Tempio del Futuro Perduto

A warehouse opposite the cemetery

In January 2018, a group of young creatives entered an old transport maintenance depot, lot 10 of the Fabbrica del Vapore, on Via Luigi Nono, right opposite the Monumental Cemetery. The building had been empty for some time. They cleaned it, wired it, and opened it to the neighborhood with a name that was already a manifesto: Tempio del Futuro Perduto. It was not born as a commercial nightclub. It was born as a self-managed socio-cultural center, with the dance floor, workshops, and mutual aid under the same industrial roof.

The night that sustained the work

Parties paid for the renovation. Founder Tommaso Dapri, who came from club promotion, and the space's team turned the warehouse into a dance floor and studios. The Tempio defines itself as a socio-cultural center, not as a club or a squat: entry requires free registration, ID, and being of legal age, and it applies a selection process they call anti-rudeness. Even so, the night is club-oriented. Techno and its harder variants coexist with Milanese collectives and guests from abroad. Since 2018, cups have been made of PLA, with no single-use plastic. In the garden, there are free water fountains and, during night events, a care team, security service, and ambulance.

From criminal proceedings to concession

Recognition came in parts. In 2022, Dapri was acquitted of trespassing on public land and the unauthorized opening of an entertainment venue. In 2023, the associations Nuovo Rinascimento, Movement, and FregaProjects won the Milan City Council tender to continue in the same space. In January 2025, the concession for lot 10 was secured until 2030. By then, the project had brought together some 89,000 registered members, over a million visits, nearly half a million recirculated books, and some 500 tons of redistributed clothing. On the facade, the Muro della Gentilezza, opened in 2020, is open from Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 15:00.

Techno school and an idea that travels

Inside, the Scuola della Techno operates, with courses on DJing, production, VJing, history and philosophy of techno, and club and rave organization. Production studios are open to the public during open days. The model also left Milan: the Tempio Festival debuted in 2024 at the Alte Münze in Berlin and in September 2025 returned to the Fabbrica del Vapore. In February 2026, the venue had to suspend activity from the 4th to the 6th, against its will, for the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Games. Afterward, it reopened. The night lineup does not have a fixed schedule: it depends on each event.