«It will be a place for Milan but also for Italy - comments Enrico Cereda, chairman and managing director of IBM Italy – a site that we have selected after having considered another 25 alternatives. Ten million people pass through this square every year, and what we were looking for was just that, a place fostering contact and dialogue, not just a simple office. It was necessary to have an iconic place for people to experience, right on the street level, on a par with artisans’ shops, to gain an understanding of just how important the role of innovation is and to accelerate the development of skills. This opportunity was given to us by COIMA RES ».
"IBM has chosen Piazza Gae Aulenti as its new home for researching and testing new technologies and innovations in the digital world, and we are very proud to welcome them" - commented Manfredi Catella, CEO of COIMA RES. "Porta Nuova reconfirms its status as a hub for innovation that has succeeded in regenerating a disused railway station that had deteriorated over the years, transforming it into a neighborhood that has reaffirmed Italy’s reputation for creating extraordinary cities and attracting the most qualified companies in the worlds of finance, innovation and technology, consultancy and fashion."
The interior design project, by COIMA Image, will entail transforming the Studios into a harmonious, flexible, integrated, sustainable and human space. "IBM Studios are located between the square and the Tree Library. Our idea - highlights Alida Catella, CEO of COIMA Image - aims to link the building with the square and the park, allowing it to communicate with its surrounding context, defining new accessways and visions with regard to the same. The concept starts with an exhibition space in the form of a pathway that is also visible from the outside, a continuous pathway that traverses the spaces of the ground floor, which then rises to the first floor taking us into the immersive room, creating an open and synergistic harmonious and all-encompassing space. The heart of the project is the suspended technological belt/ribbon that may be used from the interior but is also visible from the exterior, a ribbon/belt that encompasses the space, creating a covered square that becomes the heart of storytelling.
An ideal bridge between technology and environment, innovation and sustainability, with the capability of joining these different and essential souls of our time. A place, therefore, destined to face one of the most important challenges of this era: achieving balance between biological and artificial intelligence.