Parco Sempione, Milan

This is Parco Sempione, an urban park and leafy public space in Milan. Its broad grounds cover 386,000 m2, occupying land once used as a military parade ground; the park took shape near Sforza Castle at the end of the 19th century. The present landscape was created between 1888 and 1894 under architect Emilio Alemagna, with carriage paths, a lake, and a belvedere, following the romantic model of English parks.

Look toward the park’s lake and its open paths: this was once part of the Visconti dukes’ vast wooded estate, later enlarged by the Sforzas to more than 3 million square metres. After abandonment, the area became military ground, and public protests eventually helped preserve it as a garden rather than allowing redevelopment around the castle. Near the Arena Civica, the Fontana dell’acqua marcia still flows.

It was built between 1925 and 1928, has a sulfurous smell, and is classified as non-potable. Art remains part of the park’s identity: in the landscape you can find Giorgio de Chirico’s Mysterious Baths and the Teatro Continuo, a performance structure by Alberto Burri. The present copy was inaugurated on 23 May 2015, recalling a work created for the 1973 Triennale and removed in 1989. Its platform and rotating wings turn an artwork into a place people can use.