Pirelli Hangar Biococca

Fondazione Pirelli HangarBicocca is not located in the most attractive area of Milan, but it’s well worth the trip. 

A short walk from the metro stop Ponale, the art foundation is in what used to be one of the most important industrial centres of Italy. 

The area was developed already in the early 20th century, when several main companies moved their manufacturing to this site, a few kilometres from the city.

For several decades, in a 200,000 m2 large factory, the company Breda would produce everything from steam locomotives to aeroplanes. 

The buildings that now house Pirelli HangarBicocca were part of this vast complex. 

In the 1980s, the industrial area began to be decommissioned. 

In the coming decades, the area was neglected. 

In 2004, this changed, as it was bought by Prelios (the former Pirelli RE), which decided to turn it into an exhibition space for contemporary art.

Visiting Pirelli HangarBicocca is an experience unlike any other, not least due to the sheer size of the area. 

It is almost like a small town (and similar to visiting a town, it’s admission-free). 

By the entrance is one of the site’s permanent installations, Fausto Melotti’s sculpture “La Sequenza”. 

On site since 2010, Melotti’s work functions as a symbolic threshold between the world outside and the one inside the foundation, though it is also decidedly “anti-monumental”, in line with his interest in anti-celebratory sculptures.

Many visitors come to see the permanent, site-specific installation by Anselm Kiefer, “The Seven Heavenly Palaces 2004–2015”. 

The name refers to the celestial palaces described in the Hebrew treatise Sefer hecholot (“Book of Palaces”), from approximately the 5th century. 

This mystical book describes the symbolic path of spiritual initiation that anyone who desires to become closer with God must undertake. 

The exhibition’s focus point are seven towers, each of which weighs 90 tons and rises to heights varying between 13 and 19 metres. 

They are built in reinforced concrete, using parts from old shipping containers as cast. 

In between the different levels of cement, Kiefer has inserted lead books and wedges, as lead is traditionally considered the material of melancholy. 

This is because the towers – and the installation in its entirety – represent the ruins of Western civilization after the Second World War, as well as symbolising a potentially devastated future, if we continue on our current trajectory.

Since 2015, the seven cement towers have been joined by five large canvases. 

The five paintings enhance the subject matter of the installation – man’s attempt to ascend to the divine, and an exploration of man’s relationship with nature. 

In addition to the permanent installations, there are also temporary exhibitions, the restaurant Iuta Bistrot, and a bookshop. 

All worth a visit.

Pirellli HangarBicocca