07 | Parco Sempione to City Life

Commented walk Group 7

A walk from Parco Sempione to City Life When in Milan, Parco Sempione is one of the most emblematic place of the city. As a green lung of the city, it is not that far from a brand new district of Milan called « City Life ». Yet, based on the experiences we had in our groups, none of us had ever thought about walking from Parco Sempione to City Life. It seems that it’s not a path that would make sense in our minds, these two spots being radically different. The reason why we would be heading to Parco Sempione is the following : visiting, learning about the history and relax in the park but we would certainly not go to this outskirt of the city afterwards. Thus, we do not know much about the in-between space that links Parco Sempione to City Life. The landscapes are quite antinomic. City Life literally looms and once within, one feels very little when at the foot of those skyscrapers. City Life seems to be the place where people are constantly rushing either because they work or because they go shopping in this huge exclusive design mall. On the other side, Parco Sempione seems to invite to a wander where you can finally slow down. In other terms, City Life seems to clash with Parco Sempione.

Commented walk’s itinerary : We decided to follow two different paths for this commented walk. The first path (- - -) is about walking along Parco Sempione to City Life. We wanted to experiment this path as it seems to be the less intuitive to reach City Life. This is also the shorter one, given the time it takes to go to City Life following the second path. The second one (——), that includes crossing the Parco and then the Corso Sempione, is the most busy one. Why do people choose to take mainly the second one and not the first one ? How is physically speaking the transition between these two public spaces ?

METHODOLOGY We did two different kind of commented walks. We split our group in two. The first group had to do the walk without writing anything and then had to write something as precise as possible about it. It’s a narration that is based upon memories, meaning that some elements will be selected because remembered by the group members. We found it interesting to compare this method with another one : the latter consists in commenting the path when walking by writing every details immediately.

I - Accounts of our 2 different paths based on memory

First Path outside Sempione

Starting from the Fontaine in Castello Sforzesco, we decided to take a not very common walk, a walk that probably no one would take to go to City Life.

As referred, our meeting point was in Piazza Castello, where we found ourselves surrounded by hundreds of tourists willing to visit the castle. The noise of the different languages spoken was quite fascinating and contagious. So, we began our journey.

Although we weren’t crossing Parco Sempione, we still felt inside of it. The sound of the wind passing through the leaves and the birds singing, the smell of the wet grass and the warmth of a sunny day after some drizzles. The traffic was not so much present in the road next to us, you almost can’t feel the presence of cars.

Interesting how the gates of the parco invite you in every 20 meters, so you can completely “run away” from the confusion of the city. After we passed the Triennale Milano building, the landscape changed, the green color slowly disappeared and the noise of the city started to get louder.

Waiting for the green light signal, we looked right and left and it was almost like a “last call” for choosing the right way to go : on our right, Arco della Pace, inviting us in for a relaxed moment ; on our left, one of the Tre Torri, sneaking out as a “I’m here” approach. We followed left even if looking behind.

Giardino Valentino Bompiani looked radiant at the beginning, the red flowers and the big green vegetation balanced out the landscape, but while we were getting closer it turned to be more dark and not well taken care of. By the few moments we were there we could see that it was more a gathering-in place, like a meeting point. It looked abandoned, and so unused that we couldn’t even sit on the benches because of the vegetation that has spread to the benches.

Without resting our tired legs we went forward curious about what was about to come. The high buildings with their exotic colors and textures gave some personality to this path, although the construction noises coming from Piazza VI Febbraio.

Suddenly we found ourselves in front of our target : CityLife. The feeling of insignificance next to those towers almost puts you in apnea, and its strong personality says “I’m here to stay”. The form of the Tre Torri gives you a Back to the Future mental image, as small OVNI’s are about to appear. Still a little paralyzed by it, a young couple asked us to take a photo of them with the Hand Sculpture, funny how the sensation of “being small” can be emphasized by a 2 meter hand.

