Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

A cycle workshop for two-wheel lovers and a carpentry shop to develop reuse and recycling projects - Photos of the new spaces visited by councilor Grandi

Milan, October 7 2022 – Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th October, days of celebration for the inauguration of the new spaces of Cascina Nascosta. Many free events dedicated to environmental sustainability and social and cultural promotion, as well as workshops and meetings dedicated to food and nutrition alongside the activities proposed by the new cycle workshop and the innovative carpentry shop where ideas and projects related to the world of reuse and recycling can be developed . There will also be the agricultural market of Slow Food® Lombard producers, DJ sets and JazzMi concerts.

"It is an important day for those who care about protecting the environment and take care of the city – states the councilor for the Environment and Green Elena Grandi –. The completely renovated spaces of Cascina Nascosta are inaugurated, a place that has long it is a flagship of the Administration and in which in recent years, thanks to the work of Lega Ambiente Lombardia and other associations, a path of transformation, openness and active use by citizens of all the ages. From today in Cascina Nascosta you will find renovated spaces dedicated to meetings and the dissemination of issues related to the climate, environmental and social crisis, starting with the circular economy. In addition to a well-equipped cycle workshop and the innovative Falegnameria Nascosta, laboratory in to develop reuse and recycling projects".

"We are proud to present the environments of Cascina Nascosta at the end of the renovation works which saw us involved alongside the realities that inhabit and animate these spaces with their cultural offerings – explains Andrea Causo, director of Legambiente Lombardia –. Cascina Nascosta is an example of innovative urban regeneration, which has made it possible to redevelop and enhance a largely no longer used municipal property, returning it to the citizens. We have created a social space in a prestigious area in the heart of Parco Sempione, because precisely for the being hidden among the trees, it is a protected and intimate place, which guests can enjoy by taking advantage of proposals linked to the themes of 360-degree environmental sustainability. The Cascina today becomes the symbol in Milan of the leading role of the Third Sector in the process of transformation of the city to create value in our society, with new forms of business organisation, renewal and attention to the community".

Cascina Nascosta is a hybrid space, open to the city, dedicated to environmental sustainability and social promotion: food and agriculture with the short-chain food and wine proposals of the "La Latteria" restaurant and with the activities of the urban vegetable gardens; slow mobility with the Ciclofficina Nascosta which provides bicycle lovers with the tools and knowledge necessary to carry out maintenance; the diffusion of the culture of recycling, reuse and recovery of materials and objects with the Hidden Carpentry; educational projects and workshops for adults, adolescents, girls and boys that promote sustainable lifestyles, such as learning about separate waste collection, respecting nature and animals, using renewable energy sources.

The structure dates back to the early 900s and recalls that of an old Lombard farmhouse, with its typical horseshoe shape. The farmhouse is located under the Torre Branca, between the Triennale and the Arco della pace. In 2015, a public tender from Municipality 1, promoted by the Department of Greenery, Wellbeing and Quality of Life, changed the fate of the Cascina by transforming it into a public space, dedicated to the themes of urban greenery and sustainability to host cultural events for large and little ones. The tender assigned management for 23 years to Legambiente Lombardia, ARCI Pareidolia, CIA - Confederation of Italian Farmers, Alterazioni, who, thanks to the contribution of the Cariplo Foundation, were able to transform it into an inclusive place open to all.