Milan, here are the new Science Museum Cloisters: they will host events

At the “Leonardo da Vinci” National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, work on the rehabilitation and enhancement of the monumental building’s Cloisters, Loggias and Gardens is finished, and as of today they are once again open to the public following interventions made possible with the contribution of the City of Milan and the Lombardy Region. The enhancement works on the two Cloisters’ Loggias and the small cloister were carried out under the supervision of the Soprintendenza Archeologica Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Metropolitan City of Milan and were carried out in continuity with the restoration work on the facades of the monumental building carried out in 2019 by the City of Milan. The work also included the removal of existing wooden panels placed along the walls, the restoration of deteriorated plaster, the repainting of walls, vaults and parapets, and the cleaning of the flooring and all stone materials. At the end of the work, the installation of equipped columns making the Loggiati usable for the organization of events was also completed.

Thus, the works have made it possible to enhance the historical heart of the Museum and reopen it in total safety to the public, enabling the planning of special activities, public and private, in a place that combines large spaces, coverage from the weather as well as the advantages of natural ventilation. Located on the first level of the Monumental building and overlooking two large gardens, the Cloisters, as well as the entire Museum, are now proposed as an ideal place to respond to new ways of managing digital streaming or hybrid events with a reduced number of participants. New in fact is the possibility of setting links and talks within the most scenic exhibits, or next to unique museum icons such as the Toti submarine, the Biancamano ocean liner, and the Vega rocket, giving them even more charm and value. The Museum also intends to provide anyone with a staff of professionals qualified in event organization who can best support the management of the entire workflow. Choosing the museum’s unique and scenic settings for their productions, they let the museum know, is a way to support the institute in fulfilling its mission and numerous projects because all the resources generated are reinvested to improve the quality of its educational and cultural offerings.

The cloisters of the monumental building in which the National Science and Technology Museum is housed have a very long history. In fact, the Museum occupies an ancient Olivetan monastery, an extension of an earlier Benedictine coenoby, built on what was the largest cemetery area in Roman Mediolanum. Inside the Cloisters it is still possible to see the remains of the imposing fortified walls (measuring 90 x 125 meters) reinforced by towers, which protected a Roman imperial mausoleum inside. Re-founded around the year 1000 by the Milanese archbishop Arnulf II, perhaps at the invitation of Emperor Henry II of Saxony, the monastery enjoyed a long period of prosperity from the Middle Ages to the mid-1400s. Subsequently its importance declined, so much so that in 1500 negotiations were begun with the Olivetan order to breathe new life into the abbey, and the arrival of the Olivetan monks coincided with its heyday. Major expansion works were thus initiated: between 1508 and 1525 the first large Cloister and its dormitory were built; between 1553 and 1578 the second Cloister was built. The complex included the monks’ cells, guest quarters, library, abbey apartment, Chapter House, novices’ hospice, vegetable gardens, gardens and a vineyard. In 1560 the construction of the new church began, designed by Vincenzo Seregni, whose orientation was reversed from the Benedictine church: on the square, instead of the apse, now faces the facade. In 1712 the new Baroque-style building was finished, the work of Giuseppe Maria Castelli, who decorated the new refectory together with the Varese painter Pietro Gilardi. After the visit of Empress Elisabeth Christine of Braunschweig, wife of Charles VI and mother of Maria Theresa of Austria, the monastery acquired the important status of imperial abbey. On June 8, 1805, a Napoleonic decree suppressed the monastery and converted it first into a military hospital, then into barracks. Instead of gardens, stables and riding stables arose. Heavily bombed in August 1943, on April 26, 1947 the entire complex was assigned to house the new museum. Renovated to plans by architects Piero Portaluppi and Ferdinando Reggiori, it was inaugurated on February 15, 1953.

