Generali Tower in Milan by Zaha Hadid Architects

Generali Tower is within the CityLife masterplan that has redeveloped Milan’s abandoned trade fair grounds following the fair’s relocation to Rho Pero in 2005.

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
Location: Milan, Italy
Competition: 2004
Design: 2009–2012
Construction: 2014–2017
Interiors: 2017–2018
Height: 170 meters (44 storeys)
Office tower: 66,785 sq.m
Retail Podium and Cinema: 39,760 sq.m (5 storeys)
Parking, Storage and Mechanical/Plant: 40,884 sq.m
Total: 147,429 sq.m GFA
Design: Zaha Hadid, Patrik Schumacher
ZHA Project Director: Gianluca Racana
ZHA Project Associate: Paolo Zilli
ZHA Project Architect: Andrea Balducci Caste
ZHA Site Supervision Team: Pierandrea Angius, Vincenzo Barilari, Stefano Paiocchi
ZHA Project Team: Shahd Abdelmoneim, Santiago F. Achury, Marco Amoroso, Agata Banaszek, Gianluca Barone, Cristina Capanna, Alessandra Catello, Sara Criscenti, Kyle Dunnington, Alexandra Fisher, H. Goswin Rothenthal, Marco Guardincerri, Subharthi Guha, Luciano Letteriello, Carles S. Martinez, Marina Martinez, Mario Mattia, Peter McCarthy, Giuseppe Morando, Massimo Napoleoni, Raquel Ordas, Annarita Papeschi, Massimiliano Piccinini, Matteo Pierotti, Line Rahbek, Martha Read, Arianna Russo, Luis Miguel Samanez, Mattia Santi, Letizia Simoni, Alvin Triestanto, Roberto Vangeli, Fulvio Wirz
ZHA Competition Team: Daniel Baerlecken, Yael Brosilovski, Ana Cajiao, Tiago Correia, Adriano De Gioannis, Yang Jingwen, Simon Kim, Daniel Li, Graham Modlen, Karim Muallem, Judith Reitz
Photography: Hufton + Crow, Luke Hayes

From the architect: Located above the new Tre Torri station on Line 5 of the city’s metro system, CityLife opens the 90-acre site to year-round public use for the first time; providing new civic spaces, public parks and residential areas, in addition to shopping districts and corporate offices.

When fully complete in 2020, CityLife will be the largest new civic space and public park created in the city since Parco Sempione opened 130 years ago; welcoming more than seven million visitors, workers and residents each year.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

CityLife will include 1,000 new homes, offices for more than 11,000 staff, the new 42-acre public park, piazzas and kindergarten.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Aligned at ground level with three of the city’s primary axes that converge within CityLife, the 170m (44-storey) Generali Tower connects with its surrounding public piazzas and park; the curvilinear geometries of its podium defined by the perceived centripetal forces generated from the staggered intersection of these three city axes at the tower’s base.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

This vortex of centripetal forces at ground level is transferred vertically through the tower by realigning successive rhomboid-shaped floor plates to twist the tower about its vertical axis. This helical twist reduces incrementally with the height of each floor above street level, giving all floors a fractionally different relationship to the floors above and below.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

As the tower rises offering broader views across Milan, the twist orientates the tower's higher floors to the primary southeast axis leading to Bramante’s 15th Century tribune of  Santa Maria della Grazie, and beyond to the centre of the city.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

With its interiors to be completed this summer, Generali Tower will house up to 3,900 employees to meet their continued growth as one of the world’s largest financial institutions.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

The tower excels in all international benchmarks for efficiency while respecting Milan’s rigorous local building codes. Its double-façade of sun-deflecting louvers flanked by glazing provides extremely efficient environmental control for each floor and ensures excellent energy performance, contributing to Generali Tower’s LEED Platinum certification by the US Green Building Council.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Inclined perimeter columns follow the twisting geometry of the tower to mirror the inclined alignment of its external façade units. These perimeter columns also maximise usable office space within the tower’s coherent formal envelope.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

An integral element of the CityLife redevelopment that has created a new civic, residential and business district near the centre of Milan, Generali Tower is defined by its surrounding urban fabric to connect directly with the city.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Photograph by Luke Hayes

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

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