Prada to Join Milan’s Tree Plantation Project Forestami
PRADA TREES: Prada’s sustainability credentials are increasingly trickling down to socially charged projects.
Starting in 2023, the luxury brand will link with Forestami, a project spearheaded by Milan’s municipality, the Lombardy region and other territorial entities to plant 3 million trees in the city by 2030 and safeguard its natural environment.
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The tie-up, group head of corporate social responsibility Lorenzo Bertelli explained, marks “a step forward reflecting the Prada Group’s attention to the environment and the community where it operates. It suggests an analogy between the philosophy behind our ‘factories-gardens’ and [Forestami’s] contribution to Milan’s green areas.”
The project, together with Prada’s recently unveiled industrial complex in Levanella, Italy, was the topic of conversation for a talk held Friday night as part of Milan’s “Green Week” at the Triennale museum between architect Guido Canali, Prada’s go-to professional, and museum director Stefano Boeri.
Bertelli touted the conversation for it provides citizens an opportunity to engage in a sustainability-themed dialogue and actively take part in the improvement of the city’s eco-cred.
During the talk, Canali unveiled his most recent project for the brand’s logistics plant in Levanella, in the Tuscany region. Spanning more than 484,375 square feet, the complex is surrounded by greenery including peripheral poplar trees dotting a ring-shaped walkway intended for jogging and relax activities across one mile.
The plant was designed to achieve the best integration between the premise and the surrounding natural area, offsetting the building’s carbon emissions. It is equipped with a geothermic air conditioning system and photovoltaic panels. Canali said the project reflects Prada’s pledge to the wellbeing of its employees.
The most recent add-on to the plant was a 16,145-square-foot canteen under a 107-foot high arbor crossed by creeping plants.
The Levanella site is not the only “factory-garden” for the Prada Group. Other units developed by Canali for the luxury brand following the same concept include those in Montevarchi and Valvigna, in the Tuscany region, and one in Montegranaro, in the Marche region.
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