Biomilano

Milan, like every city in the world, today, is at a crossroads. It can continue growing by eating up agricultural land, woods, natural space, and thus reducing biodiversity and the space available to other species. Or it can choose to become a bio-diverse metropolis, starting with a new agreement between the city, the natural world and agriculture.

Biomilano illustrates six ideas for a biodiversity metropolis, six transitional stages to the city, nature and agriculture, for a new model of urban economy: six projects from different professional and research experiences, such as Boeri’s Studio, multiplicity.lab and thesis by students. Global Kitchen Garden for EXPO 2015 will produce food for a cosmopolitan society; Metrobosco will create a reforestation zone around Milan to be inhabited by non domestic animal species; Vertical Forest will use a screen of plants to absorb particulates and create a suitable microclimate; the Wood House project intends to build low density and low cost community housing by exploiting wood and its entire supply chain; Urban Agriculture will reclaim industrial land and obsolete infrastructures to create new settlements and public park areas; Courtyard Farms will be reclaiming 60 abandoned council-owned farmhouses in the Milan area, adapting them to yield a range of different produce and provide research opportunities, training and work.