The Brera Gallery was officially established in 1809, even though a first heterogeneous collection with educational purpose existed already from 1776 – and then increased in the following years – alongside the Accademia di Belle Arti, requested by Mary Therese of Austria to offer the students the opportunity to study lofty masterpieces of art close up. Brera become a museum to host the most important works of art from all of the areas conquered by the French armies. So unlike other important museums in Italy such as the Uffizi, Brera did not start out life as the private collection of a prince or nobleman but as the product of a deliberate policy decision. Paintings confiscated from churches and convents throughout Lombardy with the religious orders’ dissolution began to pour into the museum in the early years of the 19th century, soon to be joined by artworks of similar provenance from other areas of the Kingdom of Italy. This explains why the collection comprises chiefly religious works, many of them large altarpieces, and accounts for Brera’s special aura on which later acquisitions have had only a minor impact.
Website
brera.beniculturali.it
Address
Pinacoteca di Brera, 28 Via Brera, Milan, Italy
Current city: Milan
DOMENICO DE CHIRICO: ITALY, INDEPENDENT CURATOR. Domenico de Chirico is an independent curator from Italy. Born in Bari in 1983, he lives and works in Milan. From 2011 until 2015 he was a professor in “Visual Culture” and “Trend Research” at Milan’s European Institute of Design (IED). He collaborates with a number of international artists, galleries, institutions, art fairs, art prizes, and magazines worldwide. He has been artistic director at DAMA Fair, Turin since 2016. He was also a visiting tutor at Goldsmiths, University of London (2018). Upcoming exhibitions and researches (2019/20): Accademia di belle arti di Urbino, academy of fine arts located in Urbino, Marche, Italy (guest lecturer); Bienvenue Art Fair, Paris (prize jury member); Fotopub Festival, Novo Mesto, Slovenia (guest lecturer). Exhibitions in various venues and cities, among which: Turin, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Lisbon, Miami, Brescia, Istanbul, Florence, Venice, Rome, Prague, Mallorca, and so forth.
 

More Places in Milan 60

First we should say the flaw, Trattoria Arlati is a bit far away from the city centre and not really easy to get to with public transport. Having said that, it’s the most charming restaurant where we’ve ever been. We always go there and always get the same menu, “Risotto al Salto” and “Ossobuco alla Milanese” of course, and it’s always delicious but is not just the food. In the 60’s it was really popular among artists, in the 70’s bands started to play in the basement and now when you get in you immediately feel it. It’s a charismatic place.
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Photography book store. Check opening hours before visiting!
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Inaugurated on May 3, 1934, the Roberto Cozzi indoor swimming pool was the first entirely covered pool in Italy - a masterpiece of the engineer and architect Luigi Lorenzo Secchi (1899-1992). It's possible to book just for the day by the website www.milanosport.it and, for summer days, you can also use the terrace.
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One of my favorite places from Milan
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The Milan venue of Fondazione Prada, conceived by architecture firm OMA—led by Rem Koolhaas—expands the repertoire of spatial typologies in which art can be exhibited and shared with the public. Characterized by an articulated architectural configuration which combines seven existing buildings with three new structures (Podium, Cinema and Torre), the venue is the result of the transformation of a distillery dating back to the 1910’s. In the project conceived by OMA, two conditions coexist: preservation and the creation of a new architecture which, although separate, confront each other in a state of permanent interaction. Located in Largo Isarco, in the south of Milan, the compound develops on an overall surface of 19.000 m2/205,000 ft2. Torre marks the completion of the Milan venue. The 60-meters high building is realized in exposed white concrete. Each of the nine floors of Torre offers an original perception of the internal environments thanks to a specific combination of three spatial parameters: plan dimension, clear height and orientation. Half of the levels is in fact developed on a rectangular floor plan, while the other half displays a trapezoid one. The clear height of the ceilings increases from bottom to top, varying from 2,7 meters on the first floor to 8 meters on the top level. The external façades are characterized by an alternation of concrete and glass surfaces, which allows exposure from a northern, eastern or western side on the different floors, whereas the top gallery space is exposed to zenithal light. The southern side of Torre presents a diagonal structure inside which a panoramic elevator is integrated. As stated by Rem Koolhaas: “The Fondazione is not a preservation project and not a new architecture. Two conditions that are usually kept separate here confront each other in a state of permanent interaction–offering an ensemble of fragments that will not congeal into a single image, or allow any part to dominate the others. New, old, horizontal, vertical, wide, narrow, white, black, open, enclosed – all these contrasts establish the range of oppositions that define the new Fondazione. By introducing so many spatial variables, the complexity of the architecture will promote an unstable, open programming, where art and architecture will benefit from each other’s challenges”.
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