The Olympic Village in Milan was built in just 30 months with wood, completed ahead of schedule, and 4 months after the Games it will become housing for 1,700 students with rent 25% below the market rate.

Written by Flavia Marinho

Published on 20/04/2026 at 20:06

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Designed by the same office that designed Google’s headquarters, the village has green terraces that turn into outdoor study rooms and 30% of the apartments will have subsidized prices

Everyone has seen what happens to Olympic villages after the Games are over. Abandoned buildings, empty stadiums, structures that cost billions and are left unused. In Milan, Italy, they decided to do it differently. The Olympic Village for the 2026 Winter Games was designed from the outset to be transformed into student housing right after the closing ceremony.

There are 1,700 beds for university students, with rent 25% below market price.

Built of wood and delivered ahead of schedule

The village is located in the Porta Romana neighborhood, in southern Milan, on an old railway yard that was abandoned.

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Green terraces that turn into study rooms

The most beautiful detail of the project is the green terraces that connect the buildings like suspended bridges.

During the Games, these spaces serve as common areas for athletes.

Afterward, they will be transformed into outdoor study rooms, with plants, benches, and views of the neighborhood gardens.

The gravel used in the Olympic logistics will be replaced by trees and lawns.

Rent of 430 euros — 25% below market

The average rent will be around 430 euros per month, equivalent to approximately R$ 2,600.

This is 25% below the market value in Milan, one of the most expensive cities in Italy for students.

30% of the apartments will have subsidized prices, ensuring access for low-income students.

The conversion of athlete rooms into student rooms will take only 4 months — ready for the fall semester of 2026.

The most sustainable village in Olympic history

The buildings were constructed with cross-laminated timber, a material that emits much less carbon than concrete and steel.

The village has LEED Gold certification and meets the European standard for nearly zero-energy buildings.

Construction in cross-laminated timber — lower carbon emissions
Prefabricated facades and modular design to expedite construction
LEED Gold and WiredScore Platinum certification
NZEB standard — nearly zero-energy building
1,700 beds, exceeding the originally planned 1,400

Not every Olympic village needs to become a ruin after the Games. Milan shows that it is possible to build for sports while also addressing a real problem — the lack of affordable housing for students.

The Olympic Village in Milan was built in just 30 months with wood, completed ahead of schedule, and 4 months after the Games it will become housing for 1,700 students with rent 25% below the market rate.

Designed by the same office that designed Google’s headquarters, the village has green terraces that turn into outdoor study rooms and 30% of the apartments will have subsidized prices

Built of wood and delivered ahead of schedule

Green terraces that turn into study rooms

Rent of 430 euros — 25% below market

The most sustainable village in Olympic history

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The Olympic Village in Milan was built in just 30 months with wood, completed ahead of schedule, and 4 months after the Games it will become housing for 1,700 students with rent 25% below the market rate.

Designed by the same office that designed Google’s headquarters, the village has green terraces that turn into outdoor study rooms and 30% of the apartments will have subsidized prices

Built of wood and delivered ahead of schedule

Green terraces that turn into study rooms

Rent of 430 euros — 25% below market

The most sustainable village in Olympic history

With billions in loans, China is rebuilding Nigeria’s railway network from scratch, abandoning the British colonial tracks that have turned to scrap and creating a corridor of over 1,300 km to take the load off the roads of Africa’s largest economy.

Forget petroleum-based asphalt: a Scottish company transforms 684,000 plastic bottles into one kilometer of road that is 60% more resistant and up to 10 times more durable, and the technology has already started replacing traditional asphalt in more than 30 countries.

Austrian engineers have developed an inflatable concrete technology that transforms flat slabs into domes using only air pressure, eliminating scaffolding and temporary forms, and potentially changing the way bridges, tunnels, and curved roofs are constructed worldwide.

Australia prepares to dredge 96.5 million m³ in Moreton Bay to deepen, widen, and realign channels of the Port of Brisbane, in a project of up to 25 years designed to accommodate larger ships and enhance maritime safety and regional port efficiency.

A robot named Walter does the work of five bricklayers per hour and can save the construction industry, where the average age of professionals is 46 years and almost no one wants to learn the trade anymore, in the United Kingdom.

Cristiano Ronaldo builds a billion-dollar mansion in Portugal with 54,000 square feet, a 3-acre plot facing the Atlantic, private spa, indoor and outdoor pools, and an estimated value of an impressive R$ 385 million.

Larger than the Toyota Hilux and with a towing capacity of 3.5 tons, the new MG U9 2026 features a 2.5 turbodiesel engine, 520 Nm, 4×4 traction with three locks, and an almost full-size build.

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Country ‘tears’ the sea with 340-meter underwater tunnels under the Atlantic to capture saltwater and build a megaproject capable of producing up to 100 million liters of drinking water per day in West Africa.

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