ARIA is a large-scale urban regeneration and social housing project in Milan that transforms the former municipal slaughterhouse (Ex Macello) into a new mixed-use neighborhood of about 150,000 square meters in the city’s southeast. Conceived as Milan’s first carbon negative district, it was the winning proposal of the C40 “Reinventing Cities” international competition launched by the Municipality of Milan. The project is developed and financed by the impact investment platform Redo Sgr, under a long-term land concession from the city.
The masterplan combines affordable and social housing, student residences, free-market homes, offices, workshops, cultural and recreational spaces, and new educational functions, including an international university hub and a science and innovation district. In total, around 1,200 apartments are planned, with rents for many units significantly below standard social housing thresholds, alongside proximity services such as healthcare, childcare, mobility facilities and community spaces.
From an environmental perspective, ARIA aims to set a benchmark for low-carbon urban districts through extensive reuse of existing structures, large-scale photovoltaic systems, green roofs, geothermal integration and a fifth-generation district energy network designed with utility partner E.ON. The goal is to substantially reduce operational and embodied emissions and to generate more clean energy than the area consumes over time.
Architecturally, ARIA is designed by a multidisciplinary team led by Stantec, with Snøhetta Oslo, Barreca & La Varra and CZA Cino Zucchi Architetti among the main architecture firms involved. Together they reinterpret the historic industrial fabric of Ex Macello, integrating contemporary architecture, public spaces and landscape into a permeable, inclusive neighborhood that reconnects this once-isolated site to the wider city.