On the canal district and the question of what Milan is when it is not performing design
In October, the Navigli empties of the summer aperitivo traffic and returns to the residents. The canal water is the same colour as the sky. The osterie on the side streets open at noon and close when the last customer leaves.
The Navigli district takes its name from the canals — the navigli — that Leonardo da Vinci is credited with expanding in the late 15th century, connecting the city to the river system of Lombardy. Most of the canals were filled in during the 20th century; the Naviglio Grande and the Naviglio Pavese survive as working waterways in the southwestern quadrant of the city. In summer, the canal banks are lined with aperitivo bars whose tables extend onto the towpaths, and the Navigli becomes the city's most photogenic outdoor bar. This is the version that most visitors know.
In October, after the Salone del Mobile traffic has cleared and the summer heat has broken, the Navigli is something different. The aperitivo bars are still open, but the tables are moved inside and the attendance is local. The canal water reflects the October sky — the same grey as the water in the Darsena, the old harbour at the confluence of the two canals, which was restored in 2015 and is now the city's most used public waterfront. The Darsena on a Tuesday morning in October has the quality of a place that has decided to be good without announcing it.
The streets behind the canal — Via Vetere, Via Corsico, the lanes of the Ticinese quarter to the north — are the infrastructure of the Navigli that the canal view conceals. The Colonne di San Lorenzo, the Roman columns that have stood on the Corso di Porta Ticinese since the 4th century, are ten minutes north on foot and are unvisited on weekday mornings in the way that only the most accessible monuments can be unvisited. They are in the open air, free, and flanked by the Basilica di Sant'Eustorgio, which contains the Portinari Chapel — a 15th-century Michelozzo interior that is one of the quietest important rooms in Milan.
The osterie on the side streets of the Navigli operate on the old Milanese logic: lunch from 12.30 to 2.30, dinner from 7.30 until the kitchen decides to stop. The menu is a blackboard and the wine list is three options. This is not the Navigli that the design press covers during the Salone weeks. It is the Navigli that exists the rest of the year, which is more interesting.
The canal in October reflects the light from the west in the late afternoon — the long angled light that is specific to northern Italian flatlands in autumn. Standing on the Alzaia Naviglio Grande at 5pm in October, the water is copper and the plane trees on the bank are at the last stage of their leaves. This is the season when Milan is most itself: after the summer, before the winter, without a particular event to perform for.