{"id":93176,"date":"2022-11-15T13:21:05","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T12:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/uncategorized\/la-milano-di-bookcity-e-delle-buone-letture-e-le-case-high-tech-in-cui-scompaiono-le-librerie\/"},"modified":"2022-11-22T10:29:06","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T09:29:06","slug":"milan-home-of-the-bookcity-literary-festival-and-of-good-reading-as-well-as-high-tech-homes-with-no-bookshelves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/corporate-culture\/blog\/milan-home-of-the-bookcity-literary-festival-and-of-good-reading-as-well-as-high-tech-homes-with-no-bookshelves\/","title":{"rendered":"Milan \u2013 home of the BookCity literary festival and of good reading, as well as high-tech homes with no bookshelves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Umberto Eco<\/strong> slowly walks across the rooms of his large house in Piazza Castello, in Milan \u2013 a veritable \u2018house of books\u2019 with more than 30,000 volumes collected over years of study, research, and literary and cultural passion. This image is actually a long-shot sequence scene from the black and white documentary entitled Umberto Eco. La biblioteca del mondo <\/strong><\/em>(Umberto Eco. The library of the world<\/em>), directed by Davide Ferrario<\/strong> and soon to be presented in Milan, at the Anteo cinema, by the Belleville Writing School, as part of the BookCity<\/strong> book festival (it will come out in cinemas in February, as a Fandango production).<\/p>\n

Choosing Eco\u2019s private library \u2013 as well as one of the greatest intellectuals of the 20th<\/sup> century \u2013 as the image promoting a festival that\u2019s unique in Italy and that, year after year (this is the 11th<\/sup> edition), from 16 to 20 November<\/strong>, attracts tens of thousands of people and offers almost 1,500 events such as meetings with the authors, public readings and debates, scattered throughout the city, is an apt and symbolic decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cA festival dedicated to books and to reading,\u201d concisely explains Piergaetano Marchetti, president of the BookCity Foundation and influential figure within Milan’s cultural and economic world. And, further, it’s an engaging way to highlight the close relationship between living and reading, attempting to understand and narrate the world, creating and undertaking, defying time through history and stories to set the scene for a better future.<\/p>\n

In fact, books most effectively epitomise the opportunities contained within the \u201cfuture of memory\u201d.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Milan<\/strong> is, after all, a city that thrives on progressive<\/strong> \u2013 yet also more mainstream and widespread \u2013 culture<\/strong>. Indeed, Antonio Greppi, mayor of Milan during that complex post-war period marked by frenzied reconstruction, promised \u201cBread and culture\u201d while both the entrepreneurial middle class and the most sensible political powers promoted cultural activities such as theatre and musical events through generous and long-term financial sponsorships (the Casa della Cultura Association on via Borgogna \u2013 still active today \u2013 is only one instance of such efforts). Even today, associations and industries still focus on culture \u2013 just this year, entrepreneurial institution Assolombarda awarded Padua the title of \u201ccapital of corporate culture\u201d, as culture, to companies, not only signifies sponsorship opportunities but also an asset enhancing the identity and competitive nature of enterprises, through a unique, international \u201cpolytechnic culture\u201d blending both humanities and sciences.<\/p>\n

A study by AIE<\/strong> (Associazione degli Editori, the Italian publishing trade association), undertaken specifically for BookCity in collaboration with Pepe Research, shows that 75% of Milanese citizens read at least one book per year (not a lot, of course, but nonetheless more than the national average), while 59% has attended at least one cultural event. \u201cEvents and reading are part of Milan’s virtuous equation\u201d, points out with some satisfaction the Corriere della Sera <\/em>newspaper, while the headline by la Repubblica <\/em>reads \u201cMilan as capital of cultural consumption\u201d. Then again, the annual research survey \u201cIo sono cultura\u201d (\u201cI am culture\u201d), curated by Symbola and Unioncamere (recently presented first at the MAXXI in Rome and then at Casa Fornasetti in Milan), reveals that Milan and the Lombardy region are at the forefront, in Italy, in terms of consumption, entrepreneurship and cultural activities.<\/p>\n

Thus, Milan as the city of books<\/strong>, of great publishing houses that have made history (Mondadori, Rizzoli, Bompiani, Feltrinelli, Adelphi, Mauri-Spagnol’s Longanesi, etc.) and new publishing ventures (La nave di Teseo, NN Editore, Iperborea, to mention just a few amongst many); of historic bookshops in evolution (Hoepli) and many other independent ones that have been opened, with much passion and wisdom, both in the centre and in the suburbs; of public and private libraries in cultural centres and in schools, as well as in companies and apartment blocks.<\/p>\n

Reading for fun, savouring the pleasure a book can give. Reading to understand and learn. Reading to defy time and get to know different lives and experiences, just as Umberto Eco taught us: \u201cAt the age of 70, those who don’t read will have led only one life \u2013 their own! Those who read will have lived 5,000 years: they were there when Cain killed Abel, when Renzo married Lucia, when Leopardi admired the infinite… Because literature is backwards immortality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here we find yet another trait of Milan, inspired by reading and culture: the ability to understand others’ ways of life, which entails social inclusion<\/strong>, a welcoming spirit and integration, an aptitude that uniquely combines economic competitiveness and solidarity. Reading to \u201ccomprehend\u201d (with its Latin root cum<\/em>, the same as \u201ccomprehension\u201d and \u201ccommunity\u201d). Reading to grow.<\/p>\n

Losing such traits would mean losing the soul of Milan.<\/p>\n

Let’s pay heed to books, then, and to the public spaces dedicated to books, such as libraries, bookshops and cultural events like BookCity, as well as private spaces like homes where books are at the heart of a family’s language and social interaction (this has been so since Cicero’s times, by the by: \u201cA room without books is like a body without a soul\u201d).<\/p>\n

Though here we encounter a critical spot: new urban architectural designs, the \u201cthousand lights\u201d of Milan and buzzing \u201cevents\u201d, opulent consumption and showy wealth, \u2018archistars\u2019 and skyscrapers in glass and steel redefining the skyline, high-tech homes and floor plans, leave very little room for bookshelves, for spaces dedicated to books. Of course, the new digital generations have a preference for eBooks \u2013 yet, are we truly confident that the disappearance of home libraries shouldn’t make us ponder about its architectural, cultural and social meaning?<\/p>

(Photo by Leonardo Cendamo\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Umberto Eco slowly walks across the rooms of his large house in Piazza Castello, in Milan \u2013 a veritable \u2018house of books\u2019 with more than 30,000 volumes collected over years of study, research, and literary and cultural passion. This image is actually a long-shot sequence scene from the black and white documentary entitled Umberto Eco. 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