How is the street of Via Padova physically connected to, and contained by its surrounding environment, and the wider city of Milan? 47 Views examines the points of connection between Via Padova and its surrounding area. Place identities are formed through subjective physical experiences; the routes we take to get somewhere influence our identity of the place we arrive at. In an effort to visually conceptualise the street and make sense of it through my own perspective as an outsider with no personal identity of Via Padova, I walked the length of the street from Piazzale Loreto to Cascina Gobba, photographing every connecting road. The accompanying map isolates the street, placing focus on its form and the points which connect or disconnect it to the city.

 

The title reflects the layering of viewpoints and views that are present: my own subjective view as someone visiting the area for the first time, the views that users of the street see as they exit the street, and the layers of selective and constructed Italian histories that are visible in the naming of the streets. What you see when you are on the street is not only the street itself but all the things which point outside of it; is there a disconnect between the view from the inside and the view from the outside? The project results from a process of mapping, walking, observing and researching: cross referencing and layering information I look outwards to gain a better understanding of what is inside and how it has been formulated.

 

The identity of place creates itself through navigated journeys, and the practice of naming and labelling: meaning and identity build up through multiple means. Forty seven streets link Via Padova to its outer environment, contributing to a multiplicitous relationship with the outside that is endlessly shifting and reforming across timelines.