The Possibilitarian Spirit of Milan

When discussing Milan with friends who live in other Italian cities, a common observation often surfaces: "Milan shows a 'can-do' spirit," they often remark, noting its distinct willingness to 'give it a go' and its relentless drive for continual change and growth, often positioning it in contrast to its more historically-anchored counterparts, such a Rome and Florence. Their sentiment, though bordering on cliché, holds truth in Milan’s ambitious appetite for change.

There are countless examples of Milan’s ‘can-do’ spirit in its recent history, particularly the city’s rapid urbanization that followed the 2015 World Expo. Urban development is a rarity in many Italian cities, let alone those experiencing rapid growth. However, if you were to walk through districts like Garibaldi, Isola, and Gioa today, you would see a vibrant, high-tech business hub, connected by expansive green spaces that are bustling with public life outside of office hours. Yet, just over a decade ago, much of this area was characterized by derelict industrial 'wastelands'—uninviting spaces marked by uninspiring buildings shrouded in a thick grime of a polluted industrial past, emptying of activity once the workday ended. The current transformation is nothing short of remarkable in Italy, turning a quarter in decay into a dynamic civic and economic asset.

I believe that Milan’s constant transformative pattern is not a modern phenomenon but a deeply ingrained reflex through history. Between 1800 and 1900, Milan underwent a similarly profound urban transformation. Driven by the Beruto Plan (1884–1889), which introduced the city’s first systematic urban planning, and accelerated by the industrial revolution's demographic pressures, the city's population doubled, and it annexed external municipalities by 1923. It equipped itself with modern infrastructure, radically changing its physiognomy. This centuries-long experience of living with constant, managed change suggests that the Milanese might have inherited a subconscious resilience —a default setting that welcomes and adapts to new realities rather than resisting them.

Milan’s adaptive capacity might also be inextricably linked to its role as an attractive pole drawing migrants from the south—it was a major hub for intra-migration in the 19th and 20th centuries. Just as the American Gold Rush migration catalyzed economic and cultural innovation on the West Coast, the influx of Italians from other regions, especially from southern Italy, drawn by Milan’s industrial expansion and burgeoning tertiary sector, might have injected a continuous energy for change and improvement into the city. In fact, one could argue that the very DNA of the Milanese is defined by a relentless ambition, perhaps inherited from those who chose the city as their home? 

If the ‘can-do’ spirit was attained through emulation, Milan does not lack inspiring individuals - the city was home to many defining figures, individuals who demonstrated a bold disregard for conventional limitations, defining new rules in art, architecture, and modern thought. In fact, Leonardo Da Vinci, who was fond of Milan and famously branded himself the "disciple of experience." As I have explored in my upcoming book, Of Flat Earth and Protein Mania - Decoding Our Labyrinth of Biases, Da Vinci's philosophy of acquiring knowledge through direct observation and practical experience is fundamentally the mindset of a Possibilitarian, one who values empirical testing over inherited dogma.

The same possibilitarian spirit can also be found in Milan’s fashion geniuses, Rosita and Ottavio Missoni, who built their global empire by taking the Raschel knitting machine—historically used for open-work lace and shawls—and completely reinventing its purpose. Through technical experimentation with the fiammata technique, they adapted the machine to create their signature multicolored zigzag knit fabric, which could be cut and sewn, without unraveling, into dresses, shirts, and sweaters. Such versatility was previously unthinkable for Raschel knits. Their work is a triumph of a can-do attitude, merging technical experimentation with aesthetic innovation.

Another possibilitarian who notably shaped Milan’s modern urban landscape was Ernesto Nathan Rogers. His influential Velasca Tower, a modern structure that intentionally references the city's medieval history, is now an equally iconic structure within walking distance from Milan’s Duomo. Post-war Milan was a heavily damaged city. Despite Milan’s loss of many historical landmarks, Ernesto Nathan Rogers believed it was an opportunity to fuse modern architecture with historical and cultural continuity, a 'grounding wisdom he had been championing as director of the leading magazine Casabella Continuità.      

The possibilitarian spirit is not a solitary inward attitude; it thrives in a self-nurturing cycle of intellectual and creative exchange. Da Vinci admired Milan precisely because it was an intellectual 'hub' of scientists and thinkers. This same nurturing environment allowed Donato Bramante to define the principles of Renaissance architecture—simplicity, harmony, classical proportions, and linear perspective—in Milan, long before he made his mark in Rome. If history itself is not enough to convince you that Milan offers a safe space for challenging ideas, consider the location of the controversial sculpture L.O.V.E. (Libertà, Odio, Vendetta, Eternità) by Maurizio Cattelan, which stands directly in front of the Milan Stock Exchange. The middle finger carved from Caralla marble is a symbol of Milan’s defiance against conventional limits and expectations.