NOLO

Article written by – Giorgio Ducci

For a long time, the area delimited from the railway to Loreto square didn’t have a name nor a soul. Today this area is called “NoLo”, an acronym for North of Loreto. The legend says the name arrived seven years ago from the USA by two Italian architects who work between Milan and NYC. They wanted to create a neighbourhood-brand to completely renovate the area and they began to circulate the name taking advantage of social media in order to spread the word.
Giving it a name helped the flowering of an identity that has progressively attracted artists, small studios, bars and restaurants, trying not to shake up the discreet environment.
The inhabitants go by the name of “noler”, and all of them are part of Nolo Social District online community, the most important one.
The information is important for each pre-revolutionary period that’s why in Nolo there is a radio broadcasting station: Radio Nolo. The radio talks about the news of the neighbourhood thanks to GiorNolo, the program about the local news.
The community has its symbol, to feel stronger and distinguish from the rest of the zone: the whale.
Although there is no sea, NoLo is a green area (Parco Trotter), rich in art (beautiful murals), cultural life (exhibitions and the Beltrade cinema, for example) and nightlife (in Piazza Morbegno in the evening there are quite a few well-heeled people). There are tours of GiraNolo, an association that since March 2017 has been talking about places and stories north of Loreto to make those who live there feel more involved in the redevelopment.
And let’s not call it just territorial marketing, because it is clear here that there is much, much more.
In Nolo, therefore, integration wins and integration loses: there are no distinctions of skin, race, religion or social class, because everyone can integrate and be Nolers, just do not try to meddle with the neighbours of Loreto or SOS, that is South of Sesto.