NEWS & EVENTS > From 7 to 13 April De Castillia 23 among the official locations of INTERNI CRE-ACTION and Design Week 2025

WITH EARTH IS LIFE BY FELICE LIMOSANI THE FAÇADE OF DE CASTILLIA 23 BECOMES A MONUMENTAL NARRATIVE SURFACE

During the Milan Design Week 2025 Urban Up | Unipol presented Earth is Life, the site specific installation by Felice Limosani positioned from 7 to the 13 April on the De Castillia 23, a building redeveloped by Urban Up | Unipol and owned by the Group.
With Earth is Life, De Castillia 23 became the focus of the exhibition “CraAction” a key event for international design and architecture by INTERNI and the official location for Design week. In continuity with the previous editions for 2025 Urban Up continued its focus on environmental awareness once again concentrating on the importance of safeguarding the environment and focusing on another element which is of great interest and relevance today more than ever: the Earth. The installation interprets the values of Urban Up | Unipol which supports projects capable of connecting sustainability, culture and community.
This year INTERNI CRE-ACTION celebrates the transformative power of creativity, where designing does not only mean building, but generating new meanings through dialogue between different languages. The Earth is Life installation embodies this vision, interweaving artistic expression and architecture, enriching the reflection on urban regeneration and cultural innovation. This intervention underlines how artistic language can redefine spaces, stimulate a new collective imagination and raise public awareness of an urban ecosystem to be rethought, preserved and passed on.
“For several years now - says Massimiliano Morrone CEO of Unipol Investimenti SGR - we have been working on our real estate portfolio actively doing urban regeneration through an approach that is sustainable because it favors the recovery and reuse of existing buildings over demolition and reconstruction. Moreover, by regenerating existing buildings and creating new functions that always become urban characterizations, land consumption is limited and urban quality is positively impacted. In this sense, Limosani's installation dedicated to the theme of the Earth interprets the values of Urban Up |Unipol and represents a concrete commitment to taking care of it through tangible actions and a conscious policy of urban design management in cities."

“In this work,’ - says Felice Limosani - the word becomes light, light becomes thought. It does not proclaim, but pulses in the urban space like a luminous echo asking to be heard. The verse The Earth is Life Our Future is Hope does not affirm, but hints, eschewing rhetoric to open to a silent, collective conversation-action, inviting the viewer to complete its multiple meanings with their own idea. A visual poem that, through literary composition and decomposition, posits the Earth not only as a subject, but as a trajectory inextricably linked to Life, the Future and the Hope of Humanity”.

THE NSTALLATION

Earth Is Life by Felice Limosani transforms the facade of De Castillia 23 - into a 4000 mq narrative surface where words and light merge with architecture, redefining urban space as a "place of thought." The verse "The Earth Is Life Our Future Is Hope," essential and devoid of rhetoric, becomes the symbol of a global condition suspended between reflection and commitment, bringing Earth to the center of a vision interconnected with the universal values of life, future, and hope.
The monumental installation, measuring 60x15 meters, is based on a linguistic play in which the subtraction of certain words does not diminish the meaning but rather amplifies its depth through multiple layers of interpretation. Through the pulsating illumination of certain words, the verse transforms into the fragments "The Earth Is Our Future," "Hope Is Life," "Life Is Hope," generating a continuously evolving dynamic reflection. This performative dimension invites the viewer to explore multiple possible interpretations, creating new intellectual and emotional connections.
The artwork invites reflection on the interconnection between planetary and human life in an era marked by the anthropocene, emphasizing the urgency of a collective vision for a sustainable future, where hope translates into concrete action. The message aligns with the global cultural debate on environmental and humanistic themes, resonating with the 2025 Jubilee and its motto “Spes non confundit” (Hope does not disappoint).
These are fundamental values of Urban Up | Unipol, which promotes a design approach capable of connecting sustainability, culture, and community. In line with Urban Up | Unipol's commitment to architectural redevelopment and urban regeneration, the installation is not just aesthetic work but a true device of thought that, through the poetry of light and the power of words, transforms the building into a symbol of connection, awareness, and shared participation.

Watch the video on Instragram here.

Milan
April 14, 2025