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The Centrale del Latte Mosaics Restored and Returned to the City

, by Davide Ripamonti, translated by Richard Greenslade
The works, once located on the boundary wall of the former Centrale del Latte, have been restored by Bocconi and placed in Ravizza Park

The ceremony took place this morning in Via Bach, in the presence of Riccardo Taranto (Managing Director of Bocconi) Myriam Mariani (Bocconi Dean for Academic Strategy and Institutional Affairs), Natale Carapellese (President of Municipal Zone 5), Iginio Granata, (Head of the Urban Regeneration Implementation Unit of the Municipality of Milan), Giuseppe Sinatra (Bocconi Infrastructure) and Maurizio Mongardi (Bocconi Operations). The occasion was the return to the city, and to the Zone 5 in particular, of 28 mosaics that adorned the walls of the former Centrale del latte, an area where the new headquarters of the SDA Bocconi School of Management now stands.

The mosaics, composed of 18 thousand colored tiles, were mounted on the Centrale's wall in 1998 to celebrate its 70th anniversary. At the time it was celebrated as the longest mosaic in Europe, 120 meters in length featuring the works of 28 young artists, all on the theme of milk and dairy products. The return of the mosaics, restored to their original condition, Riccardo Taranto recalled, "is part of a series of initiatives promoted by Bocconi for the redevelopment of the neighborhood. It is testimony to the fruitful collaboration between Bocconi and the Municipality of Milan, as well as representing a valuable legacy for future generations."

"For me, the mosaics of the Centrale represent one of the first memories of my life in Milan, when I arrived here 20 years ago," said Myriam Mariani. "We always passed by them on the way to university when I accompanied my girls to school. It's really nice to see them returned to new splendor and placed in one of the symbolic places of this part of the city."

In addition to the restoration of the mosaics, the many projects carried out by Bocconi in the neighborhood include converting Piazza Sraffa into a pedestrian zone, building children's playgrounds in Piazza Sraffa and Ravizza Park, creating the public green in the new Bocconi campus, and placing flower beds along the sidewalks of Via Bocconi and Via Sarfatti.

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