There are certain areas, some of them quite large, incorporated into the fabric of Milan, which from the end of the nineteenth century to a few decades ago were the cornerstones of Lombard industrialization. Some of these are now part of grandiose upgrading and renewal projects that have already achieved remarkable results, becoming an integral part of the town-planning history of the city.

The area of the former turbine manufacturing facility Riva & Calzoni, a complex with a surface area of 40,000 square metres lying between Via Solari, Via Savona and Via Stendhal, is situated in the middle of a zone, bounded to the southeast by the railway network and the Naviglio Grande, in which there is a concentration of museum projects in the Ansaldo area and initiatives in the world of fashion and creative activities in Milan.

The Riva facility was founded in Milan in 1889 to round off the activities of engineer Alberto Riva’s studio of mechanical engineering and importation of agricultural machines, and soon specialized in the production of hydraulic turbines, indeed becoming the leading Italian producer of hydraulic motors. In 1911, the Riva firm also began to produce hydraulic pumps. In the period after the First World War, a series of agreements with leading exponents of the industrial and financial world guaranteed new and important orders, both in Italy and abroad, for large turbines to be used by the hydroelectric industry. In 1923 the first co-partnership agreement was drawn up with the Alessandro Calzoni firm of Bologna, which had been active in this field since the mid-nineteenth century. This move marked the beginning of a policy of corporate integration, which was strengthened in 1925 when the firm secured working control of the Società Anonima Officine Fonderie Calzoni-Parenti based in Bologna; the merger of the two firms was formalized only much later, in 1966, giving rise

rise to Riva & Calzoni.
From 1926 on the Milan works were utilized for the production of the industrial group’s hydraulic turbines; among other things, they produced the hydroelectric machines and apparatus for the Niagara Falls power plants. In 1949, the serious damage wrought by the Second World War led to the decision to totally renew the works and enlarge the plant spaces and rooms. In 1958, the Bologna plants became responsible for the production of the group’s cast iron.
In the early 1980s, after the corporate structure of the firm was radically renovated, the Milan works were abandoned and new companies were established, with plants in different cities. The Milan works were purchased in 1999 as part of an overall renewal project aiming at the creation of a centre of cultural and creative activities.

The oldest part of the complex, which lines Via Solari, is the home of the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro.