VeloNotte Bergamo: Tales of Cement

The fascinating era of Brutalist architecture had a sizeable imprint on the postwar evolution of Bergamo, a middle-sized North Italian city. VeloNotte Bergamo is the first in-depth study of Bergamo Brutalism, connecting remarkable building and urban history in a one-off collective experience. Accompanied by music and insights by international and Italian historians and architects, we will pedal through the lower part of Bergamo to discover pearls of modernist architecture built between 1945 and 1980, exploring its phenomenal scene, discussing:
— How a town of only 100.000 became an independent center of European modernism?
— How Le Corbusier (well-known for the disregard of the pre-existing cultural sites) saved Bergamo?
— What made the city’s richest families spend on controversial development that is still praised and hated after 50 years?

Velonotte, a 15 km Grand Tour in Bergamo
Velonotte Bergamo will be a thematic long ride through the city with 8 stops that will last about 3 hours.
The meeting will be at the Monumental Cemetery at 7 p.m. and will wrap up around 10:30 p.m. at the Franciscan Convent in Piazza Sant’Antonio di Padova where participants will be greeted with a live audio installation. We will see the architectures of Pino Pizzigoni, Sergio Invernizzi, Giuseppe Gambirasio, Giorgio Zenoni, Walter Barbero, Baran Ciagà, Sergio Crotti, and Enrica Invernizzi while pedaling and streaming music, stories, and trivia about the works and their authors.
Dinner at the convent bar is an option that is not included on the tour.

Speakers

Descriptions and narratives of individual buildings are by prominent Bergamo and foreign experts and architects:
Maria Vittoria Capitanucci (Politecnico di Milano),
Christian Burkhardt (University of Kassel),
Matteo Invernizzi & Gianpaolo Gritti (president of Fondazione Architetti Bergamo) and our very special speaker — Giorgio Zenoni, one of the most accomplished creators of the era.
The Velonotte Bergamo is curated by Prof. Sergey Nikitin-Rimsky, a researcher in the History of Architecture and musician founder of Velonotte International, with the collaboration of architect and Ph.D. Federica Patti.

General info

The event is open and accessible to all. The terrain of Bergamo Bassa (Lower Bergamo) is flat, so no feats of physical achievement are necessary. One needs to have a bicycle, a smartphone, and earphones. If you don’t want to take your bicycle, or you’ll come from outside Bergamo, there’s bike sharing in the city. There is also a free site for campers in the city center. Pre-registration is required.

Promoters

The event is part of the program of Bergamo and Brescia Italian Capitals of Culture 2023. And opens the European Sustainable Mobility Week in the city of Bergamo. It is co-organized by Fondazione Architetti Bergamo with the Order of Architects of Bergamo and Comune di Bergamo as a collateral event of LABB-Love Architettura Bergamo Brescia, the special festival from the architects of the two cities inside the program of Bergamo Brescia Capitale Italiana della Cultura 2023. It is supported by A.Ri.Bi. – Associazione per il Rilancio della Bicicletta, the association that promotes the use of bicycle, and Promoberg srl.
VeloNotte Bergamo is sponsored by Cnappc-Consiglio Nazionale Architetti Pianificatori Paesaggisti Conservatori, Order of Engineers of Bergamo, and ASCOM Confcommercio Bergamo.

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