Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

The winning project by Redo SGR preserves the historical memory of the buildings and repurposes them, placing them at the service of the Institute. Also on the way are affordable housing, a science museum and a park

Milan, July 23 2021 - A new lively, young neighborhood teeming with activity thanks to the new international campus of the IED (European Institute of Design), a scientific museum district dedicated to the dissemination of technologies and a system of spaces open to the whole city, with affordable homes accessible (under 2.500 euros per m1200) for 40 families and hundreds of students. This is the future of the former slaughterhouse area according to ARIA, the winning project of the second edition of Reinventing Cities, the international tender announced by the Municipality together with CXNUMX which provides for the sale or establishment of surface rights of sites to be used for sustainable urban regeneration projects.

The project was presented by Redo Sgr with Deltaecopolis, CCL, IED Istituto Europeo di Design, CA Ventures and E.On, designed by the studios Snøhetta Oslo, Barreca & La Varra, Stantec, CZA Cino Zucchi Architects for the IED campus, Chapman Taylor , Mpartner, Social Housing Foundation, Polytechnic Foundation of Milan, prof. Marco Filippi, Deloitte, Planet Smart Cities, MIC Mobility-in-Chain, PNAT, GaiaGo, LifeGate, Cresme Ricerche, LAMA development & cooperation, Fondazione Don Gino Rigoldi, Amici di Edoardo, ènostra, Edoardo Tresoldi, The Fab Lab, Festival della Science, Eatour, Electreon, Urban Cultural Sea, Urban Deposits.

“The recovery project of the former slaughterhouse – declares the Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala – demonstrates how Milan can be regenerated starting from its history, with projects capable of combining past and future, architectural quality and sustainability. A cultural center of excellence will be born from an abandoned market, with quality construction at affordable prices, greenery and services. Reinventing Cities was born together with C40 precisely with this objective: to stitch together pieces of the city in an innovative perspective, in compliance with very high environmental standards, bringing widespread benefits to the territory thanks to a close synergy between public and private. Sustainability, international projection and inclusiveness: this is the way to continue to make Milan grow and make it move together with the great cities of the world".

“This project – declares the Councilor for Urban Planning Pierfrancesco Maran – recovers valuable buildings that have long been unused by returning them to the city, creates a new neighborhood with accessible homes for all and will allow the expansion of an internationally important reality such as the IED . There are more and more cultural institutions that are betting on less central areas of the city, from the Brera Academy which will open in Farini to the Conservatory in Rogoredo, from Scala to Rubattino to the Polytechnic at Bovisa. It is a clear sign of how many neighborhoods, through the care of public space, are developing a new attractiveness, which will be further strengthened with the establishment of places linked to culture".

“The transformation of the former slaughterhouse is a flagship project for the green and thriving urban future we want – declares Hélène Chartier, Head of Zero carbon development for C40 –. Reinventing Cities was a great success in Milan as well as in Oslo, Reykjavik, Paris, Madrid, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Montreal, Singapore, Auckland and other cities. I would like to thank all the participants in the tender and congratulate the Municipality of Milan. When we started Reinventing Cities four years ago, Milan was the first city to come on board and has since been a great partner of C40 in shaping and co-developing the initiative.”

The site of the former slaughterhouse extends for 15 hectares and is made up of two areas, currently separated by via Cesare Lombroso, in the past part of the citadel of the general markets. The ARIA masterplan envisages not only the recovery and refunctionalization of the existing historic buildings, which will retain the current architectural elements and have a predominant cultural vocation, but also the maintenance of four other unrestricted buildings. The recovery of the properties, going beyond the requests of the Superintendence, will be functional both to the creation of a place based on recovery and to the overall sustainability strategy: thanks to the reuse of over 30.000 m2 of built surface, the production of over 4.500 m3 of reinforced concrete equal to over 2 thousand tons of CO2 emitted.

The new headquarters of the IED will be built in the two large twin pavilions further north. The European Institute of Design, which operates internationally in the field of training and research in the disciplines of Design, Fashion, Visual Arts and Communication, has in fact chosen to unify its offices currently scattered throughout the city within the perimeter of ex Macello, increasing its spaces with the aim of expanding the training offer and making it increasingly competitive on a global level. In addition to the two historic pavilions, the IED Campus will also include a newly constructed building on the northern edge.

