Milan and the Portello Park

The Parco Industria Alfa Romeo - for the more intimate, Parco del Portello - stands to the west of Milan and demonstrates how the city is giving more and more space to real green lungs. It is, in fact, recently built and is located where you would not expect to find it, along the ring road: it is a gateway to the city, for those arriving from Malpensa airport or the Rho Trade Fair. Connotated by hills and spirals, it was created as a link between past and present. Its shape recalls the first great structure of the universe, the spirals of the galaxies and, finally, the theme of speed in memory of past activities. Descending from this hill we come to the crescent-shaped "history" hill, which separates the "Time Garden" from the rest of the park. The most imposing hill, looking towards the centre of the city, is dedicated to the "present", with a path that unravels on a double helix culminating in its highest point (22 metres). At the top there is a small fountain and a metal sculpture of DNA, in homage to the theme of life. The "Time Garden", on the other hand, is the park's most intimate and protected space, with black and white slabs marking the Earth's rotation, the four seasons with metal septa, the 28 days of the lunar cycle in circles, the 12 months of the year as words cut out of metal, the 365 days of the year and the waves of the heartbeat, marked on the floor between black and white slabs. The entire park stands on a ten-metre high embankment obtained by building special retaining walls.