Italian architect Renzo Piano has recently been granted permission to redesign a 1.3 million square-meter site in Milan, which had been previously occupied by the Falck steel plant, where he plans to create an entire new community complete with a museum, library, research centres, universities, homes, shops, and a 1 million square-meter park.
With estimated completion by 2018, Piano’s master plan will include a commercial and residential programme with a series of towers ranging between 40 and 90 meters tall with approximately 1,270 new housing units.
The entire area of the master plan is being designed to be autonomously powered, relieving Milan’s grid of more energy loads. To achieve this, connections with various parts of the city will also be improved; a redesigned train station will better link to existing public transport services and alternative energy vehicles will be introduced.