultural and social hub with the capacity to engage in in-depth self-reflection, a rare quality in the Italy of the ‘strapaese’, the movement that championed traditional, rural, and nationalistic values over cosmopolitan and modernist ones and which is characterised by a sense of proud parochialism.

This is a Milan that needs to be understood and explained better.  It should be severely criticised, and yet it should also be designed with love and lived in.

A good example of this attitude is the discussion organised by the Centro Studi Grande Milano and chaired by Daniela Mainini, with Roberto Poli acting as director. Taking place on Wednesday 26th at the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnica, the event is aptly titled ‘Milan is its destiny:  ideas and projects for the city’. Speakers will include Cristina Messa, Agnese Pini, Venanzio Postiglione, Gianmario Verona and myself. Milan’s destiny stems from its history and character, and encompasses ‘enterprising dialogue’, culture and solidarity, innovation and reformist awareness, enlightenment, polytechnic culture, civic sentiment, education and science.

In fact, this is a Milan that must learn to take greater account of the opinions of other Italian and European cities.  It cannot abandon the economic and social characteristics that underpin its activities and, over time, have enabled millions of people to ‘become Milanese’. Citizens who are both enterprising and supportive.

(photo Getty Images)

In the 1980s, Pirelli’s designs benefited from the use of new tools made possible by advances in computing technologies. The following decade saw the development of an important academic partnership with the creation of the Consortium for Research on Optical Switching and Processing in Milan (CoreCom) together with the Politecnico University of Milan. The Consortium soon became a European benchmark for research on optical communications, pioneering work also in networks and special optical fibres. Innovation, however, did not concern materials and products alone. In 1999, at Bicocca, Pirelli presented its Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRSTM) for automated tyre production. Protected by twenty-two patents, it made it possible to manufacture high- and ultra-high-performance tyres in small batches with very rapid development times, ushering in new logistics and customer service possibilities. This represented a radical shift from traditional production processes. In 2001, the partnership between Pirelli and the University of Milano-Bicocca gave rise to the Consortium for Research on Advanced Materials (CORIMAV), which was set up to develop cutting-edge materials technologies and to support research activities and promote training for young people.

Training, research and development remain a strategic asset for Pirelli today: more than 2,000 people work in R&D across the Milan headquarters and the company’s twelve technological centres around the world, and the Group continues to work with suppliers, universities and vehicle manufacturers to anticipate technological innovation. Pirelli’s long-term goal is to replace 100% of fossil- and mineral-based raw materials with bio-based, renewable or recycled components. In addition to this, 80% of aftermarket tyres are now developed using virtual models and simulations, reducing design and production times and costs. The shift towards an increasingly sustainable industry takes time, but the direction is clear: what is research today will become reality tomorrow.

This constant drive to investigate, to go and look “inside things”, is the profound meaning of the great mosaic entitled Scientific Research, created in 1961 from a design by Renato Guttuso and preserved – significantly – in the study room of the Pirelli Foundation. Surrounded by their microscopes and calculators, the scientists imagined by the painter are intent on observing the Moon. A goal later achieved, and from which we now look further still, towards what lies beyond and cannot yet be seen, but which study, research, and the intelligence of humans and machines will one day reveal.

Back to main page

In 1937, Giulio Natta—then full professor at the Politecnico University of Turin—was commissioned by Pirelli to find an alternative to importing natural rubber from plantations in South America and the Far East, which was becoming increasingly difficult. Thanks to the work of the future Nobel laureate, the laboratories at Bicocca came up with an original technology for producing synthetic rubber and in 1938 two patents were filed for the separation of butylene and butadiene. Among the thousands of test specifications produced by the Tyre Research and Development department, the word “cauccital” – a blend of “caucciu” (rubber) and “Italy” – appears for the first time, marking the beginning of experiments with the laboratory-produced rubber now commonly used across the entire industry. It was the start of a technological revolution. Alongside these specifications, now held in our Historical Archive, there are technical data sheets detailing mould dimensions for tyre vulcanisation, tread designs, and the original markings (sizes, tyre type, company logo) embossed on the sidewall. These documents have accompanied the development and evolution of all Pirelli tyres, every step of the way, ever since the early 1930s, from memorable products such as the Stella Bianca and Cinturato, to the Corsa racing versions, through to the experimentation with Cord fabrics. The 1930s and 1940s also provide the first photographic evidence of the people who worked in these experimentation laboratories. Together with the technicians and researchers, the scientific community and its instruments take centre stage: the work benches of the chemical and physics laboratories have microscopes, ampoules, slides, test tubes, torque transducers and plastometers, shown close up to highlight the details.

