The history of Folli 50.0

Opening in Milan is an area of cultural and creative immersion, a hotbed of ideas, projects and activities in 7000 m² of space. Mostrami Factory @ Folli50.0 is a project of Bracco Foundation in the historical headquarters of the Bracco company, in via Folli 50 in Milan, conceived and coordinated by the Mostrami artists’ collective; a creative, cultural and social factory open to the city, with exhibitions, laboratories and evenings of music, cinema, theatre and dance. Find out about the project here!

Containing and inspiring the creative factory is a place with a long and fascinating history, an account that has become the subject of an exhibition hosted in the space in the opening week: from April 13 to April 19, 2015!

Let’s start from the beginning.

VIA FOLLI is a small street in the Lambrate quarter in Milan, bracketed between the river Lambro and the eastern ring road. It delimits the residential area that grew up around via Feltre next to the Lambro Park, one of the city’s main parks.

VIA FOLLI 50 has since 1956 been the historical address of Bracco, the chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in 1927 in the area which, from its base in Lambrate, entered the international market, making its mark as a group that could produce research and innovation at the highest levels.

After moving production to dedicated sites in Italy, in other European countries and in the United States, via Folli remained the “beating heart” of the Bracco Group until a few years ago, when the offices too were transferred to a new building more suited to current needs but not far away, thus maintaining links with the home territory.

The FOLLI 50.0 space was formed in 2015 in the historical building and with Mostrami becomes an artistic, cultural and social factory. The name Folli 50.0 expresses the historical identity of the place, at the same time underlining aspirations to the future and innovation, a characteristic that has always distinguished the history of the Bracco company.