Between Spectacle, Speculation and Grounded Experiments

In 2023, students of the Master in Urbanism and Spatial Planning at the University of Antwerp travelled to Milan to explore the city as a landscape of ambition and contradiction. Under the title Between Spectacle, Speculation and Grounded Experiments, the trip asked how experimental urbanism can counter and alter megaprojects. Milan became a testing ground for understanding how celebrated architecture, large-scale investment and everyday urban experiments coexist, clash and reshape the city.

Travel

Over four days, students visited and critically read internationally renowned projects such as Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale, the Fondazione Prada, major urban transformation areas and the city’s infrastructural preparations for and beyond the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The programme included briefings with key urban actors, including a deep dive into major development sites by the lead city architect. Alongside these flagship projects, the trip deliberately zoomed in on alternative practices, such as TerraPreta, an organisation rethinking soil remediation and urban nature through long-term observation of native species in a former industrial area.

Students also explored tactical urbanism projects, smart city initiatives and the Piazze Aperte, newly car-free squares that reveal how Milan experiments at multiple scales — from highly financialised housing markets to low-threshold interventions in public space.

Translate

The trip invited students to read Milan through its tensions: between iconic, market-driven urbanism and slower, care-based practices; between speculation and experimentation; between large-scale transformation and everyday public space.

Through collective visits and smaller group explorations, students documented cases via podcasts, bringing together voices from public authorities, designers, activists and local organisations. These podcasts helped translate Milan’s projects into questions of power, investment logics and long-term urban consequences.

Transform

The insights from Milan fed directly into individual master theses and a design studio focused on a Flemish case. Principles observed in Milan were carefully adapted to this new context, instead of being replicated.

As many participants were already active or soon-to-be practitioners, the trip continued to resonate beyond the studio. It sharpened their ability to assess urban projects critically and informed how they approach policies, spatial strategies and everyday decision-making in their professional contexts.

This study trip to Milan with students of the Master in Urbanism and Spatial Planning at the University of Antwerp explored the city as a landscape of simultaneous ambition and contradiction. Milan was approached as a testing ground where celebrated architectural projects, large-scale investments, and everyday urban experiments coexist and collide. The programme combined visits and critical reading of internationally renowned projects such as Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale, the Fondazione Prada and the city’s infrastructural preparations for and beyond the Winter Olympics of 2026 and many other large urban transformations. Students were introduced to Milan’s ongoing shifts through briefings with key urban actors, including a deep dive into major development sites by the lead city architect. Alongside these flagship projects, the trip deliberately zoomed in on alternative practices, such as the work of TerraPreta, an organisation rethinking soil remediation and urban nature through long-term observation of native species in a former industrial area. Tactical urbanism projects, smart city initiatives, and the Piazze Aprerte — newly car-free squares — further revealed how Milan experiments at multiple scales, from highly financialised housing markets to low-threshold interventions in public space.

The impact of the Milan trip lay in its layered and critical translation into the students’ academic and professional work. Through collective visits and smaller group explorations, students documented cases via podcasts that brought together voices from public authorities, designers, activists, and local organisations. These insights fed directly into both individual master theses and a design studio focused on a Flemish case, where principles observed in Milan were carefully adapted rather than replicated. The confrontation between iconic, market-driven urbanism and slower, care-based practices sharpened students’ ability to assess power relations, investment logics, and long-term urban consequences. As many participants were already active or soon-to-be practitioners, the lessons from Milan continue to resonate beyond the studio, informing how they approach urban projects, policies, and everyday decision-making in their professional contexts.