Triennale Milano | 24th International Exhibition

Until November 9 2025

The projects of the Norman Foster Foundation (NFF) seek to address the issue of social and environmental inequality through design and education.

The Foundation is a philanthropic entity and is able to undertake assignments which are beyond the scope and means of conventional practice. It also collaborates with universities and industry on research-based projects. The Foundation's Institute runs educational workshops, public debates, and one-year masterclass courses on sustainable cities, urban design, and architecture.

This exhibition showcases projects for the transformation of an informal settlement in India and the regeneration of a war-torn city in Ukraine. It also presents alternative solutions for accommodating refugees, ultra-low-cost, high-quality, affordable housing, new concepts for clean energy and industrialised building blocks, as well as examples from the work of the Institute.

The Norman Foster Foundation (NFF) and its Institute (NFI)

Madrid, Spain
2023-ongoing

The NFF is headquartered in a turn-of-the-century palatial residence in Madrid, complete with a courtyard and new pavilion. Other facilities, including a Centre for City Science equipped with state-of-the-art digital equipment, are within easy walking distance. There are spaces for archives, teaching, galleries, projects and administration.

The Norman Foster Institute runs courses on sustainable cities in conjunction with urban design and architecture. These courses combine the best of academia, through the Foundation’s network of global experts, with hands-on experience of working with communities and city administrations. The mission is to nurture the civic leaders of tomorrow. Many alumni are already working in town halls around the world, and one ex-scholar has been elected mayor of a city in Chile.

The 2024 course focused on three European cities – Athens, Bilbao and San Marino – although the methods taught can be applied to cities of all kinds worldwide (the 2025 course focuses on three African cities).

The Centre for City Science is an applied research and development centre that uses evidence-based methods. Its approach has four key elements: Diagnosis (data mapping and analysis); Solution finding (interventions); Strategies for implementation (projects and policies); and Dissemination (visualisation of data and engagement with communities).

ATHENS

In Athens, the scholars worked to turn the city’s ambitious sustainability goals into actionable urban interventions. In a densely populated neighbourhood with narrow streets, they demonstrated how the numerous triangular road intersections could be replanned to increase space for pedestrians and tree planting. With the same goals of providing shade and improving air quality, they showed how re-planning two-way road systems into one-way systems could provide more space for pedestrians and trees. Such measures would significantly improve the quality of urban living. The city authorities were so impressed that they are including this work in the Athens Climate Neutrality Action Plan, whose target is to achieve major reductions in greenhouse gases by 2030. These urban design proposals will now be turned into reality through ongoing consultancy with the Foundation.

BILBAO

Bilbao is noted for the quality of its city centre, and the achievement of its regeneration from a former industrial complex. However, its peripheral areas face issues of inequality, exacerbated by the influx of migrants. The scholars chose one of these areas for their research and eventually their design proposals. Their approach was evidence-based and combined socio-demographic and spatial analysis. They proposed a variety of Social Boosters to break down social barriers and encourage social cohesion within the communities.

These Boosters would range from physical structures to programmed events, activating underperforming public spaces and creating new ones. This concept would serve as a model for addressing issues of inequality in other fringe communities.

SAN MARINO

San Marino scholars analysed the impact of the car on historic urban spaces, and the lack of connectivity between tourist destinations. They created an interactive toolset to help decision-makers compare and evaluate projects that would revitalise historic centres and improve mobility and regional integration.