DROPCITY is a new centre for Architecture and Design.

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DROPCITY IN ▶ PROGRESS

2024 Public Program

Opening: April 12th at 6pm
Featuring Petra Blaisse’s book 'Art applied, Inside Outside' presentation at 7pm in tunnel 60.
Daily: 11am - 7pm

At via Sammartini
38-60 Milano

Entry to all events is open to the public and free of charge.


Could we scale Enzo Mari Autocostruzione manifesto to imagine and transform architectural typologies, facilitating innovative interventions?

In April 2024 Dropcity will start its space renovation works bringing on-site large 3D printers, advance machineries and great builders to reconstruct the infamous Milan Central Station warehouses. The long-abandoned tunnels will be revitalised and transformed into research centers, open-space offices, exhibition areas, labs and more.

During Milan Design Week WASP’s 3D printing site will open its doors to the public, showcasing its technologies in action. Printing itself from within, as the title says, and so starting its restoration works in preparation for the official opening of the operational center in October. Inside Tunnel 54 the architectural 3D Crane printer will be used to manufacture multifunctional wall modules, designed through variable parametric designs. For the first time another experimental printer model will be used to print directly from within the tunnel alongside its walls, introducing a new approach to architectural 3D printing for building facades. Simultaneously, a clay 3D printing farm will be employed for the construction of architectural elements, including a parametric brick wall composed of hundreds of uniquely designed pieces. These modules will be mass-produced using WASP’s customized serial production system, enabling 24/7 automated production of ceramic products with different designs and in large quantities.

At the same time, the Dropcity self-built initiative continues at Tunnel 46 with a new construction concept curated by Prof. Martin Postler and Benjamin Unterluggauer.
From waste and raw material to finished product, Future Frames aims to generate a new construction system imagined by the partnership between the industrial design department (MUID) of Muthesius University in Kiel with Studio Streev. The live architectural intervention shows a tangible approach on how to minimize the material-intensive production of traditional timber-framing. In collaboration with Dropcity, Studio Streev has developed a customized timber frame inner shell for their tunnels to test this approach. Each structure will be partially built and installed on site during Dropcity in Progress 2024 using a versatile in-house developed CNC machine by Studio Streev allowing to manufacture structures tailored to local needs. The CNC machine mills timber joints to connect parts without glue or screws. In order to maximize material yield, thinner then regular wooden profiles can be utilized. Furthermore, following the collapse of over 5,000 trees during Milan’s storm of 2023, the government issued a call for proposals for their reuse, which Dropcity were awarded. These trees are integral for the raw material of the tunnels’ internal roofs, which will be transformed with a state-of- the-art joinery machine from Kiel University, building-in infrastructure in real time.

Finally, Dropcity is introducing its long-term collaboration with SOCII collective from Tbilisi, Georgia. A joint venture intended to experiment the engagement of people for construction parts and phases, resulting as a whole embracing spirit of participation and teamwork. At Tunnel 38 SOCII will create cultural connections and design interventions, integrating infrastructures formulated with WASP and MUID Kiel, such as the assemblage of timber joints into arched ceilings, restoring Milan Central Station benches abandoned for decades and assembling 3D printed modular partition walls and blocks into different design typologies.

After years of imagination and urban program analysis in 2024 Dropcity will finally take place being built from its inside, defining new forms of construction methodologies and an innovative approach to large architectural developments.

Masterplan
  • Exhibitions and Installations program
  • Tunnel 60
  • Book Launch & Conversation
  • April 12th 7PM

Petra Blaisse in conversation with editors Niels Olsen and Fredi Fischli.
Petra Blaisse’s book 'Art applied, Inside Outside'.
Designed by Teo Schifferli
Published by MACK Books


  • Tunnel 60
  • Conversation
  • April 17th 4:30 - 5:30 PM

A conversation on DATAPOLIS by Atelier Atollo
With invited guests:
• Marina Otero Verzier
• James Deutsher (Deep Energies)
• Georg Vrachliotis(TU Delft)
• Kees Kaan (TU Delft)
• Paul Swagerman (photographer and Artist)


  • Tunnel 60
  • Experimental Conversation
  • April 20th 4 - 6 PM

From the ground up. New practices rerouting architecture by AAA.Milano Architetti
With invited guests:
• Luca Astorri (AUOUMM + Rise Int)
• Zattere, Hypereden
• Atelier Fanelsa.


