STS Italia – Social and Cultural Events
Social Programme (booking needed)
As part of the STS Italia Conference, we offer a selection of three tours into some technoscientific and artistic highlights of Milan and its surroundings. All guided tours will be in English. Availability is limited and registration and payment is possible by clicking on each tour’s title.
Pirelli HangarBicocca is a non-profit foundation dedicated to producing and promoting contemporary art. Lying in the post-industrial district of Bicocca, its building is historically linked to important Italian industrial companies. Breda, a company incorporated in 1886 by engineer Ernesto Breda, moved to the Bicocca district in 1903. It was specialised in railway carriages, locomotives, and farm and industrial machinery. During the First World War, it was involved in the production of aeroplanes, projectiles and other products for the war effort. Pirelli, Falck, and Marelli followed suit with their own companies, thus turning the area into one of the most important industrial centres in Italy.
What to expect
A 1-hour guided tour in English into the exhibition “ICARUS”, the first major anthological exhibition in Europe dedicated to the art of Yukinori Yanagi. “Known for exploring complex issues of sovereignty, globalisation, and borders through large-scale, site-specific installations, Yanagi often delves into Japanese history whilst confronting universal themes of nationalism, the impact of modernisation and technology on society. His modus operandi evokes the intricate systems of symbolic imagery and preconceived notions of political and national oppression, challenging their immobility and dissolving them into organic forms that are inherently mutable.”
Free exploration of the building and other exhibits (the space closes at 8:30 PM).
Some practical details
How to get there:
From the M1 stop Sesto Marelli: bus line 51 (direction Istria M5) to the stop Via Chiese – HangarBicocca; or bus line 87 (direction Stazione Centrale) to the stop Via Chiese.
From the M5 stop Ponale: bus line 51 (direction Cimiano M2) to the stop Via Chiese – HangarBicocca
Good Technoscience for the Masses: A Museum Critical Tour
Guided tour to the permanent galleries of Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci
How did a “national” science and technology museum come into being? By whom and according to what interests and ideologies was it conceived? The Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci
opened in 1953 with the aim to bridge the gap between the two cultures and presenting technoscience as a culture for good. Its origins date back to the 1930s, involving the Politecnico engineering culture and national scientific “heroes” like Guglielmo Marconi. Today the Museo is the largest museal institution in Italy dedicated to science, technology and industry. It designs cultural and educational resources and experiences, fostering engaged, knowledgeable and inclusive citizenship.
Discover the Museo on a guided tour that explores and critically discusses the historical origins and developments of this major mid-20th century cultural institution.
What to expect
A 1h 30’ guided tour by and with Simona Casonato, Media, ICT & Digital Culture Collection Curator and editor of The “Marconi Relics” (University of Venice Press, 2025).
Free exploration of the Museum.
Some practical details
When: 14 June 2025, 11am
Where: Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, Via San Vittore 21, Milan
Price: Free
How to get there:
M2, M4 stop “Sant’Ambrogio”; bus 58 and 94.
Accessibility: The location is accessible through lifts and stair lifts.
Located on the lake of the same name, Como is the birthplace of scientist Alessandro Volta (1745-1827). Volta is known for several advancements in the fields of electrology and chemistry, such as the electrophorus and the voltaic pile, a kind of electric battery. While he spent most of his academic life at the University of Pavia where he was professor of Experimental Physics, he spent his youth and early years as a scientist in Como, a city that bears many celebratory signs of the inventor.
In our trip to Como, we will follow the “Voltian relics” (the historical artefacts related to Volta) into two landmarks dedicated to the scientist: the Physics Museum of the Liceo Volta and the Tempio Voltiano. The Liceo Volta is a secondary school and was directed by Volta between 1774 and 1778, when he was the dean of all Como schools. Here, we will be accompanied by some students of the Liceo to visit the collections dedicated to Volta and his contemporaries. The Tempio Voltiano is a neoclassical temple, now civic museum, built for the purpose of celebrating the city hero. It was inaugurated in 1928 to host the collections that had survived the fire of the 1899 Voltian Exhibition.
Volta has been inscribed in a pantheon of the Italian scientific and technological “heroes”, whose origins can be traced in the nationalistic propaganda of Italian fascism. The relics related to him are material remains of this narrative, and open crucial questions in the history of science and technology and in STS: What’s the purpose of celebrating heroes of the past through material remains? How is the authenticity of relics constructed? How to deal with myths in the material history of technoscience today?
What to expect
10:30 AM: Guided tour in English to the Voltian collections at the Physics Museum of the Liceo Alessandro Volta in Como. The students of the Liceo will guide us through the museum.
2:30 PM: Guided tour in English to the Tempio Voltiano in Como.
Some practical details
When: 14 June 2025, 10:00 AM, in front of the Liceo
Where:
Morning: Liceo Classico e Scientifico Alessandro Volta, Via Cesare Cantù, 57, Como
Afternoon: Tempio Voltiano, Viale Marconi, 1, Como. The Tempio is situated in the Tempio Voltiano gardens on the lakeside. The Liceo and the Tempio are an 18-minute walk from each other. The Como public transport system also covers for part of the distance.
Price: 4€
Important information: The STS Italia organising committee is solely responsible for the two guided tours at the Liceo Volta and the Tempio Voltiano. Participants should take care of their own trip to Como via train or other means (see “How to get to Como” below) and their own lunch. Please, notice that Como is a touristic site and is expected to have a high number of visitors on weekends, so we suggest you book restaurant tables and other amenities in advance.
How to get to Como:
By train:
From Milano Porta Garibaldi to Como San Giovanni: Trenord Suburban line S11 takes about 1h 10’
From Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni: Trenitalia EC 14 or Trenord regional train both take about 40’
From Milano Cadorna to Como Lago: Trenord regional train takes about 1 hour
From Milano Bovisa Politecnico to Como Lago: Trenord regional train takes about 50’
By car:
A9 motorway towards Como. The city centre of Como is a restricted traffic zone, and there are several paid car parks in the surroundings.
Accessibility: The Volta collections are on the first floor of the Liceo. To access them, there is either a lift or a staircase. The Tempio Voltiano is accessible through a short staircase at the main entrance or a lift at the side entrance.