When Innocenti sold the Lambretta production line and brand names at the beginning of the 1970s to the Indian Government, for their newly formed company Scooters India Ltd, scooters ceased to be produced at that factory on the outskirts of Milan. But the factory itself carried on for many years and indeed parts of it are still standing today…. for now.
In the brand new edition 42 of ScooterNova magazine, we tell the story of scooterists Kerry and Peter who rode from London to Milan in the early 1990s and got an unexpected tour of the old Lambretta factory. At the time there was a limited amount of car production taking place on the site, along with industrial manufacturing. The story of what happened at the Innocenti factory after Lambretta production ceased is fairly interesting and one we plan to write in ScooterNova at a future date.
Factory Visit
We have visited the factory site a few times over the years between us, and when we were there in 2017 half of the factory site had been developed into housing, mostly apartments, with a section also given over to retail where a supermarket and Lambrettino cafe could be found. That pretty much covers all of the area to the west of the River Lambro, although the former Innocenti Centro Studi still remains. This is where the board room is that Kerry and Peter were taken to, as you can read in edition 42 of ScooterNova magazine.
The only active part of the site by then was the production of heavy machinery and tooling, a legacy of Innocenti’s original heavy industry roots that included production of tubing. When that side of the business was sold the name changed and over the years was known as Innse, which was the sign on the gates back in 2017.
While part of the site either side of the Lambro had been given over to parkland, it was still a massive brown field plot on the wedge of a massive city that was pretty much derelict and had been so for years. However plans have been afoot to change this and towards the end of 2023 the bulldozers moved in to clear the site for future use. While this may sound distressing for Lambretta fans the world over who have not visited, I am sure the locals who have had to live with a derelict industrial site and all that brings with it (litter and vandalism for a start) are actually quite pleased.
It’s not all bad news for scooterists either because as the plans currently stand, some of the old factory structures will remain and whereas before entering the site has technically involved trespassing, in the future it looks like it will be opened up for all to enjoy.
Magnifica Fabbrica
At the time of writing, Innse-Berardi is part of the Camozzi Machine Tools division of the Camozzi Group and their headquarters remains on via R. Rubattino, to the east of the river Lambro and the former Innocenti Centro Studi.
The new Magnifica Fabbrica will apparently compliment the Camozzi site, and the project includes almost doubling the size of the Lambretta Parc green space, the new structure to be flanked by the dal Palazzo di Cristallo (Crystal Palace) and former factory structures to be restored and converted into a garden of winter, called Fabbrica Verde della Biodiversità (Green Factory of Biodiversity).
The winning project of an international competition to find a design for the ‘Magnifica Fabbrica’ (Magnificent Factory) was won by the Italian-Spanish Walk group headed by designer Massimo Giuliani. The objective of the competition was to build a new complex for the Teatro alla Scala – with workshops for the making of stage sets, props, atrezzos, and costumes, as well as rehearsal, dressing, and storage rooms – and expand the Parco della Lambretta with the inclusion of the di Cristallo, ultimately to revamp the area around the old Innocenti factory site.
Encompassing a built area of 66,450 square meters and a parkland area of 97,800, the project seeks to create a new cultural, artistic, and production hub, bringing together all stages of the creative process, from design to production, while drawing the citizenry closer to the theater world.
La Magnifica Fabbrica will apparently be a ZEB (Zero Energy Building), “producing more energy than it consumes, thanks to a 3600 kW photovoltaic system on the translucent roof and a gigantic open-cycle geothermal system that will help purify underground waters.”
The first stage of the project, at an apparent cost of 120 million euro, will concern the expansion of the Park. Once complete, apparently people will access Magnifica Fabbrica, “Through a pedestrian path from via Caduti di Marcinelle or on the road from via Rubattino, you arrive at the Torre dell’acqua square, a precious testimony to the past of the former Innocenti area, which will be enhanced and used as a support for the sign of the Magnifica factory, characterizing the entrance.”
While we are not sure when it will be completed or indeed how accurate the final result will be, if it all goes to plan then it looks like the former Innocenti factory will be a nice place to hang out and take photos of your Lambretta at than it has been for a number of years now.
(all images of Magnifica Fabbrica belong to Walk Architecture)
** ScooterNova is an independent magazine published bi-monthly in the UK. The brand new edition 42 (Feb/ March 2024) is out now and available from our online store for shipping worldwide, as an individual magazine or an annual subscription.
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