In the immediate post-war years, Pirelli oversaw the creation of a technological centre with vast laboratories specialising in various branches of chemistry and physics. The 1957 annual report notes: “in the field of technical progress, new research laboratories began operation in Bicocca and have proved to be a model of efficiency with state-of-the-art equipment. In particular, these laboratories are equipped with an electron accelerator generator of two mega electron volts, to be used primarily for research on rubber and plastics.” During the 1950s, renowned photographers such as Aldo Ballo, were invited to capture the complexities of these research facilities at Pirelli. Organised and named according to the branch of activity and the site of experiments and tests in the run-up to the manufacture of the company’s products, these laboratories embodied science as both study and application, as we see in their photographs. In 1960, Pirelli magazine wrote about the purchase and installation of two new pieces of equipment – a microphotometer and an optical comparator – both designed by Pirelli personnel. In 1963 came the opening of a new laboratory for the electrical sector, described as “one of the largest currently existing in the world for very high voltage tests”.

Back to main page

Pirelli’s commitment to research and innovation began with its founder, Giovanni Battista, a young engineer freshly graduated from the Istituto Tecnico Superiore di Milano – the future Politecnico University – in 1870. Thanks to his initiative, Italy’s first factory for processing elastic rubber opened in 1873 under the technical direction of Aimé Goulard, with forty workers and five office staff. Following the advice of his mentor, Professor Giuseppe Colombo – the founder of Edison and one of the key figures of Italy’s industrial modernisation between the mid-nineteenth century and the First World War – Giovanni Battista Pirelli decided to start manufacturing parts for industrial machinery, steamships and the railways: various articles, such as transmission belts, valves, and insulators. The range soon extended to consumer items such as toys, balls, waterproofs and haberdashery. Just ten years after the company was founded, the results were clear: the workforce grew from 40 to 300, the facilities expanded, and new sectors were launched. One of these was for the production of rubber-coated telegraph wires, which were introduced in 1879. The first chemical and electrical engineers were hired in 1884, and in the following years important experts in the field of electrotechnics joined the company. These included Emanuele Jona and Leopoldo and Luigi Emanueli, who would long lead the Group’s Research and Development department.

In the late nineteenth century, at the behest of the founder, the company started collecting scientific texts, mainly dedicated to rubber, tyres and electric cables, to broaden the training of Pirelli technicians. These volumes eventually became part of today’s Scientific and Technical Library of over 16,000 titles, kept by the Pirelli Foundation since 2010. It is no coincidence that, ever since it was set up, the Foundation has adopted a quote by Luigi Emanueli as its motto: “Adess ghe capissaremm on quaicoss: andemm a guardagh denter (“Now we’ll understand something, let’s go and look inside”). The idea of “looking inside” in order “to understand” sums up the whole concept of science as a form of research, study, and commitment.

And so it was that, in 1922, photographers were invited to “look inside” the life of the factory. To celebrate the company’s fiftieth anniversary, a photographic shoot was produced at the Milano Bicocca plant, from the production departments to the laboratories. The spaces and technical equipment illustrated Pirelli’s pioneering role in innovation. During these years the company continued to give central importance to research in Italy and abroad. The 1923 annual report stated that the Società Italiana Pirelli “with the help of its technical management and its laboratories, has also […] strongly supported the activity of these foreign plants of ours, continuing its policy of scientific research and refinement at the headquarters and of collaboration with the management of sister companies abroad, which we have constantly pursued throughout these years of expansion of our industrial organisation.” And research never stopped, focusing on new materials and innovative products in the decades that followed, beginning with the development of synthetic rubber.