After some chitchat with them, we decided to ask them some curious questions. « Is it your first time here in CityLife? », « No no, we both live in Milan but we wanted to send this picture to our friends in France» - ( at least we are not the only ones finding it funny, we thought) - « Did you took any transport to come here ? », « Yes, we took the car », « Why not by foot? », « Although we live near Corso Sempione, we think it is more convenient, and we can park here ».

Interested, we lastly asked « Do you prefer City Life than Sempione? », « It’s incomparable, also because here we came mostly to do some shopping ».

It seems incredible how people are led by consumption even when it comes to enjoy a relaxing moment on the grass. In fact, for their inhabitants, such severe skyline can also be used as Parco Sempione but for an “after consumption” pause. People relax laying in the grass eating their ice cream, walk their dogs by the park or bring their children to the swing and slide.

Second path inside Sempione

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The second path our group wanted to experiment was the most « intuitive » one.

Following the king’s path was the watchword. The moment we entered the Castle was a rainy afternoon. Everyone was looking up to the castle’s heights and said something about the red bricks being less bright than when it’s sunny in Milan. A lot of tourists were surrounding us, taking pictures, obviously. If we were tourists (maybe we can still be considered tourists in a way), we would be likely to follow the flows of tourists heading to the exit leading to Parco Sempione and to the beautify view over Arco Della Pace.

The transition between the castle and the Parco is very crowded, everyone bumps into each other.

The entrance of the Parco is lifted, giving the impression of a space that unfolds in front of the spectator’s view. A British tourist asked us to take a picture of her. She wanted a photo with the Arco della Pace in the background. Her last will was to get a picture with no people on it - nature, Arco della pace and her. A hard task, then. After the picture session, we asked her where she was planning to go, suggesting City Life. « Yes, I’ve been to, but is it close from here ? » - « Well, it’s a 20 minute walk » - « Seriously ? I remember that by metro it took me 35 minutes, that’s insane ».

Then, we asked her if she would go by foot knowing the little distance and her answer was no. « I have 2 kids, I could not do that ».

Being kind of frustrated by this answer, we decided to go on by first reaching Arco Della Pace. No one was laying in the grass this day because it was raining. During this part of the walk, we asked to a group of Chinese people where they were going to. We were walking in the same direction as them. They wanted to do a tour of the park. When asked about reaching City Life from here, one of them told : « Hhm, no, no, not now, not today, we want to have fresh air and have a feeling (ok, it’s temporary we know) of city break in nature ». Nature in the city. Most of the people we interviewed were looking for that experience of nature in the city. We think that it’s really amusing to see how nature is one of the essential thing in most of people’s eyes. This is really striking to be in what is considered a « place of nature » in the city while every thing is highly planned in terms of routes. All your paths are already written in a way. You cannot get lost. Nature is organized in a very aesthetic way. Nature but not natural, that’s exactly the feeling some of us had.

After Arco della Pace, we walked forward to Corso Sempione. There were a lot of coffee shops, and people having good time. We were enjoying the walk when in the park because it was silent.

Yet, Corso Sempione reminded us of how boiling Milan was. Traffic, noise, people, coffee shops : a place was not very appealing for us. This street seems to be a never-ending street. You can’t see the end of it.

We finally arrived in City Life. As explained before, none of us had ever made this path. It’s a quite brutal transition as expected. From the grass to the concrete celebration. If you could have some intimacy within the Park (especially when it’s sunny), here it’s a waste of effort. We met two Milanese friends of our ages in the middle of the square of this modern district. We asked them the same question as the previous passersby. They were coming from Parco Sempione and were skating for hours. They had taken the same path as the one we had decided to take. What they were looking for was a perfect spot to skate properly. City Life was the beloved place for this activity. « You have space, interesting curves, this is perfect here, sometimes they are few people ».