DAILY 11AM - 7PM

  • Tunnel 38
  • Exhibition

SOCII Circus: Upholding cultural commons by SOCII


  • Tunnel 40
  • Exhibition

F/A (EXTRA)ORDINARY by FakeAuthentic


  • Tunnel 40
  • Exhibition

1x1 Ecosystem by 1X1


  • Tunnel 42
  • Exhibition

GYMNASIUM by BB


  • Tunnel 44
  • Exhibition

WONDER POWDERS by We+| Shimadzu


  • Tunnel 46
  • Exhibition

Future frames by Muid Kiel | Studio Streev


  • Tunnels 48 & 140
  • Exhibition

INDUSTREAM by XL Extralight ®


  • Tunnel 50
  • Exhibition

WE MEDITERRANEAN by Paola Carimati, Matilde Cassani Studio, Francesca Lanzavecchia, Azzurra Muzzonigro, Studio Ossidiana, Studio Piovenefabi in collaboration with We Design Beirut


  • Tunnel 52
  • Exhibition

DATAPOLIS by Atelier Atollo


  • Tunnel 54
  • Exhibition

Dropcity 3D printed: Innovation from within by WASP 3D Printing


  • Tunnel 56
  • Exhibition

Elements: Unique Details of the 20th Century Architecture and Interior by Okolo. Curated by Adam Štěch.


  • Tunnel 56
  • Exhibition

Quodlibet by StudioWAR


  • Tunnel 56
  • Exhibition

The Weather Station Project by Openfabric


  • Tunnel 58
  • Exhibition

Architecture exhibition: Leonardo and Laura Mosso - Christian Kerez - Bless - Kuehn Malvezzi - Sub curated by Fabrizio Ballabio and Alessandro Bava


  • Tunnel 60
  • Exhibition

Heritage : Profile 4 Profiles by Seoul based Studio ARCHI@MOSPHERE


  • ARCHITECTING THE FUTURE: Public lectures program

A public lectures program curated by Anneke Abhelakh in collaboration with Benjamin Gallegos Gabilondo(supervoid), and Paolo Catrambone(Ortus).

In a time defined by rapid technological innovations and shifting global dynamics, the challenges facing architects have never been more complex or multifaceted. The public program invites two practitioners from different generations/positions each evening between 13-19 April, to reflect on questions that resonate with our human nature.

How to reconcile the imperatives of progress with the need for environmental consciousness and care? How to design spaces that can be adapted for future needs? How to position oneself in the realities of material choices and construction practices?

Architecting the Future is not just about structures, as much as it is about reimagining and transforming our relation to the world and all of its resources.

DAILY 7PM TUNNEL 60

Saturday 13th of April

Momoyo Kaijima (Atelier Bow-Wow) & Nile Greenberg (ANY Office)

Sunday 14th of April

Konstantinos Pantazis (Point Supreme) & Carla Ferrando (PARABASE)

Monday 15th of April

Jo Taillieu (Jo Taillieu Architecten) & Ma Yansong (MAD Architects)

Tuesday 16th of April

Stéphanie Bru (BRUTHER) & Stefano Passamonti (TENET)

Wednesday 17th of April

Valentina Noce (SABOTAGE) & Victoria Easton (Christ & Gantenbein)

Thursday 18th of April

Giulia Furlan (Furlan Beeli Office) & Adrien Comte (COMTE/MEUWLY)

Friday 19th of April

Amy Perkins (Assemble) & Anne Holtrop (Studio Anne Holtrop)


