LET’S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER WITH BRUTALISM!
The nocturnal grand tour on bikes
through the history of the postwar architecture of Bergamo
In Italian & English
After London, Istanbul, Rome, Verona, St. Petersburg, Berlin and many other European cities VeloNotte reaches its 35th edition in the gorgeous city of Bergamo!
The fascinating era of Brutalist architecture had a sizeable imprint on the postwar evolution of Bergamo, a middle-sized North Italian city. VeloNotte Bergamo is the first in-depth study of Bergamo Brutalism, connecting remarkable building and urban history in an one-off collective experience. Accompanied by music and insights by international and Italian historians and architects, we will pedal through the lower part of Bergamo to discover pearls of modernist architecture built between 1945 and 1980, exploring its phenomenal scene, discussing:
— How a town of only 100.000 became an independent center of European modernism?
— How Le Corbusier (well-known for the disregard of the pre-existing cultural sites) saved Bergamo?
— What made city’s richest families spend on controversial development that is still praised and hated after 50 years?
Velonotte, a 15 km Grand Tour in Bergamo
Velonotte Bergamo will be a thematic long ride through the city with 8 stops and that will last about 3 hours.
The meeting will be at the Monumental Cemetery at 7 p.m. and will wrap up around 10:30 p.m. at the Franciscan Convent in Piazza Sant'Antonio di Padova where participants will be greeted with a live audio installation. We will see the architectures of Pino Pizzigoni, Sergio Invernizzi, Giuseppe Gambirasio, Giorgio Zenoni, Walter Barbero, Baran Ciagà, Sergio Crotti, and Enrica Invernizzi while pedaling and streaming music, stories, and trivia about the works and their authors.
Dinner at the convent bar is an option that is not included on the tour.
Speakers
Descriptions and narratives of individual buildings are by prominent Bergamo and foreign experts and architects:
Maria Vittoria Capitanucci (Politecnico di Milano),
Christian Burkhardt (University of Kassel),
Matteo Invernizzi & Gianpaolo Gritti (president of Fondazione Architetti Bergamo) and our very special speaker — Giorgio Zenoni, one of the most accomplished creators of the era.
The Velonotte Bergamo is curated by Prof. Sergey Nikitin-Rimsky, researcher in History of Architecture and musician founder of Velonotte International, with the collaboration of architect and PhD Federica Patti.
General info
The event is open and accessible to all. The terrain of Bergamo Bassa (Lower Bergamo) is flat, so no feats of physical achievement are necessary. One needs to have a bicycle, a smartphone and earphones. If you do not want to take your own bicycle, or you will be coming from outside Bergamo, there’s a bike sharing in the city. There is also a free site for campers in the city center. Pre-registration is required.
Promoters
The event is part of the program of Bergamo and Brescia Italian Capitals of Culture 2023 and opens the European Sustainable Mobility Week in the city of Bergamo. It is co-organised by Fondazione Architetti Bergamo with the Order of Architects of Bergamo and Comune di Bergamo as a collateral event of LABB-Love Architettura Bergamo Brescia, the special festival from the architects of the two cities inside the program of Bergamo Brescia Capitale Italiana della Cultura 2023. It is supported by A.Ri.Bi. - Associazione per il Rilancio della Bicicletta, the association that promotes the use of bicycle, and Promoberg srl.
VeloNotte Bergamo is sponsored by Cnappc-Consiglio Nazionale Architetti Pianificatori Paesaggisti Conservatori, Order of Engineers of Bergamo and ASCOM Confcommercio Bergamo.
Title
VeloNotte Bergamo: Tales of CementType
Festival / BiennialWebsite
Organizers
From
September 16, 2023 07:00 PMUntil
September 16, 2023 10:30 PMVenue
Bergamo Bassa (Lower part of Bergamo)Address