Planning a trip? Build a personalized plan with Maya - your AI travel assistant by Live the World

Chat with Maya

Zaha Hadid for Milan: Generali Tower

2 minutes to read

Travel Tips For Metropolitan City of Milan

Get personalized advice based on this article from AI assistant Maya
Get the most authentic Cities experience. Check out these guided tours and skip-the-line tickets around Metropolitan City of Milan.
If you use the above links, you pay the same price and we get a small commission - thanks for your support!

From Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Da Vinci to Hadid, Aulenti, Rashid, Herzog and de Meuron and more, let me introduce you to the magical Italian architecture. What we learned from the Renaissance, is that Italy is the country that gave birth to the biggest names in art and architecture.   A conclusion based on  the contemporary aspect, is that nowadays Italy and its heritage -that serves as an environment or context- is a muse, and an inspiration to the most famous artist and architects of the modern era.

Zaha Hadid is one of the most famous contemporary architects, and according to many, one of the brightest architect of all times. She was the first woman awarded with a Pritzker price. At the beginning of her career, she was known as an architect only "on paper", because her first projects never got executed in real life. When you see her projects, it is easy to realise why it was needed time for this architectural style to be brought in life. The world needed courage and skills. Over 30 of her "on paper" projects are already built,  three of which, are based in Italy: the MMM Corones on Kornplatz, the MAXXI museum in Rome and the Generali tower in Milan. 

Generali tower in Milan

Photo by ©Sébastien Amiet
Photo by ©Sébastien Amiet

This elegant skyscraper, 185m tall, was finished in 2017, a year after Zaha's death. The tower is twisted and the geometry of the general shape is reached by rotating the plan on each floor and changing its dimension. As the tower rises offering extensive views across Milan, the twist orientates the tower's upper floors to the main southeast axis, leading to Bramante’s 15th Century church  Santa Maria della Grazie.

This building, nicknamed as "Lo Storto", or, "The Twisted One", stands next to Arata Isozaki's 202-metre high Allianz Tower, which was completed in 2015. These two are waiting to compete with the third tower in this "ensemble", the Studio Libeskind's 175-metre tall PwC tower, which will be completed in 2019. The elegant forms of these towers are going to fulfil uniquely the skyline of Milan.  All of them are part of the project CityLife, and when fully completed, they will be the largest new civic space and public park, welcoming more than seven million of visitors, workers and residents each year.

This is some "freshly made architecture"  promising to bring an iconic landmark. Bookmark this spot and enjoy its breathtaking architecture.

Want to plan a trip here? Talk to AI travel assistant Maya.


Interesting towns related to this story





The author

Zlata Golaboska

Zlata Golaboska

I am Zlata and I am an architect living in the Balkans. I am passionate about cities, how people influence architecture and vice versa, and how places change our lives.

Plan a trip with Maya - your AI travel assistant

Chat with Maya

Stories you might also like