BiM Fest: Milan's Bicocca neighborhood hosts urban regeneration festival

On September 30, 2023, the BiM Fest takes place in Milan's Bicocca district, an urban regeneration initiative within the former Pirelli factory site designed by Vittorio Gregotti in the mid-1980s. One of Gregotti's large buildings is currently being renovated by Piuarch, and during construction, the neighborhood engages with a social regeneration project called BiM – where Bicocca meets Milan. The festival runs from noon to midnight in BiM's square, offering free music, art, local crafts, and botanical activities including markets, food, workshops, performances, concerts, DJ sets, and chess tournaments. Highlights include a tour of the renovation spaces with sound performances curated by Nicola Ratti and Enrico Gilardi from the SPECIFIC collective, featuring international sound artists and site-specific installations. Radio Raheem hosts an evening lineup with Radio Raheem Sound System, La Hasna, Studio Murena, Broke One, and a Special Disco Set by Bawrut. The BiM Garden hosts a market with over 40 artisans and illustrators selected by Redroom. The festival also debuts Botanica Temporanea, a 16-month experimental project curated by the Geotechnical and Biotechnology departments of the University of Milan Bicocca, landscape architect Antonio Perazzi, and artist Patrick Tuttofuoco, turning two raised flowerbeds into a lab combining scientific research, art, and environmental poetics to develop more efficient urban forestry.