Near the central pavilion, the so-called "Gallery", the POD (Point of Disclosure) Science & Art District will be created, a district for scientific production and dissemination designed with the aim of increasing scientific capital and strengthening STEM, which it will host exhibitions, events and workshops open to the city. At the POD Fab-Lab, which will be built in two existing neighboring buildings, courses will be organized aimed at citizens to learn the functioning and use of new digital technologies and software, but also to repair small household appliances or educate on responsible consumption . Other spaces will be occupied by the cultural activities of Mare Culturale Urbano and by the Bottega delle Arti e dei Mestieri, aimed at the employment of young people who have interrupted their studies and who do not yet have a job.

The residential part will develop mainly to the south and will host approximately 1200 families with a mix of Social Housing (approximately 60 thousand m60, of which 40% rented at a discounted rent and 60% for subsidized sale, with rental values ​​between €2 /m115 and 2 €/m500 - equivalent to a monthly rent of 75 euros for a 2250m2 three-room apartment - and sales values ​​of €600/m7), a student residence with 4 beds and a small share of free buildings (around XNUMX thousand mXNUMX). Proximity services will be established throughout the neighborhood such as a medical centre, the neighborhood concierge, a nursery school (which will be built in one of the XNUMX existing unrestricted buildings which will be preserved), a playroom, coworking spaces, offices and commercial activities, with particular attention to the activation of the ground floors to make the neighborhood alive throughout the day. The new buildings will be located mainly along the edge of the area and will have highly sustainable characteristics: green roofs, wooden and eco-cement constructions, use of photovoltaic systems and LEED Gold level certifications.

In the spaces of the former enclosures of the slaughterhouse and the poultry farm, approximately 45 thousand m30 of public spaces will be developed, with a system of squares, including the main one straddling Via Lombroso connecting the two areas, which will delimit the park of approximately 2 thousand mXNUMX and will act as mediator with the city. Furthermore, approximately XNUMX thousand new trees will be planted and a series of outdoor activities will be hosted: social gardens, playgrounds, areas equipped for sports, areas dedicated to music, cinema and open-air theatre.

Aria expects to host a total of around 15 thousand daily presences including new residents (around 3 thousand) and city users, and around 30 thousand induced jobs.

From a traffic point of view, the master plan imagines the redevelopment as a tree-lined boulevard of via Lombroso and envisages, in line with the provisions of the PGT, the creation of a connection between via Vismara and via Azzurri D'Italia. ARIA aims to become an integral part of the surrounding neighborhood, stitching together the cycle/pedestrian network and maximizing the accessibility potential of the Porta Vittoria Passante Ferroviario stop and the public transport stops along Viale Molise. The project involves the safety of the cycle path network along Via Lombroso and the extension of the network present on the north-south axis of Viale Molise along the entire front of the development to reach all the pedestrian axes that lead towards the interior of the site. In the new district, spaces dedicated to urban sharing systems, electric charging points and an on-demand neighborhood electric car sharing service will also be created.

ARIA aims to be the first Carbon Negative Area of ​​the Municipality of Milan. From a shared sustainability perspective, the project involves community involvement through an enabling digital infrastructure that can allow the inhabitants and business owners of the neighborhood to adopt intelligent behaviors and develop the capacity for resilience and responsiveness. In ARIA, future residents will be able to compare their consumption and have a clear vision of the behavior that the individual user has regarding energy use, as well as understanding which actions can influence the amount of energy and water consumed and will be able to compare their own performance energy compared to the neighborhood average.

The project presented by Redo SGR envisages a first phase of temporary uses, in order to immediately return the area to the city, with the aim of making it safe, healthy and connected. For this reason, in the phase identified as "meanwhile", the proposal for the "tactical" use of all open and covered spaces already suitable for carrying out temporary activities of a cultural and informative nature is envisaged, waiting to start the implementation phase which will bring ARIA to its definitive structure.

The regeneration of the former slaughterhouse is part of the south-eastern quadrant of the city, the heart of significant urban regeneration interventions. As part of the Porta Vittoria project, the public park is being built in continuity with the Formentano Park. In the Porta Romana airport, in dialogue with the regeneration planned for Piazza Trento as part of the project for the new A2A headquarters, a new sustainable neighborhood will be created which in 2026 will also host the Olympic Village. In Corvetto, Piazza San Luigi and Piazza Ferrara have recently been redeveloped and the definitive redevelopment work is underway in Piazza Angilberto II; while around Via Sile, where various departments of the Municipality of Milan have recently found a home, redevelopment interventions are planned which concern the streets and public space. Moving further south, in Rogoredo the Cassinis park was recovered thanks to the extraordinary work of Italia Nostra, while in Santa Giulia the variant that will allow the neighborhood to be completed and the arena for the 2026 Olympics was approved.

Press release English version