Garage Italia
Lapo Elkann opens the doors to Garage Italia in Piazzale Accursio, Milan. The new headquarters are in an iconic building, the former petrol station Agip Supercortemaggiore, restored by Michele De Lucchi’s aMDL studio. Passion, creativity, design and excellence meet in the creative hub of the Italian entrepreneur, including the bar and restaurant of Chef Carlo Cracco.
The story of Piazzale Accursio starts in the 1950s, during the Italian economic miracle. The fascinating building separates two streets leading the traveller of the day to magnificent destinations. This beautiful piece of architecture was later abandoned and left in decadence for years. Now its doors open up again onto its new role thanks to Lapo Elkann and Garage Italia. A new location projects the journey towards creativity, now even more significant as a point of contact between one of the symbolic cities of contemporary Italy, Milan, and other capitals and cultures in Europe and worldwide.
Exterior
Garage Italia is inside the former Agip Supercortemaggiore petrol station. Its marvellous 50s architecture is an example of modern streamline. The characteristic rounded edges of its two grand canopies make the building look like it is about to take off. The conservative restoration and static stabilisation interventions carried out by aMDL under Michele De Lucchi’s guidance respect the historical and architectural identity of the space, projecting it into the contemporary.
The building underwent a meticulous intervention to bring out the original colours of the exteriors.
Ground Floor
Just after the main entrance, which recalls the original glass window of the 50s, a huge cloud made up of over 1.100 model cars suspended above the lively bar area invites the visitor towards the soul of Garage Italia Custom: the hotbed of tailor-made customisation projects. The core of the activities of the Garage Italia creative hub is inside the Materioteca.
First Floor
The Garage Italia Milano restaurant is upstairs; a large trapezoidal room looking out onto piazzale Accursio. In the centre of this space, the body of a Ferrari 250 GTO has been transformed into a functional cocktail station for the evening.
-1 Floor
In a futuristic and creative structure like Garage Italia, even the restrooms deserve a mention. Downstairs, on floor -1, there are two teak doors, ladies and gents, that lead the guests inside a Riva boat.
The creative hub
Garage Italia wishes to push itself forwards by offering a creative platform to develop projects, products and unique experiences to be personalised according to Brand, Company and private clients.
