Pierre Cardin's Sky Scraper 'Palais de Lumiere'

[Chanelcouture09]

Fashion faux pas? Pierre Cardin's plan to build futuristic skyscraper near Venice 'more suited to Dubai'

A futuristic skyscraper to be built by fashion magnate Pierre Cardin near Venice has been branded 'more suited to Dubai' than the World Heritage city.

Critics claim the 800ft £1.2 billion Palace of Light is too large and vulgar and will have a negative impact on Venice's historic skyline and church spires.

They say that the tower, to be built in Porto Marghera, a former industrial zone a few miles from Venice, will be clearly visible and dwarf the iconic bell tower in St Mark's Square.

The 60-storey building - three shard-like towers connected by six interlocking horizontal discs made of glass and steel - will be double the height.

Mr Cardin, 90, with an estimated fortune of £230 million, designed the Palais de Lumiere with his architect nephew, Rodrigo Basilicati.

He has described the skyscraper as his 'last great project.' It will have a helicopter landing pad, apartments, restaurants, nearly 60 lifts and a cinema complex.

Thousands of jobs will be created in an area which has seen the closure of chemical plants and oil refineries in recent times.

Mr Basilicati said: 'We chose this apparently ugly and difficult location because we hope it will convince people that Porto Marghera can enter a new chapter.'

Luca Zaia, head of the Veneto region, believes the new building will be Venice's answer to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.

But despite getting the go-ahead earlier this year, the tower has already hit snags with Italy's aviation authority claiming the building could pose a problem for planes flying into Marco Polo airport - the destination for millions of tourists every year.

Art historian Tomaso Montanari told the Sunday Telegraph the project was something the 'emirs of the Gulf' would have dreamt up

Mr Cardin,is due to lay the first symbolic stone in September, but is so fed up with the delays he has threatened to take his project to another country.

*Dailymail.co.uk

 

[Chanelcouture09]

Venice' answer to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre ? don't push it, the difference between this and those iconic landmarks is because they are iconic, this will be outdated within 10 years, I understand it's about pushing the envelope of futurism but Architects always fail to sympathize with the location, surrounding buildings and its landscape before dreaming up such outlandish and unrealistic contraptions.

I'm looking forward to seeing it finished though to see how this actually pans out.

 

[KoV]

The problem with otherwise talented architects is that many of them have such inflated egos. It seems to me they're so desperate for their work to stand out they have no qualms about possibly maiming historical and universally-regarded-as-beautiful places with building that just look SO out of place. This is a really striking example, but I see it all the time on a smaller scale in New York. Designers put a very modern building that might be lovely somewhere and put it in a place where it looks hugely out of place. Frankly, I think it's disrespectful to the designers who built before them and to the residents of the area who more often than not, are decidedly against something so drastic. I mean, who in their right mind would want this building among the centuries-old building in the city of Venice. I don't have a problem with new buildings, but this is just too drastic for my taste. And really, just on it's own, I think it's a bit ugly.

 

[Crying Diamonds]

This is an extremely ugly building, and if it is built, will mar the beauty of the symmetry of the architecture of Venice. In fact, a skyscraper design could not be less fitting for the Venetian skyline.

 

[saann]

I agree with everyone here.. No way this is going to become an iconic landmark. It's too modern but not in the good way. And it's clashes severely with the existing landscape of the city.

An iconic building compliments the city as well as defines it. This will just look like the odd one out. Dubai or Singapore would definitely be more suited for it.

 

[Chanelcouture09]

^I could easily see it on the Harbor in Singapore, or they should of taken a leaf out of Herzog & de Meuron's book when they constructed the Prada Epicentre in Tokyo, that is a fine example of how modern architecture meets an historical landscape, but not in a vulgar way, which is in such stark contrast to the Pierre Cardin Sky Scraper, I think it's rounded, space age vibe to this is what puts me off.