San Siro (Milan)

It was the classic grammar of celebration: the streets fill with people and empty of rules; the city becomes the set of a post-apocalyptic film, where authority vanishes and anthing, or almost anything, goes.

San Siro is widely known as the Italian Temple of Football. However, its iconic role in the Italian music industry is rarely acknowledged. Performing in that stadium means being elevated to undisputed celebrity status.

The stadium is a temple of the sacrament: there is the game, with all its officiants and devotees, and God, always present, somewhere just out of sight. San Siro is sacred to Milan in the most literal sense: since 1983, it has been the gathering place for Milanese confirmation candidates.

San Siro is the symbol of the city of Milan: the way of living it, of dressing, of the derby’s “almost friendly” rivalry, of the city’s urbanistic outburst.

For almost a century, San Siro has been the custodian of the dreams of millions of people, whose hopes blend and mix, each time fueling its spirit: it is the temple where contemporary heroes perform—playing the most-watched games in recent history and singing the most iconic songs before tens of thousands of people.

In 1990, the San Siro Stadium underwent its final renovation: the Third Tier and the iconic helical staircases were constructed. Renowned photographer Vincenzo Castella documented the entire year of the pharaonic construction site—a steel city that would foreshadow Milan’s evolving identity as a “machine of entertainment”.

From the aesthetic, rules and songs of the Milanese Ultra Movement to the aesthetic of the revolution in Cairo: how the highest form of fan support in the world took on a revolutionary zeal.