Hadid Tower
Milan
ITALY
“The Twisted One” by design firm Zaha Hadid Architects
A tower with a rhombus plan, 44 floors and 170 m of cement and glass, “twisting” on itself
with respect to the urban landscape. The project required great attention towards environmental sustainability and the limitation of energy costs of the structure, certified on the basis of the LEED 2009 standard for Core & Shell with a PLATINUM level.
Marco Cruciani recounts an extraordinary experience in Italy, which contributes to changing the Milan skyline. The pillars with exposed concrete are one of the most original features.
43
floors
175
meters high
12.000
sq.m. of façade
Technical Description
The second CityLife skyscraper is part of a large urban redevelopment project in the former Trade Fair District of Milan. The “Twisted One”, designed by the star architect Zaha Hadid, is a tower with a rhombus plan. It rises for 43 floors with 170 m of cement and glass, twisting on itself with respect to the urban landscape.
Great attention has been paid to environmental sustainability and the limitation of the energy costs of the structure, for which certification is planned on the basis of the LEED 2009 standard for Core & Shell with a PLATINUM level. At the foot of the building, mainly for business use, a shopping centre and a number of covered walkways joining to the Tre Torri subway station of the M5 line have been developed. The building has a reserved and underground car park with around 380 car spaces. It houses the Milan site of Assicurazioni Generali.
“When we ordered the façade pieces from China, the whole of Europe thought: they’ll never do it. Instead, it’s perfect. Every piece is different from another, just how it should be”.
Marco Cruciani
Project Manager
Dealing with the twist: an engineering challenge
To “fix” the twist in the structure, pieces of metal to make the nucleus more rigid were inserted in every floor. Once installed, the metal was then pulled to contrast the torsion. “Without these “tricks”, once arriving at the fourth floor, the tower would have folded in on itself,” explains the project manager Marco Cruciani.
Timeline
April 2018
The crane is installed to put up the “Generali” sign
A crane is set up to install the “Generali” sign with a helicopter arriving from Switzerland. It’s a crucial day: everything is assembled in one and a half hours thanks to the work of 30 men. It’s an acrobatic job attracting many curious onlookers and stunning Milan’s inhabitants at dawn.
October 2017
Hadid Tower opens to the public thanks to FAI
A great success for the extraordinary opening of the skyscraper in the CityLife area in Milan during FAI Day (Fondo ambiente italiano – the National Trust of Italy) in autumn. There were long queues to go up to the 19th floor, where a guide led the visitors in an exploration of a “typical” completed floor of the structure.
February 2016
Work begins on the façades
Containers arrive from China, bit by bit because there’s not enough space for storing the entire lot. Every piece is different, one from another, and was therefore carefully numbered and catalogued. Everything goes to plan.
November 2015
90 engineering students from the University of Trento visit the Citylife area
The visit program was divided into three different training parts: the technical management of the building site (economic administration, organization and planning of the works, logistics); a visit to the building site; the design complexity of the work and the advanced application of BIM in the field.
January 2015
First elevations in reinforced concrete
Work starts from the basement floors above the foundation. 800 sq. m. of floor area are cast every day. In April the above ground elevations are cast, and will be completed within a year: a floor is built every six days.
December 2014
The foundations of the Hadid skyscraper are laid
The gigantic strip foundation is laid which will support the skyscraper. 7,500 cubic meters of cement are used for the foundation: a sort of monolithic element to support the building which will rise to around 200 meters is put in place.
June 2013
The twisted tower is arriving
CMB is awarded the contract for the new Milan tower, thanks to the best technical-economic bid, while the contract is signed in the month of July.
