Giovanni Hänninen, CITTÀ INATTESA

Room 17
Invited by Gabriele Basilico

Città inattesa is a journey through a city reconstructed from forgotten pieces of Milan. A dormant city, huddled between skyscrapers and large-scale works. It is assembled from sometimes anachronistic places, which seem to have outlived their mission. But also with buildings that would still be able to live and serve its citizens. It is a puzzle of public spaces that virtually recompose the primary needs of social living in the modern world.
Neglect, failures, economic reasons, political reasons, projects aborted before they were even completed. There are many causes that have made these buildings invisible and often a refuge for the “invisibles”.
These are not the suburbs of a city in retreat, but places scattered throughout the urban fabric of a metropolis challenging the sky with new towers. An absent Milan, too distracted by cementing every void to listen to the silences of buildings waiting for ideas and courage. Places that do not ask to remain the same, but are ready to transform themselves, adapting to new functions.
They are facing a silent struggle. Against the deterioration that is slowly crumbling their foundations, and nature which, quietly, takes back the spaces that have been taken from it.

Giovanni Hänninen was born in Helsinki in 1976. He lives and works in Milan.