To speak of the temporary reuse of underused or abandoned buildings or free spaces in Milan means above all to consider the physical form of the city and the changes it has experienced in recent years. It is a ‘contracting’ city which has lost its inhabitants and functions and which in the meantime has not developed a strong strategy to attract new ones. In this context experimental temporary reuse projects have been conducted primarily outside the public sector due mainly to the imagination and initiative of groups of activists and also of people in the world of design and creative arts who have taken action to meet specific needs: a temporary hostel for major events; the temporary headquarters of an association which works on neighbourhood events and activities of various types; a place for work and entertainment in a neighbourhood undergoing profound change. However, today even some local authorities are beginning to see temporary reuse as a possible strategy for local development.
Keywords: Post industrial city; temporary reuse; Milan

Valeria Inguaggiato, Temporary reuse in Milan in "TERRITORIO" 56/2011, pp. 43-58, DOI:10.3280/TR2011-056004