NEWS & EVENTS > VELASCA TOWER THE NEW PLACE TO BE DURING FUORISALONE

Velasca Tower the new place to be during Fuorisalone

The contest “Velasca Progetto Design – Idee sotto la Torre” for young designers launched

Velasca Tower the star of Milan Design Week for the first time.

In the context of Milano Design Week the Velasca Tower will, for the first time, be one of the key locations of FuoriSalone, together with the Statale University and Botanic Gardens, returning to the centre of international cultural debate. In fact, from 11 to 17 April the Velasca Tower will host Audi City Lab, the exclusive space dedicated to design, the future and innovation. In the striking spaces of the building, reinvented by the designer Piero Lissoni, exclusive events will be held with renowned guests (including Carlo Freccero, Daniel Libeskind, Franca Sozzani, Stefano Boeri, Piergiorgio Oddifreddi and Eleonora Abbagnato). A small auditorium will host discussions on the common theme of Untaggable: sometimes reality is not simple enough to be labelled. Conversations and meetings will give rise to new visions because innovating in design today means overcoming the distances between disciplines. These invitation only events will be available to everyone via streaming (on Audi, Interni, Publitalia, Condè Nast and Il Sole 24 Ore platforms).

Outside the Tower an installation by Piero Lissoni will come to life, representing the four Audi rings at different heights, and next to it a green space will make Piazza Velasca a pleasant place to relax. Also on the ground floor, external terraces furnished with the Outdoor collection by Living Divani will be open.

Going to the upper floors of the Tower it will be possible to access the 25th floor penthouse revamped for Oikos by Giulio Cappellini, a great designer whose work is inspired by innovation. Oikos, a company that has always believed in experimentation and innovation as drivers for change, perfectly in line with the principles at the basis of the birth of the Tower, specifically chose Velasca for FuoriSalone. The Tower will host its prestigious Open Talks Open Talk: a week of meetings for imagining a new future together with the protagonists of design, architecture and Italian and international culture. Finally, in the evenings everyone will be able to admire the Velasca Tower façade animated by the Audi installation by the internationally renowned light designer Ingo Maurer.

Milano Design Week is also the perfect occasion to launch Velasca Progetto Design – Idee sotto la Torre (Velasca Project Design – Ideas under the Tower), , the contest organised by UnipolSai Assicurazioni, within the Urban Up project and in cooperation with Studio Lissoni, with the aim of enhancing and promoting the creativity of young designers in line with what the Velasca Tower represents, for over 50 years a symbol of innovation. Young talents from the best design schools in Milan have been invited to participate. Projects will be assessed taking into account the ability to define and anticipate innovative and contemporary scenarios of use following and/or breaking with the historical tradition of Italian design. UnipolSai will create a 1:1 scale prototype of the projects submitted by each school and will exhibit the same at the awards ceremony in the Velasca Tower on 30 June 2016..

Restoring the central role of the Velasca Tower for the Unipol Group, owner of the property since 2012, represents another step of the redevelopment process. A process that began with Opening Velasca during the Expo period, which from the outset aimed at placing it back at the centre of cultural debate, making the Velasca Tower stand out not only in Milan, but also on a national and international level, just as will happen during Milan Design Week.

Urban Up
Dedicated to the redevelopment of real estate owned by the Unipol Group and aimed at enhancing some of the most important buildings on the Italian architectural scene, the Urban Up project started from the city of Milan, with the redevelopment of certain symbolic buildings of the Lombardy capital due to their history and position – including the Velasca Tower, an unmistakable architectural landmark of the Milan skyline, as well as Torre Galfa, Romana 19, De Castilla 23 and Ca’ Litta. It will be extended to other Italian cities. Urban Up is a project that combines innovation and tradition with the aim of enhancing the beauty and importance of true icons in the Italian urban landscape. Through modernisation and renovation works, skyscrapers and historical buildings will once again assume a prominent role in the urban fabric. .
www.urbanupunipol.it

Unipol Gruppo Finanziario S.p.a.
Unipol è uno dei principali gruppi assicurativi in Europa con una raccolta complessiva pari a circa 17,8 miliardi di euro, di cui 8,9 miliardi nei Rami Danni e 8,9 miliardi nei Rami Vita (dati 2014). Unipol adotta una strategia di offerta integrata e copre l’intera gamma dei prodotti assicurativi e finanziari, operando principalmente attraverso la controllata UnipolSai Assicurazioni S.p.A., nata all’inizio del 2014, leader in Italia nei rami Danni, in particolare nell’R.C. Auto. Il Gruppo è attivo inoltre nell’assicurazione auto diretta (Linear Assicurazioni), nella tutela della salute (UniSalute), nella previdenza integrativa e presidia il canale della bancassicurazione (Gruppo Arca Vita e Gruppo Popolare Vita). Opera infine in ambito bancario attraverso la rete di sportelli di Unipol Banca e gestisce significative attività diversificate nei settori immobiliare, alberghiero (Atahotels) e agricolo (Tenute del Cerro).Unipol Gruppo S.p.A. è quotata alla Borsa Italiana.

Contacts
Unipol Group Press Office
Fernando Vacarini
pressoffice@unipol.it
Tel. +39 051-5077705
Claudia Galassi
claudia.galassi@unipol.it
Tel.+39 02-51815268

Milan
April 11, 2016