  • HIGH-ENERGY DJ SETS AND LIVE CONCERTS CURATED BY HUNDEBISS

Friday 12th of April, 9pm - 2am

Curated with SAYRY: Chuquimamani-Condori

@chuqimamani_condori, @s4yri

Saturday 13th of April, 9pm - 2am

Lolina & Dr.Pit

@matteopit, @relaxinrecords

Sunday 14th of April, 9pm - 2am

Lord Spikeheart

@lord_spikeheart_777

Monday 15th of April, 9pm - 2am

Julmud

@julmud_1

Tuesday 16th of April, 9pm - 2am

Leo Palayeng

@leo_palayeng_kenna

Wednesday 17th of April, 9pm - 2am

alys(alys)alys

@alys.alys.alys

Thursday 18th of April, 9pm - 2am

MSHR Collective

@liquidtransmitter, @nestedface

Friday 19th of April, 9pm - 2am

Curated with Doña Valentina: Genosidra

@genosidra, @donavalentinatapes

Saturday 29th of April, 9pm - 2am

JOKKOO Collective

@jokkoo.collective

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ABOUT

DROPCITY

Dropcity is a place for researching, imagining, experimenting with, and implementing alternative forms of design and architecture in a world of systemic crises. It cultivates the emergence of boundary-breaking ideas and facilitates their materialization.
Located inside the connected tunnels behind Milan Central Station, Dropcity was first envisioned by architect Andrea Caputo back in 2018 with the aim of establishing a place for people to meet, discuss, and imagine better ways of practicing design, architecture, and society.

Scheduled to open permanently in the fall of 2024, Dropcity will create an urban model unseen before in Europe, hosting exhibition galleries, production workshops, carpentry, robotics and advanced prototyping laboratories. In 2025, both its materials library and public library, with a focus on architecture and design topics, will be accessible to the public. In addition, to complete the the centre as a cultural apparatus, a large area will be dedicated to research, teaching and office spaces for professionals.

Exploded View

URBAN AND PROFESSIONAL CONTEXT

More than 12,000 architects practice their profession in Milan, a community of professionals and students - including more than 3,500 graduates and diploma holders per year - which, in relation to the number of inhabitants, demonstrates a unique territorial density. For decades, Milan has positioned itself as a global reference point for many reasons: from the recognition of excellent architects and architecture, to the contribution that magazines such as Domus, Lotus, and Abitare and others have brought to the international field, through to the prominence of the Salone del Mobile.

The creation of a centre for architecture stems from the desire to systemise this fertile ground with the potential of people, for a new neighborhood model: a place dedicated to the culture of the project, creating opportunities for new generations of researchers, curators and designers. There will be spaces where free exhibition galleries are accessible to the community and a centre of production and creation where one can practice their profession, experiment with new technologies, thus deepening knowledge and strengthening contemporary discussions.

Dropcity intends to act as a platform for young professional categories in the investment phase that therefore require support. A principle that governs the design process of the initiative itself: emerging architects and designers are actively involved in the design of the open spaces, the layouts or entire spaces such as a library and materials library. This is a collective approach that aims to spread energy and diversity of languages for a place in continuous transformation.


MAGAZZINI RACCORDATI: HISTORY AND PROJECT

Abandoned for decades and covering an area of approximately 40,000 square meters, the Magazzini Raccordati in Milan are distributed along the axes of Via Aporti and Via Sammartini. Characterized by its arched spaces and façades with a high compositional value, the Magazzini Raccordati provide the ideal context for a community of professionals, interconnected and in direct relation with the street and the energy of the neighborhood.

Dropcity is located along via Sammartini, in a strategic position in relation to Piazzale Duca d'Aosta and the Martesana, extending and redeveloping a third of this route with a road conversion project that envisages the reduction of vehicular traffic, a new cycle path between Centrale and Martesana, and a repaved area that will be redesigned as a permeable surface rich in vegetation. A new concept of public space, overlooking the arcades of the Raccordati.


