Architect Norman Foster has unveiled a 1.1 billion euro (760 million pounds) plan to redevelop a sprawling industrial area on the edge of Milan, part of a wave of architectural innovation sweeping the Italian city. MILAN (Reuters)
Foster, whose "Gherkin" skyscraper in London recently won the prestigious Stirling prize, said on Tuesday the 1.2 million-square-metre project, although four kilometres from Milan's centre, would aim to provide the best qualities of city life.

"What sets this project apart is that it is a grand vision; it is rooted in the place; and significantly it is actually happening," Foster said as he gestured over a giant model of the development. "It is really about the balance of nature and a very intense urbanism."

Developer Risanamento said the project, where earth-movers are working to clear land for construction due to begin next year, will be Europe's largest-ever redevelopment of an industrial area.

To be called Santa Giulia, the plan will transform what is now a muddy wasteland into a conference centre, parks, apartments, hotels and shops, including a boulevard and piazza, which will attempt to replicate the buzz of Italy's downtowns.

Together with Daniel Libeskind's redevelopment of Milan's exhibition centre, called the Fiera and a "Fashion City" designed by Cesar Pelli of the U.S., the Foster project is part of an architectural revival in Italy's financial capital.

"Milan hasn't seen construction with this intensity or of this quality since 1960," Mayor Gabriele Albertini said at the ceremony inaugurating the project, held in a renovated brick building which once housed a power plant.

Unlike the Libeskind and Pelli projects, the Santa Giulia plan does not include a dramatic skyscraper and is comprised mostly of low-rise residential buildings.

Foster is closely advising Risanamento's owner, Luigi Zunino, who said he expected the project's development cost would be largely self-financed through the sale of apartments.

Risanamento has already sold 205 million euros worth of residential space, the company said, adding that the first apartment buildings could be completed in three to four years, with the main shopping street ready by 2010.