Arco della Pace, Milan

Recently my Austrlian Penpal sent me photos from his trip to Milan, Italy, including photos of the Porta Sempione. The centerpiece of this city gate is the Arco della Pace, or Arch of Peace, designed by Luigi Cagnola in the early 19th century.

The arch replaced an ancient Roman wall and gateway which were called Jupiter's gate or Porta Giovia. The significance behind the arch remains a mystery. It was either built in wood in 1806 for the marriage of Eugene Beauharnais with a Bavarian princess and later recreated in more permanent marble, or was designed for Napolean in 1807. Either way the arch wasn't completed until 1838 for Emperor Francis II, 5 years after Cagnola's death. Flanking the arch are exquisite neoclassical customs houses.

 Other than the iconic Parisian Arc de Triomphe it remains the largest structure of its kind.

 The construction of the sculpture reliefs are not only marble but also wood, bronze, and stucco.

If you find yourself in Milan, take a break from shopping to check out the Aro della Pace!

CITIES IN TRANSFORMATION

Eamonn Canniffe's chapter 'Publoid Space in the Microcosmopolis: Two new business districts of Manchester and Salford' has been published in

CITIES IN TRANSFORMATION: RESEARCH & DESIGN
ideas, methods, techniques, tools, case studies

edited by Marco Bovati, Michele Caja, Giancarlo Floridi and Martina Landsberger

The two volume set is published by Il Poligrafo, Padua

Architecture schools are fundamental deposits of knowledge and abilities, which have contributed productively for a long time to the growth of studies on architecture and the city. The aim of this book is to share the results of research work carried out under the patronage of EAAE and ARCC in the main European and American architecture schools on the issue of the city and its recent transformations. Through the comparison of different points of view, the goal is to hi-ghlight the need for a broad and open discussion, appropriate to the vastness and complexity of the problems faced. The well known sentence by Leon Battista Alberti, “The house is like a small city and the city is like a large house”, is a brief indication of the subjects of the volume: the widespread phenomena of urbanization of large parts of the world, the problems of diametrically opposed socalled shrinking cities and the severity of the effects of climate change and energy issue. Architectural and urban contents are also main themes in EU policy where the crucial role of Architecture has been stressed in many documents concerning the development of European cities. These arguments are developed in a thematic interweaving that goes from architecture and city's analytical and design techniques to those connected with organization, construction, security, planning, conservation and practice of a profession whose role has taken on ever greater responsibility within the human destiny.

Where are they now, already?

Matteo Casaburi, who joined MA A+U from the Politecnico di Milano is continuing his postgraduate studies in Architecture at TU Delft

Architecture + Urbanism recommends "Cities in Transformation ─ Research & Design"

Cities in Transformation ─ Research & Design
Ideas, Methods, Techniques, Tools, Case Studies

EAAE/ARCC Conference on Architectural Research

Milano 7-12 June 2012 - Politecnico di Milano

The European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) and the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) are holding their joint 2012 Architectural Research Conference Cities in transformation Research and Design in Milano, Italy.

Politecnico di Milano (University established in 1863) welcomes researchers, educators, practitioners and scholars in architecture, planning and landscape to become involved.

The Conference is to serve as a forum for the dissemination and discussion of architectural research issues, concerns, findings, approaches, philosophies, and potentials arising from the rich and complex themes related to urban Transformations.

Conference website