The Olympic Village by SOM in Milan's Porta Romana district has been completed

A few months before the start of the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Olympic Village in the Porta Romana area of Milan, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), has been completed and presented to the public for delivery to Fondazione Milano Cortina. The project is part of a larger plan to redevelop one of the city's disused railway yards. The programme for the village includes the restoration of two historic buildings and six new residential buildings, in addition to the green spaces provided for in the master plan. The buildings will be used to house Olympic athletes during the Games, and in addition to residential space, the project includes some 10,000 square metres of services for athletes, such as gyms, co-working areas, catering and medical facilities.  But once the games are over, what will become of these structures, which have raised quite a few concerns from the outset?

The plan is to "quickly" convert the entire complex into student accommodation after the Olympics, with the aim of making it the largest subsidised student residence in Italy, with a capacity of 1,700 beds. 

With this in mind, SOM's design choices favoured the sustainability and longevity of the structures, minimising post-event interventions. The athletes' accommodation, for example, has already been fitted out with the furniture intended for its future use as student accommodation, avoiding material waste and reducing the cost of conversion.  

After the Games, the service areas will also be converted, helping to integrate the new neighbourhood into the urban fabric. On the ground floor, the Olympic Village Square will be populated with shops, bars, restaurants and cafés planned at street level, together with open-air spaces for markets.   To date, the six buildings of the Village, with a total gross surface area of around 30,000 square metres, have been completed, as well as the restoration of two historic buildings in the area: the Squadra Rialzo, formerly used for railway maintenance, and the "Basilico", a former warehouse made famous by the Milanese photographer Gabriele Basilico, who dedicated a portrait to it in his series "Ritratti di Fabbriche" (Portraits of Factories).  

The landscaping project for the Olympic Village has been entrusted to the architect Michel Desvigne, in coordination with the general master plan by Outcomist. Although we will still have to wait to see the entire project completed – which includes 40,000 square metres of public spaces and green areas – the structures planned for the Milan Cortina 2026 project have been finished, and bookings for student accommodation for the 2026/2027 academic year are now open.