Back to main page

As part of BookCity Milano, and to mark the tenth anniversary of #ioleggoperché – the national programme promoted by the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) in support of school libraries – Pirelli and the Pirelli Foundation have reaffirmed their commitment to encouraging reading among the young. At the Pirelli Auditorium, inside the company’s headquarters, a special event was held for primary and secondary schools, featuring the presentation of the documentary Leggere può cambiare tutto. Dieci anni di #ioleggoperché (“Reading Can Change Everything: Ten Years of #ioleggoperché”), a tribute to the value of libraries and the transformative power of reading at school.

The event was hosted by Sara Zambotti, a well-known Italian radio presenter, who guided the students through an engaging conversation on the power of stories as a force for change. The guest of honour was the writer and journalist Luigi Garlando, who spoke about how books can become tools for growth and connection, highlighting the importance of expanding school libraries and building communities around reading.

Also taking part were Antonio Calabrò, director of the Pirelli Foundation, Innocenzo Cipolletta, president of AIE, and Luca Formenton, president of BookCity Milano, who explored the role of reading as a driver of cultural and civic development. After their contributions, the floor was given to the true protagonists of the event – the boys and girls themselves – who shared their favourite titles, discussed their best-loved genres and authors, and spoke about their own experiences. It was a moment of interaction and inspiration, where the voices and enthusiasm of the young readers brought the event to life.

Promoting reading: the BookCity and #ioleggoperché initiatives

Books are like a nest: a welcoming refuge, a source of knowledge and security, and a path to a better life. Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century, puts it well: ‘I began my life as I shall no doubt end it: among books. In my grandfather’s study, they were everywhere; it was forbidden to dust them except once a year, before the October term. Even before I could read, I already revered these raised stones; upright or leaning, wedged together like bricks on the library shelves or nobly placed like avenues of dolmens, I felt that our family prosperity depended on them. […] The books were my birds and my nests, my pets, my stable and my countryside; the bookcase was the world closed in a mirror; of a mirror had infinite depth, variety, unpredictability.’

The words of Sartre on ‘a life among books’, as well as those of the great French cultural figure Michel de Montaigne (‘Books are the best provisions I have found on this human journey’), spring to mind when considering two current events in Milan, a cultured and literate city where 10% of books sold in Italy are sold in Milanese bookshops. First is BookCity, which will see more than 1,300 debates and 2,700 participants in meetings and presentations from 10 to 16 November. The theme is ‘The power of ideas/the ideas of power’, covering topics such as freedom, creativity, knowledge and responsibility. The second event is the presentation of a documentary on #ioleggoperché (I read because), an initiative launched ten years ago by the Italian Publishers Association (AIE).  This major social project has distributed over 3.7 million donated books to 28,000 schools since 2015, involving 4,000 bookshops and reaching more than 4 million students throughout Italy. And this is a commitment that must continue:  more books, more donations and more school libraries to establish and develop.

Let’s start with this latest initiative. ‘This is a collective commitment that has turned reading into a shared, participatory activity capable of uniting different generations and territories,’ say the leaders of the AIE.

The results of this vital activity are detailed in the documentary Leggere può cambiare tutto (Reading can change everything), produced by AIE with the support of Pirelli. It was premiered yesterday morning at the Pirelli headquarters in Bicocca, Milan, as part of BookCity, to an audience of hundreds of students. The 25-minute film offers a unique perspective on the role of the narrator, taking the form of a school library that evolves over time. It will be available on Rai Play from today until 16 November. It includes contributions from various parties, including promoters such as the Cariplo Foundation, as well as authorities including the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and the Ministers of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, and Education, Giuseppe Valditara. It also features insights from professors and students of all ages.

What is the meaning behind the story? Innocenzo Cipolletta, president of the AIE, explains,  ‘For us, if a child discovers the joy of reading through a book that was delivered to their school as part of the #ioleggoperché campaign, it means that we have opened a door to the future for them.  Over the past ten years, the project has helped transform the way reading is approached in schools. Reading, which was once a private experience for many children, has become a shared, collective moment that unites students, teachers and communities.’

