Every host city builds an Olympic village, and almost every host city then spends years deciding what to do with the empty buildings once the athletes leave. Milan skipped that problem. Architects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, working with Italian developer COIMA, designed the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Village on a 19th-century railway yard in the Porta Romana district, with its second life built into the blueprint, not added afterwards. The complex opened to 1,300 athletes in February 2026, and by September 2026, the same six residential buildings are set to reopen as Italy's largest affordable student housing development, offering 1,700 beds for the academic year. The transformation is expected to take four months from the closing ceremony to student move-in.
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