The Smeraldo is one of Italy’s biggest theatres, so rumours that this legendary theatre which opened as a cinema in the 1940s is facing closure make me feel sad and rather nostalgic. We are talking about a place with a capacity of 1981 and a grand past; if these rumours about its economic difficulties (its tickets have always been far more expensive than those of other theatres) should turn out to be true, Milan would lose an important stage for the upcoming Expo. Sad isn’it?

Photo | Il palco dello Smeraldo by Flickr

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Milan’s famous Brera Academy (the Accademia di Brera) will be moving to a new location. A new campus of the performing arts academy will be established in the restored police stations of Magenta and Carroccio on Milan’s via Mascheroni. The historic Brera location will then be entirely occupied by the Pinacoteca which will undergo an expansion.

Milan’s mayor, Letizia Moratti, has approved the works along with an interesting mix of ministerial colleagues from the arts, education and even the military. The opening of the new Accademia and the Pinacoteca is planned for the 2015 Milan Expo. According to reports, the students are content with the plans, gaining more space and new facilities, although some nostalgia will occur in moving from Milan’s elegant old town, making way for more tourists and offices.

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World famous Italian chef, Gualtiero Marchesi, has decided to dedicate a new sandwich to Italy. The chef, famous for his Michelin-star efforts for Italy, is making the sandwich not long after the brand image campaign surrounding the McItaly burger.

Marchesi is creating three sandwiches inspired by Italy, and by its modern architectural promise, particularly associated with Expo 2015. The chef from the La Scala restaurant, the Biffi Scala, envisions a new-age Milan - that created by the likes of Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid.

Marchesi’s sandwiches will adopt the shape of the three Milan skyscrapers that the two architects are building at the CityLife complex in Milan. The buildings have been nicknamed: the ‘Dritto’ (Straight), the ‘Curvo’ (Curve) and the ‘Storto’ (Crooked). We will have to wait to taste them…

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For the 2015 Expo in Milan, make sure you take your mobile phone with you. The city will be ridding itself of nearly all its public telephone booths, in an act which will change the city scape. While we’ll probably get used to it very quickly until needing a public phone some day, it’s certainly a big leap of faith into modern technology.

The first public phone booth ever to be installed in Italy was back in 1952 in Piazza San Babila, Milan. Telecom Italia is undertaking to remove nearly all the booths in Milan this year, although citizens will have an opportunity to indicate where a booth should stay.

Communications authorities have said that any phone booth to be removed should carry a sign stating as such prior to removal, with phone numbers and email addresses which can be contacted in the case of residents wishing to keep the booth. The Italian phone booths might not be as attractive as the ones in London, and with Italians’ obsession over texting and calling, it seems a logical thing to do. It just might be a bit too much too soon.

Source | 02blog.it

Photo | Malesangue

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Milan is a city holding its breath for the 2015 Expo when the event will hopefully breathe some new life into a city that often struggles to have its cultural qualifications recognised. The Brera district of Milan is truly beautiful, and may house an ambitious museum project for the city to rival that of the Louvre in Paris.

The Pinacoteca di Brera may expand to include the Accademia and the carabinieri police station, as reported by Milano Finanza, creating one of Europe’s largest museums. The management of the museum would be subject to a foundation in which private investment is also welcome.

While the Pinacoteca di Brera may not be quite at the level of the il Louvre, it still hosts some important artworks including works from Canaletto, Caravaggio and Modigliani. Could we see a campaign for the return of the Mona Lisa to italy?!

Photos | Ainet, Paul McGowan, Ranopamas and Booleansplit from Flickr

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Milan’s seven star Town House Hotel has been given approval from Milan’s city council to expand its structure, using space previously used by staff from the La Scala opera house. This would take the surface area from 1,540 sqaure metres to 2,200.

This means that the Town House hotel near La Galleria, will be able to open an entrance directly into the gallery, with a reception area. To sweeten the deal, the city council will be able to use the conference room of the Town House hotel 10 times a year for free, and another 15 times at a “favourable price”, for meetings of international and national importance.

In addition, 50 council guests will be able to stay for free in the hotel, whose luxury has been fabled across the internet for a few months. It appears that the Town House has also played a part in gaining Milan the title of Expo 2015. The Bie inspectors stayed here when the competition had got down to the two competitors of Milan and Smirne.

Source | Il Giornale.
Photo|Flickr.

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Milan won its bid to host The Expo and now of course the city is celebrating like mad. For this very reason on Saturday several museums will open their doors to the public. Remember, if you decide to go there from7.30 to midnight you will get an off-price ticket and maybe with a bit of luck even a free tour.

Mr Vittorio Sgarbi, city counsellor and one of Mrs Moratti’s closest aides, is the author of this fruitful idea. From Saturday onwards another important event will take place here in Milan. Yes, MiArt, one of the most interesting exhibitions of Contemporary Art in the whole world, will be on view for the 13th time. Really something to look forward to.

By the way, here’s a list of the museums you can visit on Saturday: Palazzo Reale, PAC, Rotonda di Via Besana, Palazzo della Ragione, The Castello Sforzesco Museums, la Casa Museo Boschi di Stefano, the Museum of Natural History, the Planetarium, the new Aquarium and of course The Triennale Bovisa, Spazio Forma, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Fondazione Mudima, Fondazione Stelline and many other art galleries.

For further information you can click here

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102 years after the last time it was hosted in Milan, the city has won its bid to host the 2015 Universal Exposition (Expo 2015) . In a difficult political and economic climate for Italy, the city won over the bid from Izmir, Turkey by 86 votes to 65.

Recently Italy has struggled through a fall in government, international embarrassment over its garbage debacle and a food scandal over one of the country’s culinary prides, mozzarella cheese. So some good news was required and it was welcomed by Milan’s mayor, Letizia Moratti, who was reportedly quite emotional at the announcement.

An Expo fair is not to be underestimated for its power to build a city’s reputation and Milan is likely to spend about 4.1 billion euros on the exhibition. Moratti has, however, ruled out building a lasting landmark, supporting the theme of “feeding the planet, energy for life” and its focus on sustainable city living, environmental friendliness and the basic human right to a balanced diet.

Photo | Flickr

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