Milano Design Week: 9-14th April 2013
Directed by Claudia Zanfi, aMAZElab / Atelier del Paesaggio
From
9 to 14 April 2013, as part of the ‘Milan Design Week’, Green Island,
the project originally designed by the cultural organization aMAZElab in
2002 in Milan (
www.amaze.it/AMAZE/greenisland), presents THE GREEN BIKE.
THE GREEN BIKE, held in
collaboration with the Embassy and the Consulate General of the
Netherlands in Milan, is created in response to the need to extend
across Milano eco-sustainable practices and lifestyles, guiding citizens
towards virtuous models of urban mobility, following the example given
by Dutch society. The city in fact offers great potential for
development in terms of the use of the bicycle thanks to its flat
conformation and the sensitivity towards the environmental themes shown
by its citizens.
THE GREEN BIKE thus sets out to
raise public awareness of the social and ecological importance of the
wider use of a means of transport with zero environmental impact, and a
greater development of urban green spaces, as well as providing citizens
and visitors with an opportunity both to rediscover the numerous
little-known paths and connected activities to be found on the
territory, and to come into contact with the very best in Dutch
creativity.
Throughout the week, there will be a series of exhibitions and
meetings on the use of the bicycle as a means of alternative urban
transport, on the beneficial properties of plants, and on projects aimed
at further developing green areas, as well as a number of initiatives
promoted by design workshops, art galleries and bookshops in the city.
The
main display areas will be three international Bike Stores in Milano:
Equilibrio Urbano, in via Pepe- Zona Isola; Rossignoli, in Corso
Garibaldi, in the heart of the city; and Olmo La Biciclissima, in piazza
Vetra, Zona Navigli. The three spaces will host exhibitions of art and
design obejcts NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN ITALY, with works related to the
philosophy of the bicycle: - the extraordinary bicycles made in wood by
the Dutch designer Jan Gunneweg
- chairs and objects designed by Max Lipsey created with re-used bicycle frames
- a display of the poetic Temporary Trees by the designers/artists Maarten Kolk and Guus Kusters
These three Bike Stores will also host meetings on the theme of urban
green spaces and installations of special plants, created by young
landscape architects from Politecnico University in Milan, thanks to the
partnership with the Flower Council of Holland. These installations are
produced by PromoGiardinaggio: green walls made up of noise-absorbing
systems, using mosses and plants, with vegetable species capable of
purifying the air, as demonstrated by research carried out by the Nasa,
including Boston ferns, Areca, Anthurium and Hedera.
At each Bike Store the very latest low-consumption light systems will
be on show, designed by the Dutch company Philips, which has always
paid great attention to the health and wellbeing of people, along with
environmental sustainability.
Finally, in order to involve and stimulate visitors and local
citizens, a serie of Bike Tours will be organized every day, designed in
collaboration with the organizations Città Nascosta Milano and Inner
Design, guided by art historians and designers, to show hidden gardens,
creative studios and a lesser-known places of Milan. The Bike Tours will
start out from the Rossignoli space, beneath the great mural especially
designed for the occasion by the artist Matteo Guarnaccia, dedicated to
the Year of the Snake, already cyclical in its own right. The tours
will set off to fertilise the streets of Milan: from island to island,
one pedal stroke at a time, casting the seeds of creativity and
combative gardening in their path.
Partners of the project:
-
Embassy and Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Milan -
Comune di Milano- Provincia di Milano- Regione Lombardia- Camera di
Commercio di Milano- Flower Council of Holland- PromoGiardinaggio
- Legambiente- FAI- Fondo Italiano Ambiente
- Università Politecnico di Milano
- Associazione Città Nascosta Milano- Inner Design
- Equilibrio Urbano- Olmo- Rossignoli
-
Ciclobby- Bike District - Bough Bikes - Studio Maarten Kolk & Guus
Kusters- Max Lipsey Design- Basil- Plantpak/ D-Grade- Philips- Valcucine
Eco-Bookshop- Vanmoof
Media Partners: Artribune; AT Casa/Corriere della Sera; Lifegate; Urban Magazine; Connecting The Dots
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