Milan: The Latest Architecture and News

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In this short film, part of a four-part video series co-produced by Curbed and The Verge, the Bosco Verticale—the towering residential forest in the dense urban environment of Milan—is examined for its architectural prowess, as well as its botanical aptitude. In the film, architect Stefano Boeri and expert arborists explain what makes the skyscraper so unique, as well as it's very real potential effect on air pollution in the city.

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A new exhibition by OMA/AMO, lR100-Rinascente: Stories of Innovation, has officially opened in Milan’s Palazzo Reale. Marking the 100th anniversary of the classic Italian department store, la Rinascente, the exhibition commemorates the company’s long creative history and experimental spirit that has served as an influential part of Italian design, culture and commerce.

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Zaha Hadid Architects unveiled a new experimental structure as part of Milan’s White In The City Exhibition during the city’s annual Salone del Mobile. Held at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in the heart of Milan’s design district, the exhibition explored the contemporary use of white color in design and architecture across various locations in the city. Named the Thallus – after the Greek word for flora that is not differentiated into stem and leaves, the sculpture is the latest in ZHA’s investigations using 3D printing technology. Thallus continues Zaha Hadid Architects’ Computational Design (ZHA CoDe) group’s research into generating geometries through robotic-assisted design.

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EMBT has released its proposal for the Scali Milano study project, which invited five architectural teams—EMBT, Stefano Boeri, MAD architects, and Cino Zucchi Architetti—to reimagine Milan’s disused railway yards.

A citywide public consultation to define priorities for seven scali—train hubs—Scali Milano was initiated by FS Sistemi Urbani, in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan and the Lombardy Region, and aims to transform over one million square meters of brownfield into improved urban areas.

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In an presentation at Milan Design Week 2017, MAD Architects has revealed their proposal for the Scali Milano project, which invited five international firms (MAD, Stefano Boeri Architetti, Mecanoo, MIRALLES TAGLIABUE EMBT, and Cino Zucchi Architetti) to design a community-reactivation masterplan aimed at transforming a series of Milan's neglected railyards into "productive social landscapes that establish a harmony between Milan’s citizenry, the larger metropolitan region, and the natural environment."

Titled Historical Future: Milan Reborn, MAD's scheme proposes reorganizing the railyards into a series of interconnected micro-systems that follow five spatial concepts: “City of Connections,” “City of Green,” “City of Living,” “City of Culture,” and “City of Resources.”

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Cities around the world are facing a shortage of attractive housing options that use resources in a responsible, environmentally-positive manner. Looking to solve this challenge, New York-based firm SO-IL has teamed up with car manufacturer MINI to create MINI LIVING – Breathe, a “ forward-thinking interpretation of resource-conscious, shared city living within a compact footprint.

Now on display at the Milan Salone del Mobile 2017, the prototype structure is constructed of a translucent fabric membrane stretched across a modular metal frame that rises vertically from a previously unused 50-square-meter urban plot. Six rooms and a roof garden provide the space for flexible programmatic arrangements, adhering to the MINI LIVING principles of “Creative use of space” and “Minimal footprint.”

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Zaha Hadid Architects has collaborated with Samsung and digital art and design collective Universal Everything to create an immersive technology installation at the 2017 Milan Design Week, taking place this week in the Italian city. Named ‘Unconfined,’ the pavilion will showcase Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 smartphone by leading visitors through an immersive environment inspired by the device.

Videos

A team of architects and engineers at the Politecnico di Milano in Italy have unveiled Atropos, a six-axis robotic arm capable of printing continuous fiber composites. The one of a kind robot was developed by +Lab, the 3D printing laboratory at the Politecnico, who have taken inspiration from fibres found in the natural world. Through a technology known as Continuous Fiber Composites Smart Manufacturing, Atropos has the potential to create large, complex structures to aid the design and construction process.

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