British structure studio Foster + Companions and US studio Manica have unveiled their design for Generali Stadium, a brand new soccer stadium for golf equipment AC Milan and Inter Milan, set to exchange Italy’s iconic San Siro.
Deliberate to be constructed alongside the 99-year-old San Siro stadium, which can later be torn down, the 71,500-seat alternative will likely be outlined by a structural facade composed of elongated X-framed concrete helps.
Foster + Companions‘ founder Norman Foster instructed Dezeen the overarching objective is “to create a brand new dwelling for 2 storied soccer golf equipment, which captures the distinctive power of the town and its distinctive architectural and structural traditions”.
“The Generali Stadium celebrates the enduring connection between the soccer golf equipment – FC Internazionale Milano (Inter Milan) and AC Milan – and the town of Milano and can drive this shared heritage into the long run,” he defined.
The design reveal follows the sale of the enduring stadium to the 2 rival soccer groups, which was accepted by Milan’s metropolis council in October 2025. It’s being developed by Foster’s agency with the US follow Manica, and the naming rights belong to insurance coverage large Generali.
AC Milan and Inter Milan will proceed to share the prevailing San Siro venue till the 2032 European Championship, co-hosted by Italy, for which the brand new stadium is scheduled to be accomplished. San Siro will then be demolished, based on the BBC.
Generali Stadium’s defining characteristic is its pre-cast structural facade, which can assist the stadium bowl and double-curved roof. This can even body and naturally ventilate a collection of lofty loggia-like areas on its higher ranges, meant to really feel open and welcoming.
“The structural facade is the defining architectural idea of the stadium: a holistic and monumental piece of infrastructure rising roughly 60 metres in peak, composed of interlocking low-carbon precast concrete segments related by means of expressed structural joints,” Foster stated.
“It’s a celebration of Milanese and Italian engineering custom, the place structure and construction change into one,” Foster defined.
One other distinctive factor will likely be “two curvas” – the curved north and south stands, designed to carry spectators close to to the pitch, with opposing followers carefully dealing with one another.
“That relationship of two opposing partitions of supporters, every tied to one of many metropolis’s nice golf equipment, is exclusive to Milan and located in no different stadium on this planet,” stated Manica founder David Manica.
“The entire seating bowl is constructed round it,” he instructed Dezeen. “Slightly than beginning with a picture or an icon, we started with the expertise of the followers. The structure is a results of that guideline.”
In accordance with Foster, this design additionally attracts on San Siro’s distinctive construction.
“Its seating bowl is impressed by the San Siro itself, with its distinctive ‘curvas’, however with higher proximity to the pitch,” Foster defined.
“The exterior form is pushed by the curvas behind the objectives. Right here, the north and south ends rise on a 37-degree pitch to accommodate 11,700 at every finish – north for Internazionale and south for AC Milan.”
The stadium is deliberate to be all-electric and carbon-neutral in operation, focusing on LEED Gold Certification. The roof will incorporate 27,500 sq. metres of photovoltaic panels, whereas a “low-carbon precast concrete system” will likely be utilised to minimise waste and development time.
The bowl’s geometry will likely be engineered to “amplify the roar of crowds inside the stadium, enhancing the environment throughout occasions whereas considerably decreasing acoustic spillover and noise air pollution”, Foster stated.
“San Siro is legendary for its noise, and one of the best ways to honour that legacy was to seize that environment – and amplify it,” added David Manica.
“We handled acoustics as a major design driver from the very first sketches,” he stated. “The result’s a stadium the place the chanting and singing construct on themselves, taking the environment Milanese supporters love and making it much more highly effective.”
The venture types a part of a wider 281,000-square-metre masterplan that may mix public areas with inexperienced areas and leisure and retail zones.
Designed by architect Ulisse Stacchini, San Siro, in any other case often called Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, was inbuilt 1925. It has been modified a number of occasions over its lifetime, however has remained unchanged for the reason that 1990 World Cup.
The potential of its demolition emerged in 2019, when AC Milan and Inter Milan introduced they have been exploring plans to construct a alternative venue for San Siro.
The golf equipment later chosen a design by structure studio Populous, referred to as the Cathedral, however the Regional Fee for the Cultural Heritage of Lombardy blocked its growth in 2023 due to the prevailing constructing’s cultural significance.
Demolition was made doable by the constructing’s sale, which was accepted after an in a single day debate that occurred for almost 12 hours.
On the time, mayor Giuseppe Sala steered the sale would forestall Milan from being left “with the burden of an deserted enviornment”, as the 2 golf equipment had begun exploring plans to construct two separate stadiums on the town’s outskirts.
Reflecting on the venture, Foster stated the Generali Stadium’s design attracts on his “nice private reference to the town”.
“As a scholar of structure, I spent many hours strolling by means of and sketching its heroic public areas – the city route of the historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and particular person buildings such because the Torre Velasca and Pirelli Tower – and learning the pioneering work of Pier Luigi Nervi,” he defined.
“The verticality and rhythm of the Duomo, the civic generosity of the town’s porticos, and the spatial expertise of the town’s nice public plazas have all been inspirational and inseparable as a background to the design of the Generali Stadium, which will likely be a brand new civic monument for Milano.”
Elsewhere, Foster + Companions can be creating its design for Manchester United’s new 100,000-seat stadium within the UK.
The stadium, which is designed with a large tent-like construction, was described by Foster as “some of the thrilling initiatives on this planet”.