Cipolletta continues:  ‘We are proud to have made this documentary based on contributions from schools which shows how the country is changing thanks to the project and school libraries, which have become real reading infrastructures.’

Marco Tronchetti Provera, Executive Vice President of Pirelli and President of the Pirelli Foundation, adds, ‘Supporting #ioleggoperché means helping to strengthen school libraries, which are also linked to company and neighbourhood libraries,  and therefore offering young people greater access to books.  Reading is a fundamental tool for developing knowledge, critical thinking, and civic participation.’

‘Pirelli, through its Foundation, has been committed to dialogue with schools and the promotion of culture as a means of personal and collective growth for many years.  This project is a tangible example of collaboration between institutions, the local community, and the business world for the benefit of young people.’

This is the key point. Libraries are cultural and social centres, spaces for knowledge, gathering and building community spirit.  And books are like homes to live in.  They are boats that sail through space and time.  Probes to reach the skies of imagination and the depths of knowledge.  They are tools to help us navigate the changing seasons of our lives.

The pleasure of the text. Memory, knowledge, freedom for the imagination and the responsibility of democracy.

To understand this better, we can refer to another famous quote by Umberto Eco that we mentioned in our blog post on 10 December 2024: ‘the book is like the spoon, scissors, the hammer, the wheel. Once invented, it cannot be improved. This also serves as a reminder of the importance of reading, the pleasure of the text and the thrill of discovering knowledge, adventure and new things. ‘Don’t hope to get rid of books,’ Eco said, in a brilliant conversation with Jean-Claude Carrière, published in 2017 by La nave di Teseo. So, let’s pick up our books again and cultivate a love of reading, both now and for the future. Let’s get children used to seeing books as normal, enjoyable and fun objects that add to our daily lives from an early age, just like spoons!

This is also the basis of the project developed by Confindustria’s Culture Group to promote the establishment of company libraries and relaunch an initiative that was discussed a decade ago. The Publishers’ Association is collaborating on the project, which will involve the network of Confindustria associations and companies in the local areas. Libraries are being founded and developed as part of a political and social commitment to restoring space and dignity to education, study, research and the values of knowledge and science. These values are also essential for a corporate culture that wants to play an active role in facing the challenges of complex and controversial modernity. The Pirelli libraries in Bicocca and Settimo Torinese serve as a prime example of this.

Neighbourhood and school libraries full of books suited to the interests and passions of children and teenagers (the mission of #ioleggoperché). Apartment building libraries, libraries in factories, offices and all workplaces where communities of people gather. A public and private investment in reading.

These libraries could all be put into common use and connected to municipal and regional library systems. They could also become places for meeting, conversing and discussing.  These would be places where the social capital of a community grows and matures.

Now, let’s return to #ioleggoperché. A broader editorial project has been launched alongside the documentary, designed to extend and amplify the narrative.  This project consists of a series of short videos available on Rai Play, in which authors and other notable figures share their personal experiences and thoughts on the power of books and the joy of passing on a passion for reading. The short stories include one by Rudy Zerbi, the project’s long-standing ambassador. He opens with a ‘family’ memory linked to books. In another story, Olympic champion and #ioleggoperché ambassador  Sofia Goggia reveals the book that inspired her in her youth.  Vincenzo Schettini, a teacher and populariser of science, reflects on the differences between the worlds of books and social media. The stories are interwoven with the voices of Massimiliano Rosolino, Manuel Bortuzzo and Andrea Lo Cicero from Team Illumina Sport e Salute. They share anecdotes and personal reflections, as does director Riccardo Milani, who reminisces about the books of his childhood and how he came across the project. Finally, Miriam Candurro, the lead actress in Un Posto al Sole, recounts the moment she fell in love with reading.

The students of the Galilei Technical Institute in Rome captured the essence of the documentary and the project when they said, ‘Reading is a simple gesture, but it can change everything’. Even after ten years, this project continues to inspire readers, one library at a time.