Milan, the Boeri model and the "Botanical Ivory Tower": elegance, concrete, and some legal hassles.

Milan, as we know, is the city where everything happens sooner, faster, and with more concrete. But be careful: don't call it a "concrete-builder." Star architect Stefano Boeri reminds us of this in a polite tone and a lengthy Facebook post , his name now associated with the urban planning investigation that has affected Palazzo Marino and Mayor Beppe Sala .

Already under investigation in the past, Boeri returns to the scene today—not on the construction site but in the judicial files—to clarify that no, he doesn't build palaces: he cultivates visions . And he does so with that touch of institutional lyricism that only those who attended the Scuola Normale can afford:

"I'm an architect, not a builder. I love Milan and I have faith in the judiciary."

In short, Boeri is a bit like Michelangelo accused of having plastered the Sistine Chapel too well.

The Milan model, between skylines and short circuits

In his heartfelt social j'accuse , the architect defends the “Milan model” , that hyper-efficient and glamorous approach to urban transformation, which over the last twenty years has made the city a magnet for investments, young startuppers and very wealthy elderly people.

And that's the point:

"Milan risks becoming a metropolis of wealthy seniors," says Boeri. A phrase that could end up on a t-shirt worn in Porta Nuova while sipping a 14-euro botanical spritz.

The Botanical Tower and the misinterpreted “warning”

At the center of the dispute is the infamous "Botanical Tower," a visionary project rejected—according to Boeri—by a Landscape Commission that was "more landscape-oriented than landscape-oriented." He allegedly issued a warning to Sala , which some interpreted as a threat. But rest assured, he assures:

“It was just a live alarm.” Because nothing is scarier, in fact, than an alarmed Milanese architect.

Investigations, reputation and selective communication

Boeri complains that it was cut and edited worse than a suburban rendering : fragments of decontextualized messages, pieces of statements dismantled like Lego after an earthquake. And so, on with the kilometer-long post , because when you don't trust the media, you rely on the only reliable algorithm: that of Meta .

Epilogue: Italy between concrete and ideals

In a country where bureaucratic simplification is called for and a bridge is built every legislature (then inaugurated twice), Boeri appears as the prototype of the intellectual-builder: cultured, refined, but with the cement mixer always on .

So yes, dear architect, keep building. But at least let us have a laugh. Because in a country that overbuilds everything, irony is the last green space left .

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