"We decided to interview Silvia because thanks to her social activities with the Onlus Liveinslums and the 28 Posti restaurant she has an important role in the neighborhood."

Interview by Perimetro, photo by Sha Ribeiro

What is Milano for you today? What is your relationship with the city?

Milano today is above all a very stimulating city from the point of view of cultural production.

 

Personally, it has given me a lot from a professional point of view and continues to be full of special people with whom I can do interesting things.

 

There is a deeply rooted creative community and many people who work in the social sector to regenerate communities on the margins with a new project that enhances the unexpressed potential of the areas still ghettoized.

 

We already have many virtuous experiences, I speak of small neighborhood projects such as the library of Baggio, the skatepark of Gratosoglio, the market of Lorenteggio, the Trotter Park, the social garden of Niguarda, that of Legambiente in Viale Padova, the popular festival of Super.

I always visit these kind of projects with enthusiasm, perhaps because I feel them very close to the work of my NGO.

 

Connected to this theme is that of Social Policies, which in Milano is very strong because we have a very tenacious team in the department.

We must continue to work on social cohesion, on the labor insertion of the weaker sections, on the integration of foreign people.

In my own little way I try to do it, and as I see it Milano is a solidarity city.

 

Why did you choose Porta Genova and Tortona districts? What do you like? What makes this neighborhood special?

I was born and raised in the Tortona-Porta Genova area so first of all I have a very strong emotional bond with the place, I still like to live here, although many things have changed and sometimes these changes have been a bit harsh.

 

Entering the historical courts of Tortona and Voghera like those in which my family lived, still excites me.

 

Just like finding the craftsmen I have known on the street since I was a child, even though I am aware that the social fabric of the historic courts and ex-industrial areas of this area is no longer that of when I was a child.

 

I try to make the most of this change.

Do you have a route that your are fond of?

Definitely go around the local bookstores.

Gogol and Company is a young bookstore that follows a lot of independent titles and literary challenges. Ex-temporary mind in via Corraini is the top bookstore in Milano for the selection of children's books.

 

Then, Antonio Marras' space is still one of the most suggestive interiors in Milano, the most beautiful moment is when he opens his kitchen; Mexico cinema for the selection of independent titles; the Base guesthouse (CASA BASE) is a beautiful place to sleep, which also hosts an artistic residence every two months.

 

I really like the Giorgia and Ambra LabSolue perfume laboratory inside the Magna Pars Suite hotel; I willingly go to the greenhouse garden of the Osteria di Binari on Sunday for lunch.

 

And then some other gems: the Tathagata vegetarian rotisserie in via Tortona, and the Gusto 17 ice cream shop in Via Savona.