The centrepiece of the Porta Nuova redevelopment, a raised circular plaza six metres above street level, opened in 2012 and named for the Italian architect Gae Aulenti. Ringed by glass office towers and the spiralling UniCredit Tower — Italy's tallest building — it functions as the public stage of Milan's new business district, with shallow reflecting pools, water features, and a forest of slender lamp-standard "trees" at its centre.
It is unabashedly contemporary, a clean break from the rest of central Milan, and it draws crowds for exactly that reason: skateboarders, photographers, after-work drinkers at the rim of cafes and restaurants. From the plaza you can walk straight into the Biblioteca degli Alberi park or up toward the Bosco Verticale. Come at dusk, when the towers light up and the pools throw back the glow, for the view the architects intended.