MILANO CITTÀ DI ESPOSIZIONI

Milan is the Italian city that, from the years following Italian unification onwards, has continually organized the highest number of expositions, exhibitions, trade fairs and reviews of productive sectors, in addition to the most varied kinds of activities. Such indefatigability, even in the most diverse of situations, is indicative of how well its formula has functioned. This paper is mainly about the Universal Exposition of 1881, the city’s first opportunity to present its achievements and to project a self-image as a productive, well-administered city that was proud of its ability to get things done, and capable of keeping pace with the rhythms of development and transformation that went along with modernity. Yet Milan could also be a modern city without destroying its ties with tradition and without forgetting – in terms of social welfare and humanitarianism – the weakest and least fortunate. Before the War in Europe irreparably changed its frame of reference, the International Exposition of 1906 was the second central event through which the city could look back with satisfaction on the route it had taken and the results it had achieved.