UrbanisMi Podcast: Milan's Bicocca and Greco Districts in Focus

The ninth episode of Artribune's UrbanisMi podcast, written and narrated by Maria Chiara Virgili, explores the urban regeneration of Milan's Greco and Bicocca districts. Greco Milanese, once an independent medieval commune, became an industrial hub after the 1863 Milan-Monza railway, hosting factories by Pirelli, Breda, and Falck. Bicocca, a hamlet between Niguarda and Greco, developed around a 16th-century fortress that later became the Arcimboldi summer residence and eventually Pirelli property in 1918. After industrial decline, Pirelli initiated a 1985 competition won by Vittorio Gregotti to redevelop the site, leading to residential complexes, the Teatro degli Arcimboldi (temporary home of La Scala), and the Bicocca university campus. Further regeneration included Pirelli HangarBicocca, Bicocca Village, and international company offices. Current projects include BiM (Piuarch and Antonio Perazzi), CX Milan I Bicocca student housing at the former Manifattura Tabacchi, a new district at ex-Caserma Mameli (Onsitestudio), and Innesto by Barreca & La Varra, winner of the Reinventing Cities competition, which will regenerate the 7-hectare Greco-Breda freight yard into Italy's first zero-emission social housing neighborhood with over 60% green space. The final episode will cover Porta Genova and San Cristoforo.