Green Milan: sowing wheat field under the skyscrapers

NEWS

While the public attention is focused on the Milano Fashion Week, another part of the city is getting ready for the up-coming Expo.

Yesterday, Saturday February 28th, the entire city had a lot of fun sowing wheat field under the skyscrapers of Porta Nuova, a new high-rise development just grown up at the heart of Milan.

This environmental artwork is titled "Wheatfield", and it is conceived by the American artist Agnes Denes (1931). Very soon, only some months later, we will see, in fact, the results of today’s effort. Once the wheat is sprout from the ground, the park will become an experimental stage with a quite unusual rural panorama in the heart of the new skyscraper district of Milan. Later, however, once the Universal Exposition is over, it will be transformed into “Biblioteca degli Alberi” (“A library of Trees”), a public park focused on the biodiversity of local flora.

This new green spot of Milan is part of the urban agriculture project of the city called “MiColtivo” (Mi as Milano + Coltivo as to grow), an activity that has become more and more popular among citizens these days.

Indeed! Yesterday, lots of families, laughing kids, colorful rubber boots, shovels, rakes and other uncommon stuff filled up the empty ground of the future park. And in only few hours about 5 acres (50,000 square meters) of “Wheatfield” were sowed. To do it, about 1,250 pounds of wheat seeds were used. Quite a lot, isn’t it!? And we did it all together!

However, not only politicians, various associations and enthusiastic neighbors joined the work. Even some famous figures who usually prefer fashion to agriculture were seen digging the ground. One of them is Beatrice Trussardi from Trussardi fashion maison, who is hosting today the Trussardi fashion show. She is, by the way, among the organizers of the event. Another one is Fabio Novembre (see last picture above), a famous designer from Milan who brought the whole family and friends to have such a non-sophisticated fun.

The field is ready. Now let’s wait for the "Wheatfield" to sprout.

Maria Novozhilova

e-mail: novozhilovam.blog@gmail.com
twitter: @NovozhilovaM