Founder Lapo Elkann opened the doors to Garage Italia in Piazzale Accursio, Milan. The new headquarters are located in an iconic building, the former petrol station Agip Supercortemaggiore, restored by Michele De Lucchi’s aMDL studio. Elkann says passion, creativity, design and excellence meet in the creative hub, including the bar and restaurant of Chef Carlo Cracco.
The story of Piazzale Accursio starts in the 1950s, during the Italian economic miracle. The building separates two streets leading the traveller of the day to magnificent destinations. The location was later abandoned. Now its doors open up again with Elkann and Garage Italia. A new location projects the journey toward creativity, says the company, and now even more significant as a point of contact between one of the symbolic cities of contemporary Milan, and other capitals and cultures in Europe and worldwide.
“Milan has the responsibility and honor of representing the flag of Italian renaissance in the global panorama, interacting with other cultural and entrepreneurial centers in the world. This is why I wanted to make a space to share, create and taste the best of our country, putting Italian excellence from the sectors of creativity, design, motion and food under the same roof,” said Elkann.
Open everyday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., Garage Italia will welcome enthusiasts of style and beauty at any moment of the day, from breakfast to after dinner, bringing a breath of fresh air into the life of the Portello neighbourhood. Its 1,700-square-meters location are distributed on two floors with a basement for service and staff rooms.
“Opening Garage Italia has been a personal and entrepreneurial challenge,” continued Elkann. “I faced it with a purposeful, not purely individual vision and with the clear intention to make a valid social contribution to the local community. Moreover, the city of Milan, indeed Italy itself, are involved in the project with its people and companies. I am of the idea that my initiative will be an example here and elsewhere in the world, and that such projects will inspire the international community of thinkers and makers.”
For more information on Garage Italia, visit garageitaliacustoms.com.
