CITY OF MILAN AND LIBESKIND UNVEIL PLANS FOR NEW CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM

Mayor Considers Project a Significant Step in Elevating Milan’s Profile as a Cultural Exchange Center

Architect Daniel Libeskind and officials from the City of Milan unveiled plans for the creation of a brand new contemporary art museum. During a March 17 press conference in Italy, Libeskind was joined by Mayor of Milan Letizia Moratti; Davide Rampello, president of the Triennale; Andrea Chevallard, secretary general of the Milan Chamber of Commerce; and city council members Vittorio Sgarbi and Carlo Maseerorli.
      
“The Museum of Contemporary Art is born for our city and is capable of gathering culture and tradition, favoring cultural exchanges with other grand institutions and can be the occasion for bringing all the best from other countries while showing our own cultural excellence,” said Letizia Moratti, Mayor of Milan. “The project realized by Libeskind has the distinct characteristic of harmonizing the form of the square and circle in its geometric development, recalling the equilibrium theorized by Leonardo da Vinci. It will bring the creation of an open place that interacts with the city, also thanks to the presence of some particular elements in its interior space such as a hanging garden and a spa.”
      
“The Libeskind project is extremely innovative for the city of Milan, placing it among a long line of museums that are monuments in and of themselves such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao and Beaubourg of Paris – places where the architect becomes guarantor of contemporary art as he himself is a contemporary artist,” added Vittorio Sgarbi, city council member in charge of cultural events for Milan.
      
 The museum follows the heels of another city project, the Fiera Milano, which covers more than 106 acres on the old fairgrounds of Milan. In collaboration with Zaha Hadid, Arata Isozaki and Pier Paolo Maggiora, Daniel Libeskind is the master planner redeveloping the Fiera Milano. The scheme incorporates public space, housing, office towers, retail space and a museum. In addition to the design of the park, along with the Piazza Domodossola, SDL has designed one of the office towers, the museum and the first housing area. The project begun construction last year and is expected to be completed in 2014.

The new Museum of Contemporary Art is expected to open in Spring 2011 in the Citylife neighborhood of Milan.
    
CONTACT:     Studio Daniel Libeskind:  Lynn Krogh
                     + 212.497.9114/ +917.378.9302 
                     PublicRelations@daniel-libeskind.com

                     Linden Alschuler & Kaplan: Mollie Fullington/Lynn Trono 
                     +212.575.4545
                     ltrono@lakpr.com