II - Accounts of our 2 different paths based on memory First Path outside Sempione path segment

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interview and summary

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From Cairoli Castello station till Station Cadorna, the route of the arch shape is mainly used by motor vehicles rather than pedestrians. Coming out of the castle, most pedestrians do not choose this trajectory, which we infer is because this direction does not lead to city center as walking straight forward, but only leads to several neighborhoods nearby. Crossings along the way begin to introduce pedestrian crossing button, which also shows they are not often used for walking.

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Station Cadorna to north, is a quiet path with trees and railways.

The railways are blocked in wire mesh to avoid people going inside. Unlike other segments with at least several passersby, we met nobody in this area. Most of recreation activities are concentrated in the main part of the park, and this is already edge of the park.

Afterwards, we come to a neighborhood. Traffic in this area is no longer busy and the streets began to be used by residents in the neighborhoods. We observed children playing; people jogging, walking dogs, cycling along the way. In this area, we met a family with 5 people, they are walking to City Life, which is the same trajectory as we set. We also begin to see the three towers of City Life, which means they are very near and this is perhaps why we can follow a family walking there. !

Before traffic become busy again near City Life, we walked through a pocket park in the neighborhoods. Although this park is too small compared with Park Sempione, people accumulated in this area. !

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Following the family, we finally approached City Life. Feeling of quietness in neighborhood disappear, replaced by busy traffic and commercial atmosphere. It is interesting that we observed all kinds of means of transport, with static parking of cars and shared bicycles.

Second path inside Sempione

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interview and summary Starting from the fountain into the castle, small bands can be observed in front of the gate, which attract several people.

When following the crowd into the courtyard of castle, it is interesting that most of people are not using the space in castle for stay, but for a path to the Park Sempione, though the many gates. After following the crowd to the park, we asked them where are they from, two people said they come by public transport near Cairoli Castello station.

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This segment is the most active part of the park, which is more like an ‘attraction’, music, café, small stands, child facilities, and temporary activities like football games are all concentrated in this area that is more connected to the castle. We observed many people carrying things for sun bath are attending the activities, which obviously tell this segment is attractive. This is verified again by the noise. !

Northern part of Park Sempione is quieter and more relaxing compared with south. People there in this area are enjoying the sun and having small activities in unit of families, including pets. !

From Arco della Pace till crossing of Corso Sempione and Via Francesco Melzi d’Eril is a comfortable, is a walkable street with wide sidewalks. Bars are standing along the street and seats on the sidewalk allow people to stay here to have a rest. We can imagine the street be even more vibrant in the night. !

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Main part of Corso Sempione so wide with small trains running in the middle that we can hardly see the opposite side of the street clearly. Number of people here suddenly decreased and many of them are leaving from or going to the park. There are many furniture shops along the street but attracting nearly no people. We talked with a man walking dog in the green belt, he is from neighborhood nearby, choosing the walk in the green belt is just because he does not have much time that day.

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The final segment to City Life is less busy than Corso Sempione but we observed even less people. Shops are closed (it was Saturday) and this is what we infer we see nearly nobody.

Conclusion / Comparison This bi-dimensional method allows us to establish a neat comparison between two very different ways of perceiving our environment. In one situation, we live our visit through our memory. With no notes taken during the walk, we only remember the things our mind chooses to remember, the things we’ve consider important enough to write down at the end of the day. For exemple, while remembering the first path, the tourists just came up once in our writing, while with the detailed method of writing everything while seeing it, the tourists are way more present.

The souvenir paths are more light and emotional, we had the time to appreciate it, think about it, feel it in many different ways. While the instantaneous analyse of the paths appears to be more pragmatic and rational. Also, we had the chance to think further about the interviews in the first method and analyse what every person have told us. In the other one, the words were just written and reported as they were, without further analyse.

It is interesting to have both this perspectives, both this views of a same place. The paths stays the same but their perception of it is altered. Do we even talk about the same thing ? Did we even see the same thing ?