The Red Line. An aesthetic-social study of Milan’s first subway line

The course will present and test the basic concepts of the social aesthetic approach by retracing the Red Line’s “total design” project, both architectural and graphic, from its origins to the 2000s restyling and its survivals in contemporary architecture, graphics, and fashion.Through the teachings of Georg Simmel and Walter Benjamin, we will explore the relationship between the peculiar modernist style of the project by Albini, Helg, and Noorda and the metropolitan lifestyle of Milan during the economic boom, as well as the accelerated industrialization and modernization. We will delve into the significance of specific formal choices (materials, colors, shapes) and the complex relationship among the three systems of metropolitan graphics (public information, advertising, and graffiti). More generally, we will question what challenges lie ahead for the future of the post-industrial metropolis, analyzing the debate between accelerationism and decelerationism, verticality and horizontality, underground and surface, alternating theoretical issues with examples of urban life.

The social aesthetics course aims to introduce students to the social-aesthetic approach, which examines the relationship between sensory forms and social forms, between aesthetic styles and lifestyles, through an exemplary case study: the design of Milan’s first subway line (Compasso d’oro 1964, project by Franco Albini-Franga Helg-Bob Noorda) known as the Red Line.

In presence

The course includes lectures accompanied by image presentations. During the course, a study trip is planned, featuring a group visit to key stations of the Milan metro and the ADI Museum, which dedicates a special exhibit to the Red Line project.

The exam will consist of a written essay (minimum 3,000 words, maximum 7,000 words) and a short oral interview. The written work involves an aesthetic-social analysis of the relevant aspects of the Milan metro, another metro system (Naples, London, Paris, Moscow, Bilbao, etc.), or the original development of a theoretical theme covered in the course. Note: Agreeing on the topic in advance with the teacher and the assistant is mandatory. The essay can be written in a language of choice among Italian, English, French, and German.

• Milano, 08.09.24 - 08.09.24 (Optional)