2007 HISTORY 2007 9 JANUARY Local residents submit the second legal action to the TAR against the building permit issued by the City for PIR Isola. 12 MARCH The police make another raid at the Stecca, plagued for some time by the presence of drug dealers. After eight arrests, the officers retreat without entering the building. The result is increased tension inside the building and harsher tones in the media campaign to destroy the positive image of the Stecca. The agreement between the City and Hines for the implementation of PII Isola is signed, calling for elimination of the parks on via Confalonieri, demolition of the Stecca and construction of the Community Center at the corner of via Volturno and via Confalonieri. 26 MARCH The threat of eviction from the Stecca meets with the resistance of Isola Art Center and the craftsman Domenico Bortolaso, who claims squatter’s rights for the second floor of the building (the home of Isola Art Center), which he has used as a storeroom for over twenty years. 27 MARCH Founding of the Association of the Associations of the Stecca degli Artigiani (ADA Stecca) by Cantieri Isola and other groups operating in the building, with Isabella Inti of Cantieri Isola as president. ADA is hosted by Manfredi Catella in a temporary space called “Temporary Stecca”, awaiting the construction of the so-called “Art Incubator”. 17 APRIL The Stecca, still owned by the City, is cleared by the Police and Digos special operations police. The craftsmen’s workshops are opened and all the materials are carted away under the supervision of Manfredi Catella and the architect Lides Canaia of the City of Milan. The Digos team breaks into the second floor and forces the artists and the associations of Forum Isola, who are keeping a vigil in the spaces, supported by some political figures and local residents, to leave the place and to hand the keys over to the City, prior to the decision on the claim of squatter’s rights. 20 APRIL Domenico Bortolaso is asked to come to a meeting at the offices of the Municipal Attorneys, and he goes to the appointment without his lawyer. After the meeting he remits his claim, in a fax sent to the Prefecture, the Police Department and the City of Milan, giving up the spaces he had occupied in the Stecca. 25 APRIL Bulldozers start partial demolition of the building, without giving the artists a chance to recover their property and the assets of IdA. 28 APRIL The ASSO (Association of Students) occupies the former PCI headquarters at via Volturno 33, with the aim of created a self-managed student center, choosing the name V33. 11 MAY Bert Theis (president of IdA) files a criminal suit on behalf of Isola Art Center against the City and Hines for malicious mischief and misappropriation of the artworks. 13 MAY Stefano Boeri, in an interview in the newspaper “La Repubblica”, presents the two towers with trees on their balconies to be built in place of the Stecca and the parks, as the central feature of PII Isola: the so-called “Vertical Forest”. Boeri radically changes his project for the area, while initially included just one tower. 22 MAY The President of the Chamber of Deputies Fausto Bertinotti talks with the inhabitants at the parks on via Confalonieri, recognizing the legitimacy of their protest. 23 MAY Following a legal ruling that suspends the eviction operations, the artists are allowed back into the part of the Stecca that is still standing, to recover what remains of their property. Many of the artworks have been willfully destroyed, while others are seriously damaged (the expert opinion of Prof. Giorgio Zanchetti sets the total damage at 422,000 euros). 26 MAY Opening of Fondazione Catella, formed to promote projects of the multinational on the territory, with offices in the former rail depot of the State Railways on via De Castillia 28. Next to the Foundation there is a small public garden with playground equipment, created by seven designers. The Porta Nuova project is presented, combining the three areas (Garibaldi-Repubblica, Varesine and Isola) to form the largest “renewal plan” in the center of Milan. The hoardings used to fence off the construction sites are decorated with the photographs by Gabriele Basilico. For the occasion, the Compagnia del Parco-Circolo di Legambiente gives an honorary membership to Manfredi Catella. 18 JUNE The District Attorney dismisses the suit filed by IdA, saying it is not a matter for the criminal courts. 4 JULY Due to the lack of interest expressed by fashion companies in the City of Fashion, Caprera S.r.l. presents a variant proposal for PII Garibaldi-Repubblica, calling for modification of the function of part of the 20,000 m2 of the Lumacone by Grimshaw: 12,000 m2 would shift to private functions, and the remaining 8000 m2 would be subject to future negotiations. 