Milan based A4A Rivolta Savioni Architetti rendered Milan’s city center “green” over a period of one night.
Their latest installation titled “Quantomais” is an unusual pop-up conception, an innovative example of urban geometry next to one of the city’s landmarks, the Sforza Castle, at the entrance to the Expo 2015. Inspired by the theme of the event –Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life – the field catches the eye of locals and visitors for its significance and spectacular nature. Conspicuously alienating, it undermines perspectives, presenting a different perception of the urban spaces in which people live and meet. This agricultural passage transforms places and habits into a new experience to be shared: a living space in which meetings, artistic interludes, appointments and minor rituals unobtrusively accompany residents and passers-by.
Conceived as an urban installation, Quantomais progresses into a collective multi-disciplinary work bringing together institutions, architects, farmers, companies, technicians, artists, poets and educators with a common goal: to create a green and hospitable area in the city, a place waiting to be cultivated, in more than one sense of the word, a stage for social relations and culture. And not just a question of agriculture.
Inside the plantation there are areas which will be used for performances, readings and improvisations as well as for cultivating vegetables and seasonal plants. At the end of August the field will be dismantled into the original 231 sections (beds measuring 80 x 120 x h50 cm) which will be redistributed into small city plots for local green areas, schools, universities and public areas.
Project Information:
Developed by: A4A Rivolta Savioni Architetti, Milan
Commissioned by: Expo Gate
Conceptualization: Giovanni Rivolta and Nicoletta Savioni
Technical sponsor: Toro Ag Irrigation for the micro-irrigation system
Cultivation: Azienda Agricola Marco Cuneo
Production consultants: esterni, Milan
Agricultural consultants: Antonio Corbari, Azienda Agricola Corbari; Bruna Heidempergher, Agronomist; Alberto Verderio, corn-cultivation specialist
Technical specifications:
Size of the field: 360 square meters divided into two parts
Basic module: wooden bed with sides
Size of basic module: 80 x 120 x h 50 cm
Number of beds: 231, of which 191 sown with corn and 40 with garden plants
Weight of each module with earth: 300 kg approx.
Total number of corn plants: 1,500
Irrigation system: micro-irrigation