Industrial heritage, early Italian cinema, contemporary design, university life and one of Milan's most ambitious urban regeneration projects. Bovisa is not the Milan most visitors expect — and that's exactly what makes it worth discovering.
When people think of Milan, the Duomo, Brera, the Navigli and the fashion district usually come to mind first.
But Milan is a city made up of very different neighbourhoods, each with its own history and personality. Bovisa is one of the most interesting examples.
Once shaped by factories, railway lines and gasworks, today the neighbourhood is home to the Politecnico di Milano, creative spaces and major urban regeneration projects.
From factories to a new Milan
Bovisa's character was largely shaped by the industrial development of Milan.
Factories and industrial plants transformed what had once been a largely agricultural area, while the railway became another defining feature of the neighbourhood.
Unlike other parts of Milan where the industrial past has almost disappeared, in Bovisa it is still visible. Old industrial buildings now stand alongside university facilities, residential streets and new developments.
This contrast between old and new is one of the things that makes Bovisa worth exploring.
The Gasometers and La Goccia
Perhaps the most recognisable symbols of Bovisa's industrial past are its two enormous gasometers, located in the area known as La Goccia.
Today, La Goccia is at the centre of a major urban regeneration project. The Politecnico di Milano's Gasometers Campus is transforming part of the area into a new centre for research, innovation, entrepreneurship and university life, while preserving elements of its industrial heritage.
Bovisa therefore offers something unusual: the opportunity to see Milan changing in real time.
Bovisa and the beginnings of Italian cinema
Here's something many visitors don't know: Bovisa played an important role in the early history of Italian cinema.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the neighbourhood became home to the studios of Milano Films, one of the important production companies of Italy's silent-film era.
Milano Films produced L'Inferno in 1911, a landmark in early Italian cinema.
It's an unexpected chapter in the history of a neighbourhood better known today for industry and university life.
Politecnico di Milano: Bovisa's new identity
If industry defined Bovisa during the 20th century, the Politecnico di Milano is helping define its present and future.
The university has two major campuses in the neighbourhood: Campus Durando, closely associated with design, and Campus La Masa, focused on engineering and technological disciplines.
Thousands of students, researchers and professionals have contributed to a new ecosystem of creativity, technology and innovation — a transformation that continues around La Goccia and the new Gasometers Campus.
A creative side worth discovering
Bovisa's transformation isn't only about technology and university buildings. Creativity has become part of the neighbourhood's identity too.
During Milan Design Week in 2019, the POLI Urban Colors project brought international urban artists and Politecnico students together to create large-scale murals around the Bovisa campus, involving approximately 2,000 square metres of walls.
And that's only part of the story.
Bovisa's art and street art deserve a guide of their own — and we'll explore them in a dedicated article.
Discover another Milan
You probably won't come to Bovisa looking for Renaissance palaces or luxury shopping.
That's not the point.
Come here to discover another Milan: industrial architecture, university life, urban transformation, unexpected cinema history and a neighbourhood that is still changing.
At Bovisa Hub 97 - Politecnico, you're staying in a neighbourhood with its own story, while remaining well connected to the rest of Milan and Malpensa Airport.
Explore the famous Milan during the day. Then return and discover the unexpected one.
Stay at Bovisa Hub 97 - Politecnico and experience Milan from a different perspective.
