Apartment buildings under construction at the city end of the old Innocenti Lambretta factory in the Lambrate area of Milan. The development here is getting very close to the old Centro Studi (Design Centre) in the right of the pic. The fact that they are this close on 2 sides now without having demolished the building makes me hopeful that they may keep it. The Centro Studi is still in very good condition and with the Lambro river immediately to it's right it seems a very small piece of land to leave until last. Out of shot to the right is the raised freeway which dissects the site with the remaining old buildings and Innse further again to the right heading away from the city.

Inside one of the old factory buildings at the Innocenti Lambretta factory in the Lambrate area of Milan. This is the same building as the background shot on the blog which was taken 4 or so years ago. Someone had pulled down some of the barrier fence around this building and never one to miss an opportunity I scrambled through and down the bank into the desolate space. As I was taking this shot I was suddenly aware of a waft of smoke. Then some noise. I walked to my left and gazed around the pylons straight into a Gypsy camp. Then I ran. I have never been so scared in my life. I didn't even notice them in there, you can't see in due to the overgrown bushes. No one would have found my body for months!

Back home in Aus and happy to report that there has been pretty much no change in the last 12 months at the old Innocenti Lambretta factory in the Lambrate are of Milan. This snazzy new sign and awning at the Bar il Lambrettino was pretty much it! The financial crisis in Italy seems to have put paid to any more demolition on the site for now.

It's time to travel that well worn track back to Milan for EICMA 2013. Hoping to see the new Scomadi Lambretta on display and of course I will be paying my annual homage to the site of the old Innocenti Lambretta factory in the Lambrate area of the Lombardy capital. I don't know what I'll find this time around as I have heard rumours of more buildings being torn down since my visit last year. Keep an eye out for more pics soon.

GET YOUR HANDS OFF INNSE the graffiti mural screams from the crumbling wall of the old Innocenti Lambretta factory in Milan. I know many of you Lambrettisti are only interested in the scooter division but i am fascinated by all things Innocenti. A few years ago when INNSE (INNocenti Sant'Eustacchio, the heavy engineering division) was threatened with closure unions and workers staged a picket which turned into a riot at the site. This huge piece is all that remains of it now. Innse was sold to the Camozzi Group and last time I was there (2012) was still going strong, using many of the old machines still emblazoned with the Innocenti logo.

A close up of the entrance gate to the building in the post below, part of the old Lambretta factory in the Lambrate area of Milano. Being on Via Rubattino the building is becoming more and more vandalised each year that I visit. This building and the Centro Studi just up the road are still perfectly usable and one would make a great Museum as a tribute to the mighty Innocenti factory that stood on the site.

Of all the original buildings still standing on the old Innocenti factory site in the Lambrate area of Milan, this one is my favourite. Hard to get into shot because of it's size this would have been the main entrance to the site and main office areas for many years (until bigger offices were built in front of the huge production line buildings). The Centro Studi may be more important and futuristic but this much earlier building must have made a big bold statement when it was built for Innocenti. You can see some of the apartment buildings that now litter the former Lambretta factory site in the right of shot.