Renzo Piano Unveils His Design for the Genoa Viaduct

The Italian architect has donated the design and the plans to the city. The new bridge will be built over the course of 2019 to replace the Morandi viaduct, which collapsed causing a total of 43 deaths.

Render of the future viaduct over the river Polcevera in Genoa (Italy). On Designboom

The architect Renzo Piano is not only in the news for his celebrated buildings, among them the new Whitney Museum in New York and the Shard in London. He has recently given proof of his generosity by donating his designs for the new viaduct that will be built in Genoa (Italy) over the course of 2019. The new structure will replace the Morandi Viaduct, which collapsed and came down in August 2018. After the disaster, which occurred following a heavy storm that brought about the collapse of the central section of the construction over the river Polcevera, a total of forty-three people were counted dead. On 19 December 2018 the regional authorities announced the choice of Piano’s project to raise the new road structure, which is intended to be completed before the end of 2019.

Another view of the project by the RPBW studio. On Designboom

Renzo Piano was born in Genoa and wished to pay tribute to his native land, as well as to those who died in the disaster, by donating his design to the city. The architect declared himself to be deeply affected by what had happened, and began to make sketches for the design just a few days after the collapse of the Morandi Viaduct. The structure is, in Piano’s words, that of “a very Genoese bridge. Simple, but not trivial”, and construction will begin once the demolition of the remains of the previous bridge has been completed. The design is sleek and sturdy, with a steel span supported by thick piers: its silhouette is inspired by the prow of a ship. “The new viaduct will be plain and sparing. Its appearance will recall that of a ship run aground in the valley; a vessel of steel, light and bright”. Along its length, forty-three streetlights will create beams of light shaped like the sails of a ship, in memory of those who died in the disaster.

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