‘Lift modernisations in Italy’:
the event at the Politecnico
On Thursday 10 July 2025, from 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., the panel entitled “Building renovation and lift modernisation in Italy” was held at the Politecnico di Milano.
Elevatori Magazine (which has been dealing with lifts for over 50 years) organised the event with the collaboration of two professors from the prestigious Milanese University: Prof. Claudio Bernuzzi and Eng. Marco Simoncelli, who are part of the Department of Architecture and Engineering of Constructions and Built Environment of the Politecnico di Milano, DABC.
On this occasion, great attention was focused on lifts in need of renovation and modernisation: more than 500,000 in Italy. Numerous experts spoke about them to assess all aspects of a very important situation for the country and for the safety of people.
The panel of speakers at the event; from left, Prof. Claudio Bernuzzi, Arch. Claudia Gobbi, Eng. Daniele Pavan,
Eng. Giorgia Feneri and Dr. Gianluca Ferrari. Ing. Francesco Burrelli was also remotely connected.
Giuseppe Volpe
The founder and Chairmanf of Elevatori Magazine, Engineer Giuseppe Volpe, comments: “I am very proud of this event. I would like to emphasise the social aspect that the lift has, which is often ignored by everyone. We only realise it when the lift breaks down, forcing elderly and disabled people to be locked in their homes for weeks or months. I would like on this occasion – which brings together manufacturers of lifts and components, installers, condominium administrators, certifiers, architects, engineers – to make everyone aware of the need to join forces to tackle the emergencies that arise every time lifts break down, causing inconvenience to people, and to make us all take responsibility for the most fragile.”
After the initial greetings and introduction by Engineer Giuseppe Volpe, the seminar/round table took place, moderated by Maddalena Parotelli (editor-in-chief of Elevatori Magazine), which was attended by (in alphabetical order):
- Eng. Francesco Burelli, President of Anaci (Italian Association of Condominium and Property Managers);
- Eng. Giorgia Feneri, President of UN.I.O.N. (Unione Italiana Organismi Notificati e Abilitati);
- Dr. Gianluca Ferrari, President of Anica (Italian Association of Lift Component Industries);
- Arch. Claudia Gobbi (Studio Salvati);
- Eng. Daniele Pavan, President of the UNI Commission CT 019 “Lifts, goods lifts, escalators and similar equipment” (UNI, Ente Italiano di Normazione).
The event opened with a general overview of figures and regulations. Daniele Pavan, President of UNI Commission CT 019 ‘Lifts, goods lifts, escalators and similar devices’ (UNI, Ente Italiano di Normazione) proposed a general overview of the lift sector in Italy: the evolution, the number and type of installed equipment, with the relevant characteristics, as well as the years of service of the equipment and the necessary modernisations according to the different standards in force.
Below we publish two of the slides that Daniele Pavan showed during the event (data from ANIE AssoAscenosri), which highlight the situation of installations in Italy.
Gianluca Ferrari, President of Anica (National Association of Elevator Component Manufacturers), proposed the point of view of lift component manufacturers, emphasising the potential actions that can be taken in Italy to modernise lift systems (through component replacement) and accepted the invitation to team up, addressed to those present and to the entire sector by Elevatori Magazine’s Chairman, Eng. Giuseppe Volpe, to whom he replied: “We Italians know how to produce beautiful, high-tech lifts: let’s install them in Italy too! Let’s team up following the example of today’s meeting.”
Giorgia Feneri, President of UN.I.O.N. (Unione Italiana Organismi Notificati e Abilitati), addressed the topic of equipment modernisation from a regulatory point of view, clarifying when extraordinary inspections are necessary, which documents should be issued, and the responsibilities of owners and maintenance personnel.
Claudia Gobbi (of Studio Salvati), who tackled the issue of lift modernisation by approaching it from the broader point of view of architecture, i.e. of those who consider it as part of the modernisation of living, presenting a series of case histories of modernisations in different living contexts.
Francesco Burelli, President of Anaci (Associazione Nazionale Amministratori Condominiali e Immobiliari – National Association of Condominium and Property Administrators), addressed the topic of the use of installations from the point of view of those who have to manage buildings and, consequently, also the lifts inside them, guaranteeing service, safety, aesthetics and continuous maintenance to end users. Burrelli warmly welcomed the invitation expressed by Elevatori Magazine to work as a team, all together, to find solutions to the situation of dated installations in Italy. In the course of his speech, Burrelli also showed how important it is for condominium administrators to deepen their understanding of elevator-related issues, on which in-depth study and training is needed.
At the end of the round table, modernisation was considered from another point of view, that of the installation of a new lift in an existing building.
Eng. Marco Simoncelli, researcher at the Politecnico di Milano (Department of Architecture, Construction Engineering and Built Environment, DABC) presented the main results of an extensive research conducted on metal lift frames, addressing the main problems related to structural modelling and verification of structural steel components.
The panel of speakers at the end of the event; from left, Gianluca Ferrari, Daniele Pavan, Giuseppe Volpe, Giorgia Feneri,
Claudia Gobbi, Marco Simoncelli. Also present, remotely connected, was Francesco Burrelli
Members of Elevatori Magazine’s Technical Committee attending the event, with the editorial staff: from left to right Carlo Belletti (Elevatori Magazine’s Technical Director), Antonino Barresi (IMQ), Marco Cogliati (Tre-E), Matteo Volpe (Elevatori Magazine), Daniele Pavan (TKE, President of the UNI CT 019 Commission), Giuseppe Volpe (Elevatori Magazine), Giorgia Feneri (Sic srl notified body, President UN. I.O.N.), Elena Colombetti (Elevatori Magazine), Claudia Gobbi (Studio Salvati), Maddalena Parotelli (Elevatori Magazine) and Maria Volpe (Elevatori Magazine)
The event in Italian newspapers
The Italian newspaper Il Giornale published an article on Elevatori Magazine’s event at the Politecnico di Milano. Here it is!
