Two hospitals serving the area between Milan and Varese – those of Gallarate and Busto Arsizio – will merge into a single new facility: the Grande Ospedale della Malpensa. For the design of this major healthcare hub, with over 600 rooms and up to 1,200 beds, an international competition was held. After an initial shortlist of five finalists, the local health authority, Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale della Valle Olona, has announced the winner.

The selected firm is Zaha Hadid Architects, led in this project by Paolo Zilli. The result is still provisional pending the legal verification of requirements for all five finalists, but the official announcement and publication of the finalist projects are expected by the end of November.

If confirmed, the outcome would bring together two stories with a high design pedigree: that of the Malpensa territory and that of Zaha Hadid’s long-standing relationship with Italy.

The nearby airport, built in 1959 on the former Agusta and Caproni aviation testing grounds, was itself a modernist design showcase – featuring Cassina and DePadova furnishings and Pirelli rubber flooring like Milan’s subway – and later evolved under the creative vision of Ettore Sottsass.

As for Zaha Hadid’s Italian legacy, one need only look to Milan’s CityLife district, with its ship-inspired residences and the soaring Generali Tower, or to icons such as MAXXI in Rome and the Salerno Maritime Terminal: an atlas of design which is now poised to expand once again.