Portello, Milan
Encyclopedia
Portello is a district of Milan
, Italy
, part of the Zone 8 administrative division of the city, located north-west of the centre. It is best known as a car-manufacturing area, as it used to house facilities of Alfa Romeo
(now dismissed), Darracq
, Citroën
, and Fiat
. The district also includes one of the major shopping malls in north-western Milan. It is crossed by the Circonvallazione ring road
.
Portello is currently undergoing a major urban requalification process, as the former Alfa Romeo area (385,000 m²) is now being restructured. The project includes a major park called Parco Vittoria and what will become the largest plaza in Milan (20,000 m²), as well as commercial, service and housing infrastructures. The project is due to reach completion in 2011.
The design of Parco Vittoria, by architects Charles Jencks
and Andreas Kipar, includes several unusual elements, and it is based on the general theme of time
. It will comprise a large round lake, with a strip-shaped promontory that will allow pedestrians to walk to the center of the lake itself. A helix shaped hill (called "The Spiral of Time") will provide a panoramic view of the city; an artistic representation of the double DNA helix
will be placed on top of the hill. Both the lake and the hill will be part of a park section called "Time Garden", partitioned into three areas dedicated to prehistory
, history
and present times.
Portello is adjacent to the Fieramilanocity district, and sources occasionally consider the two of them as a single quartiere.
The name of the district comes from the "Strada del Portello" (Portello road), an ancient rural road that used to connect Milan to Rho
, and that was later replaced by the new Strada del Sempione ("Simplon Road") leading to the Simplon Pass
; the old Portello road is now known as "Via Traiano". In turn, the road was named after the Portello city gate
, that was part of the city walls
and that was located in the surroundings of the modern Cadorna railway station.
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, part of the Zone 8 administrative division of the city, located north-west of the centre. It is best known as a car-manufacturing area, as it used to house facilities of Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
(now dismissed), Darracq
Darracq
Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes...
, Citroën
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
, and Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
. The district also includes one of the major shopping malls in north-western Milan. It is crossed by the Circonvallazione ring road
Ring road
A ring road, orbital motorway, beltway, circumferential highway, or loop highway is a road that encircles a town or city...
.
Portello is currently undergoing a major urban requalification process, as the former Alfa Romeo area (385,000 m²) is now being restructured. The project includes a major park called Parco Vittoria and what will become the largest plaza in Milan (20,000 m²), as well as commercial, service and housing infrastructures. The project is due to reach completion in 2011.
The design of Parco Vittoria, by architects Charles Jencks
Charles Jencks
Charles Alexander Jencks is an American architectural theorist, landscape architect and designer. His books on the history and criticism of Modernism and Postmodernism were widely read in architectural circles and beyond....
and Andreas Kipar, includes several unusual elements, and it is based on the general theme of time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
. It will comprise a large round lake, with a strip-shaped promontory that will allow pedestrians to walk to the center of the lake itself. A helix shaped hill (called "The Spiral of Time") will provide a panoramic view of the city; an artistic representation of the double DNA helix
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
will be placed on top of the hill. Both the lake and the hill will be part of a park section called "Time Garden", partitioned into three areas dedicated to prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and present times.
Portello is adjacent to the Fieramilanocity district, and sources occasionally consider the two of them as a single quartiere.
The name of the district comes from the "Strada del Portello" (Portello road), an ancient rural road that used to connect Milan to Rho
Rho
Rho is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 100. It is derived from Semitic resh "head"...
, and that was later replaced by the new Strada del Sempione ("Simplon Road") leading to the Simplon Pass
Simplon Pass
Simplon Pass is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects Brig in the canton of Valais with Domodossola in Piedmont . The pass itself and the villages on each side of it, such as Gondo, are in Switzerland...
; the old Portello road is now known as "Via Traiano". In turn, the road was named after the Portello city gate
City gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. Other terms include port.-Uses:City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods and animals...
, that was part of the city walls
Walls of Milan
The city Milan, Italy, has had three different systems of defending walls. The oldest, Roman walls were developed in two stages, the first in the Republican and the second in the Imperial era. The second wall system was realized in the Middle Ages , after the destruction of the city by Frederick...
and that was located in the surroundings of the modern Cadorna railway station.