BIG has begun construction on its CityWave building, which will visually connect the towers of Milan's CityLife development with a low swooping roof that doubles as one of Italy's largest urban photovoltaic power stations.
The Danish architecture studio has designed the fourth building for the site, which contains towers by Zaha Hadid Architects, Daniel Libeskind and Arata Isozaki.
The curved canopy of CityWave is intended to "complete, not compete" with skyscrapers designed by Arata Isozaki (left), Zaha Hadid Architects (centre) and Daniel Libeskind (right)
BIG won a competition to design the fourth building year with a proposal "to complete, not compete" with the existing buildings at the CityLife district, a mixed-use development located a short distance outside of Milan's old city centre. BIG's CityWave building, formerly called The Portico, instead features two low office buildings joined by a curved roof that will cover a large public space.
Between two low buildings will be a large public space covered by a swooping roof
The architecture studio broke ground on the buildings last week, and at the same time revealed renderings that have been updated to include a full canopy of photovoltaic panels on the roof.
The roof will now extend to more than 200 metres in length, with around 11,000 square metres of panels capable of producing an estimated 1,200-megawatt hours of power a year. BIG believes it may be the largest urban integrated solar canopy i...