2003 – 2007
From 2003 to 2007, Isola Art Center cooperated with neighbourhood associations to convert the former industrial building Stecca and the two nearby parks into a Center for Art and Community Life. The exhibition space on the second floor allowed artists, critics, curators, philosophers and inhabitants in general to create what was at that time Milan’s most dynamic location for contemporary artistic research.
In April 2007, the city government and real estate multinational Hines cleared the Stecca, evicting Isola Art Center along with the craftspeople and associations, subsequently proceeding to demolish the building and destroy part of the centre’s collection. The operation was aimed at delivering the Stecca and park to the corporation, so as to develop new buildings totalling 90,000 m3. The best-known project in that area, the Bosco Verticale by Boeri Studio, comprises underground parking lots, luxury dwellings and two tree-covered towers in place of the former neighbourhood park. The strong connection between Isola Art Center and the area allowed the centre to survive the eviction and carry on with activities, using the neighbourhood itself as their acting space.
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