University of Milan Launches Virtual Museum VUMM for Centenary

The University of Milan (Statale) has inaugurated VUMM (Virtual UniMi Museum), a digital museum making its vast heritage accessible online for the first time. Founded in 1924 by physician and geologist Luigi Mangiagalli, the university is approaching its centenary. VUMM, conceived and directed by Goffredo Haus, was developed entirely in-house in collaboration with Google Cultural Institute. It features over 2,000 digitized images from more than 20 collections, including Renaissance architecture of Ca' Granda, contemporary works like Lucio Fontana's Minerva and Jannis Kounellis's Senza titolo, 19th-century artificial fruit models, fossils, dermatological waxes, and archival documents such as Elio Vittorini's manuscripts. Google Street View enables virtual tours. The centenary celebrations, running from April 2023 to autumn 2024, are coordinated by Marina Carini with artistic direction by Massimiliano Finazzer Flory. Rector Elio Franzini highlighted the university's transformative expansion, including new campuses by Ottavio Di Blasi, Lendlease, and Kengo Kuma, and recalled the refusal of professor Piero Martinetti to swear loyalty to fascism. Mayor Giuseppe Sala emphasized the university's central role in Milan's future.