Norman Foster, one of the most famous architects in the world, will design the new stadium for Inter and AC Milan.
In case you missed it, Milan and Inter publicly confirmed their desire to buy the current San Siro and the surrounding area from the city council a few months ago. Our Substack bonus article will help you catch up on all the recent stadium news.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
Foster chosen
As La Gazzetta dello Sport report, the decision has been made and the contract is being finalised: Foster will work with Manica, another firm of excellence in the sector, the studio already chosen by Milan for the stadium in San Donato.
Foster has won an international competition between some of the most important studios in the world. Inter and Milan closely evaluated 13 of them and have selected five finalists.
They were: Populous (known for having designed the ‘Cathedral’ that was supposed to be built on the site of the current stadium), the Swiss form Herzog & de Meuron, the British company BDP Pattern with the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, the Americans Aecom with the architect Dan Meis and then Manica-Foster.
The choice has been made. Barring any unforeseen surprises, it will be made official and at that point the design of the facility will begin. Inter and Milan have not yet seen the drawings and drafts of the project, which will arrive at a later time.
What is striking at the moment is the importance of the names involved and the archistar chosen to design the new home of two of the most important teams in the world. The investment of the clubs, currently unknown, will obviously be multi-million.
His work and next steps
Foster, born in Manchester in 1935 and now 90 years old, is the name of reference for the Foster and Partners studio, which has designed iconic buildings, museums, bridges, stations and, of course, stadiums.
Their work includes Apple Park in Cupertino, Apple’s large corporate headquarters. The airports in Beijing and Hong Kong. The Great Court of the British Museum, the glass mosaic roof of the London museum. The Millennium Bridge that crosses the Thames in London. The renovation of the Reichstag in Berlin.
In sports, two facilities stand out: the new Wembley, inaugurated in 2007, and the Lusail stadium, which hosted 10 matches of the World Cup in Qatar, including the legendary final between Argentina and France. In Milan, Foster designed the Apple store in Piazza Liberty, a stone’s throw from the Duomo.
So what will happen now between Norman Foster, Manica, Milan and Inter? The goal of the two clubs is to present the project to the Council of Milan by the first half of 2026. In the coming months, therefore, there will be meetings and proposals from Foster and Partners to arrive at a preliminary project and then a final version.
In February, instead, the city will host the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in the ‘old’ San Siro. Before that, possibly in the summer, it will be clear whether the process of selling the San Siro area to Inter and Milan will be concluded, before the constraint on the second tier applies.
This is such a waste of time.
It doesnt matter who designs a building that they will never be allowed to build.
Foster is 90 years old? By the time they start building, he’ll probably be dead.