Piazza Gae Aulenti

Piazza Gae Aulenti is a circular elevated public square at the heart of Milan's Porta Nuova district, inaugurated in 2012 as the centrepiece of one of Europe's largest urban regeneration projects. The square sits above street level on a raised platform, connected to the surrounding neighbourhood by sweeping pedestrian ramps and walkways that bridge the old rail yards and boulevard infrastructure below. Designed by the Argentine-American firm Cesar Pelli & Associates — the same practice responsible for the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur — the piazza was conceived as a public living room for a reborn quarter of Milan, replacing decades of post-industrial vacancy with a dense, walkable urban core. It was named in honour of Gaetana Emilia "Gae" Aulenti (1927–2012), the Milanese architect and designer celebrated for transforming the Gare d'Orsay in Paris into the Musée d'Orsay (opened 1986) and for the Palazzo Grassi renovation in Venice. Aulenti passed away in October 2012, just months after the square bearing her name was unveiled.

The piazza is defined above all by the UniCredit Tower, which at 231 metres became Italy's tallest skyscraper upon its completion in 2012. Designed by César Pelli, its tapered spire rises from a cluster of three interconnected towers clad in glass and steel, and the entire ensemble frames the north end of the square with a dramatic vertical accent. Surrounding it are further towers housing offices, residences, and the headquarters of major financial institutions, collectively giving the Porta Nuova district a skyline that reads unmistakably as 21st-century Milan. Two large interactive fountains occupy the centre of the piazza, their jets choreographed to light displays after dark, and rotating installations of public art commissioned throughout the year have included large-scale sculptures and light works by international artists.

Visitors arriving from Piazza della Repubblica via the tree-lined Viale della Liberazione encounter the square as a sudden shift in urban register — the noise of traffic gives way to the sound of water, and the low nineteenth-century fabric of the city is replaced by glass facades reflecting the sky. The ground floor of the surrounding towers contains a curated mix of restaurants, aperitivo bars, and concept retail spaces, making the piazza a natural stop on Milan's evening passeggiata. The adjacent Biblioteca degli Alberi (Library of Trees), a 95,000-square-metre botanical park opened in 2018 and designed by Inside Outside (Petra Blaisse), extends the public realm northward with over 400 species of trees, meadows, and seasonal flowering circles, turning the entire Porta Nuova precinct into a coherent green-and-glass urban district.

The square is directly accessible from Porta Garibaldi FS railway station, which serves regional, intercity, and Frecciarossa high-speed trains, as well as metro lines M2 (green) and M5 (lilac). This makes it one of the easiest major sights in Milan to reach without a car. The fountains are particularly atmospheric at dusk, when the tower facades catch the last western light and the aperitivo crowd fills the terraces. Avoid midday in summer — the elevated stone platform offers limited shade and can become very hot. The piazza itself is open around the clock and free to enter.