Milan’s Central Train Terminal Is Thrust In The Alps In JR’s Mind-Bending Art
Video screenshot via JR / Stazione Milano Centrale
French street artist JR has unveiled his latest large-scale intervention, La Nascita (The Birth), at Milan’s Stazione Centrale, the city’s grand and bustling railway station. This ambitious project marks one of JR’s most complex Italian works to date, transforming the exterior of the hub into a captivating optical illusion.
La Nascita utilizes JR’s signature trompe-l’œil technique, creating the illusion of a rugged Alpine landscape seemingly carved through the façade of Stazione Centrale. Originally inaugurated during Benito Mussolini’s regime, the station’s architecture is overlaid with metallic panels that come together to form the full image only when viewed from specific angles. Layers of black and white photographs depict mountains and rocky terrain, strategically placed to achieve a sense of depth. The installation plays with perspective, inviting viewers to stand at a specific vantage point where the illusion takes hold.
Drawn from the narrative of rail travel’s golden era in northern Italy, the mural traces back to before Mussolini’s time when King Vittorio Emmanuele III laid the foundation stone in 1906. This was shortly after the opening of the trans-Alpine Simplon Tunnel, a major engineering feat that connected Italy and France, transforming Milan into a pivotal transport hub. JR’s piece resonates with this history, conjuring the very mountains carved out to create the tunnel, using paper images on vertical slats to create a layered effect with the structure serving as a backdrop.
Beyond the visual spectacle, La Nascita carries a deeper significance. The artwork references the historical role of Milan as a gateway to the Alps, a passage point for trade and travel. The title, The Birth, can be interpreted as a symbolic emergence from the confines of the station and a reconnection with nature. Additionally, the project aims to revitalize the area surrounding Stazione Centrale, notorious for petty crime, by fostering a sense of community and shared experience.
La Nascita is a temporary installation, commissioned by Stazione Centrale itself to run from April 10 through May 1.
[via The Art Newspaper and Surface Mag, images via JR]
