During the second half of the 19th
and much of the 20th centuries, Milan underwent a constant modernisation
to become a true metropolis and Italy's economic centre of gravity. In
particular between the 1880s and 1960s, the city's upper classes were
the main drivers of this development. Their common interests rooted in
keen entrepreneurship, a sense of history and of their own origins, and a
high appreciation of culture and of ethical values combined with
profound suspiciousness of ideologies.


Angelo Raffaele Lunati
investigates in his new book the relationship between this particular
Milanese type of urban social class and culture and the architecture it
forged. It is an homage to a metropolitan bourgeoisie standing out by
its sense of responsibility and common welfare. Lunati follows the
evolution of the idea of an 'ambiente', a very comprehensive concept of
urban environment, from 19th-century's initial romanticism to the early
20th century's bold modernism and the elegant yet politically charged
aesthetic of the post-WW II period.

Introduction by: Adam Caruso