Architect Renzo Piano has offered a new bridge design for his beloved hometown of Genoa to replace the one that collapsed last month, killing 43 people, saying it must be built to last 1,000 years and be “simple, solid … but not banal.”
Piano joined city and regional officials on Friday to present the plans for the new bridge, which officials hope to have operational by November 2019. Piano said it would likely be built in steel and recall the shape of a ship in a nod to Genoa’s maritime tradition.
A notional drawing for the new bridge. Image via Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
“A bridge that falls is terrible, because a bridge is a symbol,” Piano told a press conference in Genoa. “Bridges shouldn’t fall. They can’t fall. They’re a symbol that unifies, that brings things together.” Prosecutors this week announced 20 people were under investigation for the disaster, which also forced some 600 people from their homes underneath the bridge, and that the list could grow.
Italian news reports have documented evidence, including technical studies that show officials were well aware of the bridge’s fragility and had scheduled maintenance work, but took no measures to reduce or divert traffic in the meantime.
Among those under investigation are officials from the private company that controls the bridge, Autostrade per l’Italia; including its chief executive, Giovanni Castellucci, who was on hand Friday al...