Spanish
A huge advertising sign for the insurance company Generali partially collapsed this Monday morning from the top of a skyscraper in the financial district of Milan, forcing authorities to cordon off a large area and close a metro station as a precaution.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday at the Hadid Tower of the City Life complex, one of the most emblematic architectural developments of the Italian financial capital.
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“We heard a very loud bang”, recounted several passersby who witnessed the moment when the red structure, popularly known as “the red hat” for its shape and position, partially detached from its support and was left hanging dangerously from the building. The sign, 15 meters high and occupying the entire width of the building at 175 meters above ground level, had been installed in July 2018 using 15 helicopter flights that transported 170 tons of steel with the inscription and the logo of the insurance group. As explained by engineer Marco Grampella of the Milan fire department, the collapse was due to the rupture of one or more tubes supporting the reticular structure of the sign. “The reticular structure that supports the signage has suffered a collapse. The collapse was due to one or more breaks in one of the links of the reticular beam, which led to the collapse of this web of tubes and links”, he detailed.Firefighters rule out the possibility of the sign falling vertically into the void and believe that, if it were to give way completely, it would settle on the terrace at the top of the skyscraper.
As a precautionary measure, the building housing more than 2,000 Generali employees was evacuated, who were sent to work from home. The Tre Torri station of the M5 metro line and the CityLife Shopping District shopping center located in the area were also temporarily closed. Authorities are still investigating the exact causes of the collapse. Firefighters have ruled out wind as a factor, as no strong gusts were recorded at the time of the incident. However, they do not rule out that the high temperatures recorded in Milan in recent days may have contributed to the deterioration of the metal structure. “For us, it continues to be a structural problem. There was a collapse of one of the nodes of the structure's tie rods, but we cannot confirm that it was the heat,” firefighters pointed out, remaining cautious about this hypothesis. In an official statement, Generali Assicurazioni indicated that "the episode was promptly managed with the immediate securing of the signage itself, without any damage to people or surrounding structures." Firefighters estimate that they will need one or two days to complete the assessment of the structure and determine the final safety measures. It has not yet been decided whether the sign will be repaired or completely removed from the building. The City Life complex, designed by the renowned architects Arata Isozaki, Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid, represents one of the most avant-garde areas of Milan and houses important corporate headquarters in the heart of the Italian financial district.
