Milano - stazione Nord Bovisa - ingresso

Bovisa (, ) is a district (''

quartiere A (; plural: ) is a territorial subdivision of certain Italian towns. The word derives from (‘fourth’) and was thus properly used only for towns divided into four neighborhoods by the two main roads. It has been later used as a synonymous ...

'') of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, located north of the city center, in the Zone 9. The name is supposedly derived from the Italian word ''bove'', meaning ''ox'', as the area developed from an ancient rural settlement.

History

An industrial area in the outskirt of the city since the second half of the nineteenth century, Bovisa has undergone a thorough transformation since the 1950s, when most factories were dismantled to be moved farther from the expanding city center. After a period of decay, a process of renewal followed, which transformed the Bovisa into a mainly residential suburb. The district is now experiencing an upturn, thanks to the many activities which relocated in the zone. Among them, the

Politecnico di Milano The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 18 ...

, with its Bovisa campus, played a major role. The campus features the schools of Design, Architecture and Industrial Engineering. The area has since gained notoriety as a design and art "melting pot". This trend was confirmed in 2006, when a new headquarters of the

Triennale The Triennale di Milano is a design and art museum in the Parco Sempione in Milan, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It is housed in the Palazzo dell'Arte, which was designed by Giovanni Muzio and built between 1931 and 1933; construction was fi ...

design and art museum, dedicated to

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

, was established in this area. Locals believe that Bovisa will be the next "hot spot" in Milan, seeing a re-emergence much like the nearby Isola district. Remnants of 19th century factory buildings and industrial structures are a distinctive feature of the district. Prominent landmarks of the Bovisa include large abandoned

gas holder A gas holder or gasholder, also known as a gasometer, is a large container in which natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressu ...

s that sparsely punctuate its skyline. The Architecture faculty of the Politecnico itself has its headquarters in a restructured factory building dating back to the early 20th Century.

Public transport

The Bovisa railway station is a hub for the suburban railway network and is served by suburban lines S1, S2, S3, S4, S13, the ''Malpensa Express'' (to

Malpensa Airport Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss Canton of Ticino. The airport is northwest of Milan, next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and Pie ...

) and

Trenord Trenord is a railway company which is responsible for the operation of regional passenger trains in Lombardy. The company was established by the two main railway companies in Lombardy, Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM), to manage train o ...

regional lines. Milan's above-ground trolley also circles the roundabout in Bovisa's center. Busses also run to and from the train station quite often.

In popular culture

The Italian film director

Ermanno Olmi Ermanno Olmi (24 July 1931 – 7 May 2018)Lane, John Francis (May 7, 2018).Ermanno Olmi obituary. ''The Guardian''. theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 May 2018. was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Biography Olmi was born to a Catholic ...

has chosen this area as the setting of his novel, ''Il ragazzo della Bovisa'' ("The boy from the Bovisa"). Bovisa also played a role in the early Italian movie industry, as the first Italian film production studios such as Armenia Film and Milano Film (both established prior to

Cinecittà Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studio ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) had their headquarters there.

References

External links

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