24 JULY The TAR rules in favor of the two appeals of the citizens against the projects for the PIR Isola area. In particular, the court confirms the illegitimacy of the actions of the City of Milan, since the variant to the PIR is not a mere modification of plan and volumes, but a true variation of the PRG which, as such, would have be go through the legal process of approval, publication, observations on the part of citizens, and final approval. The court also recognizes that the variant of the City reduces the standard concessions called for in the PRG by about 5000 m2. 26 JULY The occupants of the building at via Volturno 33 are evicted. 11 SEPTEMBER The association ChiAmaMilano (a civic space organized by Milly Moratti), with the support of the committees of residents, presents to the City an alternative planivolumetric design for Isola and ex-Varesine, developed by the architects Jacopo Gardella and Pierfrancesco Sacerdoti with the collaboration of Michele Sacerdoti. The project, called Parco Possibile, demonstrates that without altering the volumes called for in the Garibaldi-Repubblica plan, the green areas available to citizens could be doubled, while the Stecca degli Artigiani could be used for community services. 18 SEPTEMBER The lawyer fo IdA appeals against the dismissal of the criminal lawsuit, requesting further investigations. 5 OCTOBER After two postponements granted by the Prefect to Rifondazione Comunsta, the Stecca is emptied and completely demolished. 17 DECEMBER The Council of Zone 9 approves, by a vote of 20 to 6, the alternative project for the Garibaldi-Repubblica area, called the Parco Possibile. ART 2007 MARCH 14 – APRIL 14 AeroAzione SituazionIsola, workshop on the construction of paper balloons, for children of the Isola neighborhood by Collettivo 3.2.1. (Alice Rosa, Francesca Riva, Laura Piazzola), curated by Isola Art Center and Parents Association Confalonieri. The workshop is part of the project by Argentine architect and artist Tomas Saraceno "Think Global, Act Local", that consists of the construction of a large solar-energy balloon with the Isola inhabitants, the museo aero solar. MARCH 15 – APRIL 7 “Absolute Beginners”, curated by Fani Zguro. The very first artworks by Jakup Ferri, Armando Lulaj, Anri Sala, Fani Zguro. MARCH 22 “Albania and Kosovo. Ten years of contemporary art in Albania”, talk with Katia Anguelova, Roberto Pinto, Stefano Romano. APRIL 14 – MAY 15 “SituazionIsola. A new Urbanism”, curated by Marco Biraghi, Maurizio Bortolotti and Bert Theis. With Tomas Saraceno, FlyingCity (curated by Marco Scotini), Paola Di Bello, Kings (Daniele Inamorato, Federica Perazzoli), Marco Colombaioni and Bert Theis, Steve Piccolo with Xabier Iriondo, Donata Clovis and Manuel Scano, Luciana Andreani, Christophe Bouvet, Brice Dellastrada, Giovanni Giaretta, Mara Ferreri, Alek O., Alice Pintus, Luca Pozzi, Anja Puntari, Collettivo 3.2.1, Love Difference, Osservatorio inOpera, out office and Forum Isola. Special projects: – museo aero solar by Tomas Saraceno, curated by Maurizio Bortolotti. – Piedibus, curated by the Design Course of the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (NABA) in collaboration with the Parents’ Association F. Confalonieri. MAY 11-13 “inContemporanea. Numero uno”, a project promoted by the Province of Milan at Triennale di Milano. Presentation of the concept of a Center for Art and the Neighborhood, called Q’Art, in the parks of the Isola. Launching of the International petition Don't destroy the Isola Art Center! MAY 26 – JULY 29 Isola Art Center is hosted by the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rabaudengo of Turin. The exhibition “Laws of relativity”, curated by Anna Colin and Elena Sorokina, shows works by Paola Di Bello, Alek O., Santomatteo, Matteo Rubbi, Brice Delarue, Alice Pintus, out (Alberto Pesavento and Rafaela Trevisan), Kings (Daniele Inamorato and Federica Perazzoli), Osservatorio inOpera (Piero Almeoni, Paola Sabatti Bassini, Roberta Sisti), millepiani, Stazione Isola, Stefano Boccalini, Steve Piccolo. In collaboration with: Katia Anguelova and Bert Theis. MAY 28 – JUNE 28 Isola Art Center hosted by Assab One with the exhibition “Made In”, curated by Katia Anguelova. With Plamen Dejanoff and Daniela Kostova. JULY 10-14 Isola Art Center hosted by “Castello e Parco dell’Acciaiolo” (Scandicci) to partecipate at the group-show “Storytellers”, curated by Pietro Gagliano. SEPTEMBER 8 – NOVEMBER 4 Bert Theis and out (Office for Urban Transformation) are invited to partecipate at the 10th International Istanbul Biennial to present Isola Art Center. Presentation of the documentary Isola Nostra produced for the occasion by Mariette Schiltz and Bert Theis. The film narrates the tumultuous story of the Stecca between 2001 and 2007. A collective photographic portrait show the persons involved in the projects by Flavio Bonnetti. OCTOBER 29 – DICEMBER 31 Isola Art Center hosted by the cultural association Punto Rosso in the Isola district, which offers its shutters as a public exhibition space. “Isola Rosta Project 1” with drawings by Marco Colombaioni, Dan Perjovschi, Andreas Siekmann, Marco Vaglieri (out), realized with the support of Tiziano Doria, Alberto Pesavento, Alice Pintus, Manuel Scano, Bert Theis, Rafaela Trevisan, Fani Zguro. Isola Art Center and Forum Isola present Isola Nostra, documentary by Mariette Schiltz.