Italian Serie A football club AC Milan has unveiled plans to develop a new 48,000-seat stadium in the Portello area of the city.
The plans, drawn up in association with engineering and architectural giant Arup, have outlined a multi-purpose venue that will cost between €300m ($340.2m) and €320m to develop. Milan said the project, which aims to be ready in time for the 2018-19 season, aims to create one of the most innovative stadiums in the world.
The club said it has taken inspiration from the English stadium model, with plans to also include a hotel, a sports college, restaurants, children’s playground, green areas and spaces reserved for “artists and citizens.”
The new stadium aims to have less of an impact on the cityscape than Milan’s current home, the imposing San Siro (pictured). Milan’s new home will be more similar to a building than a stadium. Its height won’t exceed 30m from ground level, whereas the San Siro is over 60m in height, and will also go 10m underground.
Commenting on the plans, Emilio Faroldi, Professor of Architectural Technology at the Department of Architecture, Construction Engineering and Building Environment of the Polytechnic of Milan, told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper: “We approached the project developing the basic themes of this work: we are talking about environmental sustainability, the concept of a smart urban arena that is easily reached by public transport, and it is low impact. A stadium, also, that identifies itself more like a building, like a piece of the city, and not as a business machine to be activated exclusively for a sporting event once a week.”
Milan, along with city rival Inter, has played in the 80,000-capacity San Siro since 1926 but both clubs have been exploring the potential of developing a new home for some time now. Serie A rival Juventus paved the way for the future of Italian football stadia by opening the first privately-owned venue in 2011. Roma has since received local approval for its own new stadium, while work on Udinese’s new Stadio Friuli is at an advanced stage.
Milan said it is focused on developing its new home in an urban area and while Portello has been identified as the ideal location, other areas haven’t been ruled out. A decision on whether the club has been successful in acquiring the land is expected to be made on March 10 at the 2015 MIPIM property trade fair in Cannes.
