Signature Milan: 15 buldings by starchitects and Pritzker Prize laureates

We have collected the great projects that have changed the face of the city over the last two decades and opened the doors to the international star system.

While 20th-century Milan is known for the quality and specificity of its modernist architecture, the advent of the new millennium has introduced new "grafts" of international architecture into the city.
From 2000 to today, Milan has undergone a profound renewal, partly driven by major events hosted in the Lombard capital. Countless interventions, particularly in urban regeneration, have transformed fragments of the city, giving it a new image and often introducing a seed of internationalism to express a new global vocation for Milan.
More than in other Italian contexts, this transformation has revealed a marked tendency to attract figures from the international star system, including several names honored with the prestigious Pritzker Prize.

Through 15 architectural projects, Domusweb captures the narrative of these works, all strongly tied to the signature style of their authors.
Renzo Piano's Il Sole 24 Ore building led the decade's start. This regeneration of the old industrial fabric was soon followed by various other projects across Milan, beginning a gradual renewal process.
The new Bocconi University building by Grafton Architects was completed four years later. With its imposing volumes, the design seeks to interpret Milanese urban textures, reflecting their materiality through ceppo di Gré stone cladding.

However, the city underwent a radical transformation in 2012, three years before Expo Milano. Near the Porta Garibaldi train station, Cesar Pelli designed the Unicredit Tower, a key part of a masterplan that created one of the most iconic locations in contemporary Milan. As part of the transformation of the Porta Garibaldi area, Milan claimed the international spotlight with Stefano Boeri's Bosco Verticale, a manifesto of its lush, green image.
Attention then turned to the creative forms populating City Life: first, the residences, followed by the towers, showcasing the flair of Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, and the rigor of Arata Isozaki.

In the same years, the MUDEC and Fondazione Prada buildings emerged, designed by David Chipperfield and OMA, respectively. Each, in its distinct language, created new cultural spaces. Meanwhile, Herzog & de Meuron reinterpreted the Spanish Walls for Fondazione Feltrinelli, SANAA designed the organic forms of Bocconi's campus, Norman Foster made his mark with the Piazza Liberty project, and Peter Eisenman introduced residential buildings in Città Studi.
These 15 projects are not simply icons; they also raise questions about the star system's impact on Milanese architectural culture while cementing the city's position as one of the world's leading centers for contemporary architecture.

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