Quartiere delle Rose
THE ABANDONED TOWN IN ITALY
‘Quartiere delle Rose’ was built in Lacchiarella during the 1980s to house employees of a newly built Milan Trade Fair exhibition center. All these buildings were never used.
Lacchiarella was supposed to become the management center of the Milan Trade Fair, but in the end the project was aborted. Later the fair was built in Rho-Pero. As a result, the construction of a huge hotel began but did not finish, leaving in fact an unfinished work that over time has become a refuge for homeless and drug addicts.
During my visit this district, or in Italian ‘quartiere’, of the city of Milan is abandoned for almost 30 years. Residential towers, office blocks and shops and other buildings are now falling apart due to the vandalism. Short after my visit, the demolition of the district started. In its place there will be a commercial center with a supermarket, shops and the new municipal pharmacy. Also, a square covered by a tensile structure will be built to host events. I took these photos of ‘Quartiere delle Rose’ in 2010 during my Italian road trip. In 2015 the first new houses were built here.
