Tre Torri, esercitazione di Storia e teorie dell'architettura del secondo Novecento

Tre Torri

Overview of the neighbourhood

Tre Torri is located in the CityLife district of Milan, Italy. The site was once known as the Milan Trade Fair; however, over the last twenty years, Tre Torri has been redeveloped and transformed into a symbol of successful urban restoration. It is an example of an evolution from an industrial exhibition area to a modern, sustainable public space.

The district is known for its three iconic towers, each designed by renowned architects, which have framed a skyline and landmark for Milan. These towers serve large corporate offices, commercial and residential areas, keeping Tre Torri as an influential business centre. CityLife in Tre Torri is one of the largest shopping centers in Italy.

Tre Torri was designed with the goal of being car-free and a walkable area. This was developed by wrapping a large urban park that connected the neighbourhoods with pedestrian and cycling paths to the center and having a direct metro line in CityLife.

Tre Torri is a district that demonstrates how urban regeneration can successfully reshape a city, by improving sustainability and quality of life. This essay analyses the district today and explores different scenarios of improvement for the area based on its history, green infrastructure, air quality, urban heat island, mobility and the community response.

Analysis of the neighbourhood

History and sense of belonging

The relationship between community and place cannot be seen as linear or lightly rooted, but rather as the outcome of a complex layering of concepts, one of which is a place’s history, which shapes both the strengths and the criticalities of the place’s perception by its inhabitants.

The history of Tre Torri, marked by continuous and profound transformation, has had a lasting impact on the identity and sense of belonging felt by those who live in and visit the neighbourhood today. From agricultural land on the border of the city to the site of the powerful Fiera Campionaria and now the heart of the new CityLife project, the area has undergone a radical shift in function, identity and urban form.

For many decades, the former fairgrounds served as a key reference point for nearby residents: a true productive hub and a symbol of a modern, productive and globally oriented Milan. Although it often created physical barriers and deteriorated the site’s green space drastically, the fair fostered a strong sense of industrial identity and pride, representing one of the city’s most important institutions.

The transformation from the fairgrounds to the core of CityLife has given Tre Torri a contemporary character distinct from that of its former industrial one, taking a completely radical turn by filling the site with all the green space it previously lacked. The area is now perceived as a lively hub due to its iconic architecture, designed by world-renowned architects, diverse public spaces, and new commercial and cultural centrality.

Sadly, many of the people who live in or visit the area come from outside Milan and choose Tre Torri only for what it represents today, with no knowledge of its past. Only a limited number of residents retain direct memories of the former fairgrounds, which reduces the collective awareness of the area’s history.

On the other hand, this lack of shared historical roots is allowing a new sense of community to emerge, based primarily on the current everyday experience as opposed to the past. Today, Tre Torri is perceived as a unique district in Milan: prestigious and recognizable. These qualities reinforce the idea of a dynamic place that continues to represent progress, maintaining a subtle continuity with its long-standing history of openness to innovation.

The sense of belonging in Tre Torri may not stem from shared memory but is being rebuilt through the attractiveness of its spaces and the symbolic value the district continues to hold in contemporary Milan. Even without the awareness of it, those forming the community of Tre Torri keep participating in the area’s persistent quality throughout time: no matter in which form, whether through a fair or a park, the neighbourhood of Tre Torri has never ceased to be a gathering place for humanity.

Housing and Deprivation index

The demographic profile of Tre Torri reflects a small but distinctly urban and wealthy community. The district reaches a high density of about 4.240 inhabitants per km². The population structure is strongly adult-dominated: working-age residents (19–64) form the majority, whereas children and youth represent only a small share.

At the same time, the elderly population (65+) is relatively significant and has grown over recent years, resulting in a high old-age index. The large proportion of economically active residents and the large number of working adults also explain the relatively low Deprivation Index in Tre Torri, being one of the lowest in Milan.

NIL 59 follows a mixed-use urban structure rather than the organic, block-based pattern typical of older Milanese neighborhoods. The NIL can be divided into three parts, which combine skyscraper typologies, mid-rise residential blocks, commercial complexes and expansive open-space typologies.

In the upper part stand the three skyscrapers: Torre Isozaki, Torre Hadid and Torre Libeskind, forming a central business and commercial cluster. Land use is therefore multifaceted: office spaces dominate the vertical dimension, while shopping, dining and entertainment uses shape the horizontal fabric of the area in the upper part.

In the lower part of the NIL, a park area separates the commercial area from the mixed-use and residential areas. While the urban structure in the northern part mostly consists of non-residential multi-story buildings, the second part exclusively contains block structures, which unfold in a looser layout of different housing typologies, such as townhouses and single-family homes, in the southern part of the NIL.

Tre Torri’s infrastructure is based around the M5 metro station and the three skyscrapers. The CityLife Shopping District provides a dense concentration of commercial facilities, including shops, restaurants, cinemas and services, making the area highly self-sufficient. The two lower parts of the NIL are mainly residential use, but also include some infrastructure facilities, such as health facilities.

In terms of the construction periods, the NIL can be divided into three parts, with the upper part being constructed between 2005 and 2025, or still in the process of completion. The more residential parts of the NIL can be divided into two main construction periods, the first being between 1920 and 1940, followed by a densification between 1960 and 1980.

The overall condition of the buildings in Tre Torri is very good, due to the relatively young age of most buildings. There are some exceptions in the lower part of the NIL, as the buildings are older and therefore more prone to requiring maintenance work. The heights vary a lot in the three parts of the neighborhood and are usually linked to the use of the building. While single-family homes and some commercial buildings are the lowest, the skyscrapers and office buildings are the highest.

The most common housing typologies that can be found in the NIL are townhouses, small multi-family homes and larger apartment buildings. The different typol