“In recent months, despite the health emergency and the closure to the public,” said the museum’s general director, Fiorenzo Galli, “we have continued to work on several fronts, completing capital improvements on the building that houses the Museum’s headquarters (roofing and facades of the Cavallerizze and the Museum), on the outdoor areas, on the safety of infrastructure, on facilities and services, thanks to projects matured in the recent past and the support of Public and Private partners. Public-Private partnerships are indeed a hallmark of our action. We are particularly pleased to have concluded precisely in such a complex and uncertain period the renovation works of the Cloisters and the Loggias of the Monumental building, which were carried out to return all the beauty to this place full of memory and charm and at the same time so precious for our activity and that of our guests, as the events of these days demonstrate. This first intervention will be followed in the coming months by an impressive lighting project that will affect the gardens of both Cloisters and the enhancement of the archaeological part, aimed at making the Museum’s spaces increasingly attractive to Milan and its territory. Our goal is to continue planning for the future, improving the quality of our cultural and educational offerings. I would like to thank the City of Milan, the Lombardy Region and Mibact for their concrete support, which follow us with attention and passion.”

“The Museum of Science is a museum in itself, regardless of the prestige of its museum collection and the important initiatives that are carried out to enhance it,” says Milan City Council Culture Councillor Filippo Del Corno. “In fact, the building that houses it represents a precious testimony of Renaissance Milan, which has accompanied the history of more than five centuries of our city, and has been preserved with care and attention. Today it was necessary to invest further in the maintenance of its spaces, further expanding the functions of the Museum and enhancing its mission as a place of lived and participated culture. This is why I am happy to inaugurate the two Cloisters, which from today, thanks to a public investment, will be able to expand their historical function with also private use that will make their management increasingly sustainable.”

“With this restoration, the Museum gives back to the Milanese and Lombard community a place of rare and absolute beauty,” says Stefano Bruno Galli, Lombardy Regional Councilor for Autonomy and Culture. "The return of the two Olivetan cloisters to their former splendor is certainly an excellent initiative and wonderful news. An intervention supported wholeheartedly by the Lombardy Region, in particular by the Department I have the honor of leading, which proves that the museum’s planning has never failed even during the lockdown. Proving how stubbornness and foresight are in the DNA of the management of this museum institution, the most important nationwide dedicated entirely to science and technology. The sixteenth-century cloisters thus fully return to the historical heritage of Milan and Lombardy. And it is not a contradiction that this place of science actually has such a spiritual and artistic heart. After all, is the great lesson of Leonardo da Vinci, after whom the museum is named, arts and sciences, far from being separate, are in continuous osmosis and mutual exchange. The fact that the cloisters reopen to the public under the banner of design confirms this lesson. For nothing like design inhabits the boundaries between art and science, expressing the creativity and genius loci of Milan and Lombardy, all Leonardesque. Not only that, but it increases the attractiveness of the Museum of Science and Technology: this is the direction in which to direct public policy with the deliberate aim of fostering its revival in the post-Covid19 atmosphere."

On the occasion of the reopening, the Cloisters will also host the international project RoGUILTLESSPLASTIC, curated by Rossana Orlandi, on the occasion of Milano Design City, the event desired by the City of Milan and born from the collaboration with the most important protagonists of the world of design and creativity. Until October 4, Rossana Orlandi therefore proposes two initiatives dedicated to the social responsibility of Design: We Are Nature, an exhibition dedicated to art and responsible design where works are created in harmony with the coexistence of man and planet and in respect of nature, and RO Plastic Prize 2020 the International Prize dedicated to the themes of reuse and recycling of plastic and exhibition of the finalist projects. Rossana Orlandi, together with designers, artists, creators and researchers, will therefore be the protagonist of this exhibition of works dedicated to the theme of Sustainability, displaying in the Cloister of the Museum a secret corner of Renaissance Milan that preserves the ancient beauty of the 16th-century monastery, dominated by the bell tower of the Church of San Vittore.

“The Science Museum,” says Rossana Orlandi, "does not represent a simple location for RoGUILTLESSPLASTIC, it is an integral part of it. Where else but here, in this place where everything is about design, about research to improve the quality of life? For me it is an incredible place, every time I find something to marvel at. Also, Fiorenzo Galli has always been a point of reference for me since the beginning of the project. I have shared other RoGUILTLESSPLASTIC events with him, even outside the Museum. To be given the opportunity to present these wonderful renovated Cloisters to the public fills me with great enthusiasm. For me and also for Milan, which, after all it has given us, never more than today needs the participation and love of us all."

Pictured: the museum’s cloisters after the completion of the work.

Milan, here are the new Science Museum Cloisters: they will host events

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.