December 2019 – December 2020
ART AND PHILOSOPHY, TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY
Pierpaolo Casarin and Giuseppe Frangi
One of the elements that makes the San Siro district unique is its nature as an “inner periphery”—not an outskirt pushed to the city’s margins, but a periphery within the heart of Milan. The theme of boundaries marks the large quadrilateral built between 1935 and 1947, designed by architects Albini, Camus, Palanti, Battigalli, Fabbri, Minoletti, Cerutti, and Putelli.
“Over the years, the borders originally outlined in the plan—without any particular dividing elements or sharp contrasts—have become more defined and thickened, creating a geography of separation that today reaches deep levels of segregation,”
wrote Francesca Cognetti of the Politecnico di Milano.
The “walk” from Piazzale Segesta to Piazzale Selinunte was conceived precisely to experience the crossing of this boundary: on one side, the elegant residential area stretching toward the Hippodrome and San Siro Stadium; on the other, the densely populated social housing neighborhood (originally 6,100 apartments), now also highly multiethnic.
The project’s aim can be summed up in this aspiration:
“We will once again inhabit these streets and squares, rediscovering and reimagining their identity as places to re-inhabit, re-think, and re-create.”
EVENTS
From Square to Square. The Two Milans of Piazzale Segesta and Piazzale Selinunte
September 17, 2020
With Pierpaolo Casarin (Propositi di Filosofia) and Viviane Riqueur, teacher at Lycée Français Stendhal.
A walk through two squares—only a few hundred meters apart, sharing similar names but marked by deep differences. A journey to understand, reflect, and seek to reconnect.
Everything in the Courtyard
October 8, 2020
A tour of the courtyard of Piazzale Selinunte, which still preserves an intact World War II air-raid shelter.
The visit featured Simone Krasnovsky (Associazione Punto.it), Giuseppe Frangi (journalist and Vice President of Casa Testori), and Prof. Fulvio Irace, (Politecnico di Milano, History of Architecture).
THE BOOK
The publication Selinunte. Milano offers comprehensive documentation of the project, including transcripts of the meetings and a photographic gallery curated by Enrico Pani.
You can download it [here].
THE “PIAZZALE SELINUNTE DIALOGUES”
Open conversations on the identity of a periphery
Pericles in the Suburbs
June 18, 2020
Talk with Aldo Scarpis, Greek teacher at Liceo Parini. Hosted by Simone Krasnovsky.
Watch the video →
Squares on the Border
June 25, 2020
Talk with Viviane Riqueur, teacher at Lycée Français de Piazza Segesta. Hosted by Pierpaolo Casarin.
Watch the video →
Home Away from Home
July 2, 2020
Talk with Marta Cereda (curator of Appocundria), photographer Giovanni Hänninen, and videomaker Alberto Amoretti. Hosted by Giuseppe Frangi.
Watch the video →
The Periphery and the Vertical Forest
July 9, 2020
Talk with Maurizio Guerri, professor at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. Hosted by Pierpaolo Casarin.
Watch the video →
This series of talks was part of the Art & Philosophy for Community project, curated by Casa Testori, in collaboration with Laboratorio di Quartiere San Siro, Amici del Laboratorio, Propositi di Filosofia s.n.c., and Associazione Punto.it, with the support of the City of Milan.