While newspaper headlines speak of record global temperatures, the real experience of climate change takes shape differently in every corner of the world. In Milan, a spring day may feel peaceful and mild, whereas thousands of kilometers further north, Arctic communities are facing unprecedented heat – temperatures up to 20 degrees above normal. This gap between perception and reality makes it challenging to grasp climate change as an urgent issue affecting us all.Our large-scale installation at the Green&Blue Festival set within the awe-inspiring National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, aims to bridge that gap.
‘The Earth Counts’ (La Terra Conta) is an immersive experience, where complex data transforms into three-dimensional sculptures, making the invisible visible. A large-scale projection turns a brick wall into a living canvas, showing the patterns and warning signals of a changing climate. An interactive touchscreen guides the audience through stories, key numbers, and insights.
At the heart of it all lies Milan itself. Here, the global climate crisis has a tangible anchor: the invaluable archive of temperature records preserved for over 250 years at the Palazzo Brera Observatory -one of the world’s oldest observatories, active since 1763. This treasure trove of data, combined with many other sources, comes to life through powerful visual storytelling, resonating deeply with the Milanese collective memory.
From this perspective, our visualisations open to the world, connecting local experiences to the broader narratives of global change through nine key stories, brought to life through animated data on a grand scale, and discoverable in detail at the touch of a screen. This is an invitation to recognise that the fate of our climate is not elsewhere – it’s here, now, and it concerns us all.
