02 Apr 2013

Milano Design Week, 9-14 April 2013

From 9 to 14 April 2013, as part of the 'Milan Design Week', Green Island, the project originally designed by the cultural organization aMAZElab in 2002 in Milan (www.amaze.it/AMAZE/greenisland), presents THE GREEN BIKE, an initiative dedicated to soft and eco-friendly mobility, urban green areas, design and creativity.

THE GREEN BIKE, held in collaboration with the Embassy and the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Milan, is created in response to the need to extend across Milano eco-sustainable practices and lifestyles, guiding citizens towards virtuous models of urban mobility, following the example given by Dutch society. The city in fact offers great potential for development in terms of the use of the bicycle thanks to its flat conformation and the sensitivity towards the environmental themes shown by its citizens.

THE GREEN BIKE thus sets out to raise public awareness of the social and ecological importance of the wider use of a means of transport with zero environmental impact, and a greater development of urban green spaces, as well as providing citizens and visitors with an opportunity both to rediscover the numerous little-known paths and connected activities to be found on the territory, and to come into contact with the very best in Dutch creativity.

Throughout the week, there will be a series of exhibitions and meetings on the use of the bicycle as a means of alternative urban transport, on the beneficial properties of plants, and on projects aimed at further developing green areas, as well as a number of initiatives promoted by design workshops, art galleries and bookshops in the city.
The main display areas will be three international Bike Stores in Milano: Equilibrio Urbano, in via Pepe- Zona Isola; Rossignoli, in Corso Garibaldi, in the heart of the city; and Olmo La Biciclissima, in piazza Vetra, Zona Navigli. The three spaces will host exhibitions of art and design obejcts NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN ITALY, with works related to the philosophy of the bicycle: - the extraordinary bicycles made in wood by the Dutch designer Jan Gunneweg
- chairs and objects designed by Max Lipsey created with re-used bicycle frames
- a display of the poetic Temporary Trees by the designers/artists Maarten Kolk and Guus Kusters

These three Bike Stores will also host meetings on the theme of urban green spaces and installations of special plants, created by young landscape architects from Politecnico University in Milan, thanks to the partnership with the Flower Council of Holland. These installations are produced by PromoGiardinaggio: green walls made up of noise-absorbing systems, using mosses and plants, with vegetable species capable of purifying the air, as demonstrated by research carried out by the NASA, including Boston ferns, Areca, Anthurium and Hedera.

At each Bike Store the very latest low-consumption light systems will be on show, designed by the Dutch company Philips, which has always paid great attention to the health and wellbeing of people, along with environmental sustainability.

Finally, in order to involve and stimulate visitors and local citizens, a serie of Bike Tours will be organized every day, designed in collaboration with the organizations Città Nascosta Milano and Inner Design, guided by art historians and designers, to show hidden gardens, creative studios and a lesser-known places of Milan. The Bike Tours will start out from the Rossignoli space, beneath the great mural especially designed for the occasion by the artist Matteo Guarnaccia, dedicated to the Year of the Snake, already cyclical in its own right. The tours will set off to fertilise the streets of Milan: from island to island, one pedal stroke at a time, casting the seeds of creativity and combative gardening in their path.

Partners of the project:
- Embassy and Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Milan
- Comune di Milano - Provincia di Milano - Regione Lombardia
- Camera di Commercio di Milano - Fondazione Cariplo
- Flower Council of Holland - PromoGiardinaggio
- Legambiente - FAI- Fondo Italiano Ambiente
- Università Politecnico di Milano
- Associazione Città Nascosta Milano - Inner Design
- Equilibrio Urbano - Olmo - Rossignoli
- Ciclobby - Bike District - Bough Bikes
- Studio Maarten Kolk & Guus Kusters - Max Lipsey Design
- Basil - Plantpak/ D-Grade - Philips
- Valcucine Eco-Bookshop - Vanmoof

Media Partners: Artribune; AT Casa/Corriere della Sera; Lifegate; Urban Magazine; Connecting The Dots