Renzo Piano's Genoa Bridge Design Criticized as Architectural Misstep

Architecture critic Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi launches a scathing critique of Renzo Piano's winning proposal for the new Ponte Polcevera in Genoa, arguing that the design represents a colossal error and exemplifies the harmful effects of Piano's persuasive communication strategy on Italian architecture. Piano's project, chosen over Santiago Calatrava's, is described as an inefficient set-beam viaduct masquerading as simplicity. Puglisi accuses Piano of using comforting, Mulino Bianco-style rhetoric—evoking terms like "darning" (rammendo), "craftsman," and "architect-doctor"—to sell a regressive design that undermines centuries of structural research. He notes that Piano, who built Europe's tallest skyscraper in London, now speaks of mending the urban fabric in Italy, a dangerous message in a country where less famous architects struggle to innovate. Puglisi also criticizes Piano's invocation of "dov'era e com'era" (where it was and how it was) after the earthquake, a stance even Paolo Portoghesi deemed questionable. The article concludes that Piano, once a beacon for architectural renewal, now risks contributing to its decline in Italy.