Dropcity, an upcoming urban centre for architecture and design, let visitors see the reconstruction of its historic tunnels alongside a series of installations during this year's Milan design week.
Dropcity, founded by architect Andrea Caputo, unveiled its In Progress exhibition to enable visitors to "view the space being built around them", with the urban centre expected to officially open in autumn this year.
Five thousand reclaimed trees are being used to update the tunnels' internal roofs
Occupying a row of fifteen previously abandoned warehouse tunnels behind Milan Central Station, the 10,000-square-metre space hosted a series of exhibitions and installations ranging from design and manufacturing to architecture.
Among the exhibitors was Tbilisi-based design collective SOCII, which showcased a collection of furniture made solely from reclaimed materials and which will occupy a permanent space within tunnel 38 at Dropcity. Dropcity In Progress showed the live restoration of the tunnels
Dropcity has also formed partnerships with universities and companies operating in the architectural field and beyond to promote interdisciplinary collaboration.
Among these is the Italian 3D printing company WASP, which has overhauled tunnel 54 to house a 3D Crane printer that manufacturers walls and other architectural elements on site.
The centre is housed within previously abandoned tunnels
Meanwhile, in tunnel 46, an installation led by Germany-based Studio Streev in collab...