Buenos Aires Street

Corso Buenos Aires is one of the longest and liveliest commercial streets in Europe, combining Milan’s history with the dynamism of the modern city. This artery, which stretches for about 1,600 meters from Porta Venezia to Piazzale Loreto, has witnessed urban and social transformations that reflect the change and growth of Milan. The street has origins dating back to the Lazaretto, a large health complex built between 1489 and 1509 to isolate plague patients. The Lazaretto, immortalized by Alessandro Manzoni in “The Betrothed”, occupied the area where Corso Buenos Aires stands today. With the disappearance of the plague and the demolition of the Lazaretto, the area was reorganized urbanistically, giving rise to one of the city’s main streets. Initially called Corso Loreto, the name was changed to Corso Buenos Aires in 1906, on the occasion of the International Exposition, to honor Italian emigration to South America and to give the city a more cosmopolitan image. Walking along Corso Buenos Aires means immersing oneself in an urban context where past and present harmoniously blend. The street is lined with buildings from various historical periods, from the neoclassical palaces of the 18th century, like the one at civic number 19, to the eclectic and modernist buildings of the 20th century. Among these, Palazzo Luraschi, at civic number 1, built in 1887 on the former Lazaretto grounds, still preserves columns and decorations that recall the history of that place. Corso Buenos Aires is renowned especially for its commercial vocation. With over 350 shops, this street is considered one of the largest open-air shopping centers in Europe. Here, large international chains and historic shops alternate, making the shopping experience diverse and unique. This commercial vocation has made the street a reference point for Milanese and tourists, attracted not only by the shop windows, but also by the vitality of the place, which sees the passage of one hundred thousand people every day. The urban transformation of the street has been continuous. In the 1930s, urban furnishings changed with the introduction of the railway bridge at Viale Tunisia. This bridge marked a sort of urban boundary between the initial, more elegant and bourgeois part, and the subsequent, more popular section. In the 1950s, with the construction of metro line 1, the street was further enhanced, improving accessibility and increasing the flow of visitors and shoppers. Today, Corso Buenos Aires is at the center of an important urban redevelopment project. The initiative involves the creation of protected cycle paths along both sides of the street, narrowing the roadway for cars, and the elimination of many parking spaces, with the aim of transforming the street into a large pedestrian boulevard. This restyling, which also includes the planting of trees and shrubs, aims to make the area more livable and sustainable, promoting soft mobility and improving air quality. The social history of Corso Buenos Aires reflects the dynamics of change in Milan. Originally, the area was characterized by a clear distinction between the bourgeois neighborhoods on the east side and the popular ones on the west side. This division has changed over time, with a progressive mixing of social classes, mainly thanks to the growing commercial appeal of the street. Today, the street is a place of meeting and exchange, where you can observe the different faces of Milanese society. A curious anecdote concerns the choice of the name “Buenos Aires”. In 1906, Mayor Ettore Ponti decided to name the street after the Argentine capital to commemorate the numerous Italians who emigrated to South America. This choice, although criticized by some at the time, helped strengthen Milan’s international image, a city always open to cultural and commercial exchanges.