L’édition d’architecture et d’ingénierie à Milan. De l’héritage des Lumières à la Restauration

During the Napoleonic era, Milan was declared capital of the Kingdom of Italy. As a result of this, Lombardy’s intellectual and artistic sphere was strengthened. This helped the city to assert itself following the decline and fall of Napoleon in 1814 and throughout the first half of the 19th century. The growth of the publishing industry reflects this, where architecture and technology publications saw particularly strong increases in circulation. While the Brera Academy contributed to local artistic influence, the development of independent bookshops and sellers aided the distribution of new works throughout Lombardy which, in turn, stimulated a debate around what was happening in other cities across Europe and how this could be incorporated within a modern Milan. This drive contributed to the transformation of a city in the throes of reinvention, accompanying the emergence of a bourgeois city and ultimately led to the development of a new commercial system and a consequent transformation of the urban fabric, illustrating the renewed relationship between the public and private spheres within a society aspiring to modernity.