Once upon a time there was a factory (upper)

Introduction

Pirelli HangarBicocca is now one of the largest contemporary art exhibition spaces in Europe. It was created in 2004 from the reconversion of an industrial plant that belonged to the Ansaldo Breda group; during the 20^th century, the building’s 15.000 square meters were home to a factory dedicated to the construction of locomotives.

In fact, during the 20th century, the entire Bicocca district represented one Italy’s largest industrial areas; from the 1980s onwards, the entire area has been the protagonist of a long process of deindustrialization aimed at urban redevelopment. However, the ‘industrial soul’ of Pirelli HangarBicocca remains a fundamental cue for today’s artistic programming, as each exhibition is conceived in close relation to the architecture and space of the building.

Reference areas

• History
• Geography
• Art and image

Educational Goals

The aim of the activity is to show students how the history of Pirelli HangarBicocca fits into the broader framework of the chronological, urbanistic and geographical transformation of the Bicocca district. Participants will be taken on a fascinating discovery of the “before” and “after” of some of the area’s most significant building: from their 20th-century industrial origins to today’s redevelopment.

Activities

During the activity, the students will be taken by Arts Tutors on a tour of both the interior and exterior spaces of the Pirelli HangarBicocca structure. During the exploration, the students will have the opportunity to learn more about the building’s history by viewing archival photographic material.
After discovering the building’s past and present, each participant will be asked to imagine a possible future transformation, through a creative reworking of photographs of the structure’s various exhibition spaces.