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Generali Tower shortlisted for 2019 ABB LEAF Awards

Generali Tower in Milan is one of four Zaha Hadid Architects/Zaha Hadid Design projects shortlisted for the 2019 ABB LEAF Awards.

Established over 17 years ago, the ABB LEAF awards recognise the most impactful designs in our built environment.

Generali Tower is within CityLife, Milan, the largest new civic space and public park in Milan since Parco Sempione opened 130 years ago.

Aligned at ground level with three of the city’s primary axes that converge within CityLife, the 170m tower by Zaha Hadid Architects connects with its surrounding public piazzas and park; the curvilinear geometries of its podium defined by the perceived centripetal forces generated from the staggered intersection of these three city axes.

This vortex of centripetal forces at ground level is transferred vertically through the tower by realigning successive rhomboid-shaped floor plates to twist the tower about its vertical axis. This helical twist reduces incrementally with the height of each floor above street level, giving all floors a fractionally different relationship to the floors above and below.

As the tower rises offering broader views across Milan, the twist orientates the tower's higher floors to the primary southeast axis leading to Bramante’s 15th Century tribune of Santa Maria della Grazie.

The tower houses up to 3,900 employees to meet Generali’s continued growth as one of the world’s largest financial institutions.

With a double facade system, Generali Tower’s high standards of energy efficiency have received LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.

ABB LEAF Awards 2019 shortlist

Photograph by Hufton+Crow