Renzo Piano reveals design to replace collapsed Genoa bridge

Months after the tragic collapse of Genoa’s Morandi Bridge that killed 43 people, the Italian city is making plans to replace it. Renzo Piano, a native of Genoa and the renowned architect behind the new Whitney Museum and the Shard in London, donated a design for the new bridge that will be built after demolition of the original is finished.

Renzo Piano Building Workshop via Designboom

Piano’s design is slender but strong, with a steel span that’s supported by thick columns that anchor into the ground at regular intervals. It’s designed to look like the bow of a ship, stretching for more than 3,600 feet over the Polcevera River. According to Piano: “The new bridge will have to be simple and parsimonious, but not trivial. It will look like a ship moored in the valley; a light and bright steel bridge.”

Piano’s design calls for 43 lamps that will cast sail-shaped light onto the deck—a poignant memorial for the 43 people who died during the collapse. The bridge, estimated to cost around $230 million, is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019.

Via: Designboom, New York Times