Pirelli HangarBicocca
Pirelli HangarBicocca is a non-profit foundation, established in 2004, created and entirely supported by Pirelli, which has converted a former industrial plant in Milan into an institution for producing and promoting contemporary art.
This dynamic center for experimentation and research covers 15,000 square meters, making it one of the largest contiguous exhibition spaces in Europe. It presents major solo shows every year by Italian and international artists, with each project conceived to work in close relation to the architecture of the complex, and explored in depth through a calendar of parallel events. Admission to the space and the shows is completely free of charge, and facilitators are on hand to help the public connect with the art. Since 2013, Vicente Todolí has been the foundation’s Artistic Director.
The complex, which once housed a locomotive factory, includes an area for public services and educational activities, and three exhibition spaces whose original twentieth-century architectural features have been left clearly visible: Shed, Navate, and Cubo. As well as its exhibitions program and cultural events, Pirelli HangarBicocca also permanently houses one of Anselm Kiefer’s most important site-specific works, “The Seven Heavenly Palaces 2004-2015”, commissioned for the opening of Pirelli HangarBicocca.
La Sequenza
“La Sequenza” by sculptor Fausto Melotti (b. 1901 in Rovereto, Italy – d. 1986 in Milan), one of the leading figures in twentieth-century Italian art, was made in 1981 for the artist’s retrospective at the Forte Belvedere in Florence.
After being restored in 1991 for an exhibition at Villa Arconati in Bollate (Milan), the piece was donated by Fondazione Fausto Melotti to Pirelli HangarBicocca in 2010 and placed at the entrance into its outdoor garden.
This large-scale permanent installation, built from identical units arranged at three levels of depth, sums up all the key themes of the artist’s investigation. The rhythmic, geometric structure of “La Sequenza” is a clear reference to classical and rationalist architecture, and the Corten steel components look like a mathematical abstraction of the columns in a temple.
Pirelli HangarBicocca Outdoor spaces (2016)Pirelli HangarBicocca
Clustered around the large lobby that leads to the exhibition spaces are different areas housing various Pirelli HangarBicocca services and activities: a space for children, a reading room, a bookshop, and a Bistrot, as well as restrooms, front desk, and coat check.
Kids Room
The Kids Room is a place devoted to children and their families during opening hours, and offers a large library of children’s books, games, and educational materials, with seating and tables where kids can enjoy creative activities on their own or under the guidance of the Pirelli HangarBicocca Arts Tutors.
Pirelli HangarBicocca Kids Room (2017)Pirelli HangarBicocca
Pirelli HangarBicocca Kids Room (2017)Pirelli HangarBicocca
Bookshop
The Bookshop, opened in April 2016, allows visitors to purchase all the Pirelli HangarBicocca publications, as well as a wide selection of monographs, essays and art catalogues. In addition to a line of gifts and merchandise designed specifically for the exhibition space, it offers all the limited editions that artists have conceived for temporary shows.
