The Stone in Cervinia ignites debate on architectural correctness

A proposed nine-story residential building in Cervinia, designed by Gianluca Peluffo's firm Peluffo&Partners, has sparked a petition titled 'Fermiamo l'ecomostro di Cervinia' that has gathered over 32,000 signatures. The project, named The Stone, would replace the existing Hotel Fosson. This controversy prompted architect and critic Isidoro Pennisi to question whether an 'architecturally correct' standard exists. Pennisi argues that such a standard functions as a system of taboos, similar to those in primitive cultures, but now legitimized by an ideological use of reason. He links this to 'ecological positivism,' a cultural refueling of classical positivism that uses objective environmental issues to achieve subjective goals of continuity and class. According to Pennisi, architectural correctness serves to protect the current ecological phase of architecture from criticism, branding dissenters as sacrilegious rather than heretical. Its traits include believing that ecological concerns are novel for architecture, dismissing historical precedents, promoting urban reforestation and demineralization, reducing architectural meaning to energy savings, and eliminating aesthetic content in favor of economic savings. Pennisi concludes that architecture's true value lies in providing urban and domestic beauty as an inheritance for those without conventional wealth, a sentiment echoing Louis Kahn's famous question about a brick's aspirations.