DROPCITY, PROGRAMME AND SPACES

A CIVIC LIBRARY OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

Dropcity envisions an archive and reference library of materials and specialised publishing, accessible to the entire city with a book consultation services, reading room and a space for meetings with authors, specifically dedicated to the field of architecture and design. Collections of books on the subject will be available, as well as an entire series of trade magazines.

National publications included: Domus, Casabella, Lotus, Abitare, Zodiac, Ottagono, Modulo, L'edilizia Moderna, L'industria delle Costruzioni, L'Architettura, Parametro, Terrazzo and others.

International publications included: Architectural Review, Architectural Design, Quaderns, El Croquis, L'Architecture d'aujourd'hui, Bauen+Wohnen, A+J, Japan Architects, Architectural Record, C3, Frame, Log, Archis, Volume, Oase and others.


MATERIALS AND UPCYCLING

The materials library includes an educational archive of materials classified according to an environmental impact criteria. Exhibition and inventory spaces for organic-only samples or composites, obtained through various forms and methods of recycling from derivatives of polymers, cellulose or other components. The database will cover materials relevant to the construction industry: buildings, interior & exterior finishes and furniture.

The inventory of materials, organised according to the environmental impact criteria follows the principles of upcycling that Dropcity intends to adopt for the management of resources and production initiatives: in parallel with the purchase of machinery, suitable for recycling any category of materials, Dropcity presents itself as a collection point for the city's waste with a focus on reuse and re-processing.


FROM CRAFT WORKSHOPS TO ADVANCED PROTOTYPING

Dropcity will host advanced prototyping workshops for the development of manufacturing artefacts through the use of multiple types of innovative machinery, organic composition materials and three-dimensional printing tools. These spaces will be accessible to anyone interested in developing prototypes on multiple scales: from entire parts of building elements (façades, fixtures, structural nodes) to samples of furnishing accessories and moulds for industrial products.

The workshop will be equipped with robots for complex processes. There will be workshops equipped with 3D scanners for the registration of morphologically complex surfaces, technical assistance for conversion into data clouds by means of specific software, and areas for advanced modelling related to the discipline of architecture and design for the production of models on small or realistic scales through the use of state-of-the-art 3D printers. There will also be areas equipped with traditional machinery and hardware: hot wire machine, milling bench, lasercut, CNC, edging machines and hand tools. The laboratories will have numerous workstations with workbenches and workshops for the construction, assembly and testing of materials, products, portions of building parts, furniture, as well as photo studios and audio and video recording rooms.


FREE EXHIBITION SPACES

Spaces for exhibiting content in the fields of architecture, urban planning, landscaping and environmental issues are all included in the project. There will be free access areas to showcase research and initiatives within the district or associated with the local, national and international university network.

The possibility of exhibiting independent projects is in response to the urgent need to offer spaces that are free of charge, in an urban context that is today characterised by restrictive economic circumstances . In Dropcity, the Milanese concept of 'location' is translated into the possibility of obtaining suitable and equipped surfaces free of charge.


A NEW OFFICE MODEL

Dropcity will house more than 400 office workstations with ergonomic seating, large desks and large-format monitors. This is an unprecedented formula that intends to evolve the workstation concept in favour of a category - that of designers - which is difficult to fit with the co-working models currently available in the city. Each office area is located near a draft-room, meeting-room, areas equipped with lockers and services capable of meeting any need. There will also be catering facilities (restaurants), printing services, showrooms and retailers for consumables. The proximity to the library, materials library and, above all, the laboratories and workshop areas makes it possible to fulfill a designers' activities with a highly integrated program. The exhibition spaces and the many initiatives aimed at contemporary architectural discussions constitute substantial added value in the work areas, organised according to a principle of maximum flexibility and diversity of spaces: hot-desks, private offices, open-spaces and experimental typologies.

The concentration of these services and energy in a confined urban area represents the economic and cultural value of the initiative: the presence of resources, equipment and spaces inherent to related professions will constitute an epicenter capable of producing a constant exchange of information and know-how of high professional value, from which the entire Sammartini district will benefit, thus reverberating its effects on a broad scale throughout the entire city.

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