Zegna Takes to the Field for a Greener Milan
Zegna dresses Milan in green. The brand is the official partner of the Municipality of Milan for the redesign and care of the flowerbeds in Piazza Duomo for the next three years. The maison worked with a group of expert botanists and landscape designers to bring some of the characteristic elements of the Oasi Zegna vegetation to Milan while respecting biodiversity and the ecosystem. The project was born with the aim of creating a green space in the city, inspired by the philosophy of environmental responsibility of Oasi Zegna, a territory of 100 kilometers located in the Biella Alps in Piedmont, created by Ermenegildo Zegna at the beginning of the last century as a unique model of social and environmental awareness.
The new flowerbed of the Zegna Cathedral will be officially donated to the city on the occasion of the Salone del Mobile 2024 and will mark the beginning of a project that aims to create new Zegna Oases in the world, to enrich the landscapes, urban and otherwise, of biodiversity and educational meanings. The initiative aims to convey the value and urgency of respect for the earth and nature, but also the belief that urban green spaces can bring people closer to natural ecosystems and the protection of biodiversity and social responsibility, fundamental concepts in Oasis.
The flowerbeds will feature a permanent basic structure composed of four groves of uneven-aged camphor bushes, evergreen, and leafy plants that will represent the mature elements of an optimized ecosystem. Among these groves, there will also be plants subject to rotation: rhododendrons from autumn to late spring and Philadelphus from the end of the flowering of the rhododendrons, so as to guarantee respect for the biodiversity and seasonality of the plants, which will be replanted in Oasi Zegna at the end cycle. The plants present in today's flowerbeds will have a new life and will be kept in the place best suited to their needs.
Piazza Duomo, as a representative place of the entire city of Milan, and the availability to redesign the flowerbeds housed in it represents a unique opportunity to create a space which, with total respect to the monumental, symbolic, and aesthetic needs of the place, promotes greater connection between citizens and nature. This ambitious project draws inspiration from Dino Buzzati's 1957 painting, Piazza del Duomo di Milano, from which a stimulating dialogue emerges between city and nature and aims to promote the fundamental role of the latter by reflecting on contemporary instances of sustainability. At the end of the 1920s, the founder of the maison gave life to unprecedented reforestation work in the Biella Alps, planting over 500 thousand conifers and creating a road connecting the two sides of the mountain, which thus became accessible and alive for everyone. Responsibility towards the community and the territory has always been one of the key principles of the company and Oasi Zegna is the symbol and realization of this value: an example of environmental awareness, a monument to the importance of quality of life through harmony between man and nature, a source of inspiration for future generations.
From:Â Esquire IT
