Many years ago, Douglas Haskell, the then director of the American magazine The Architectural Forum, being asked his opinion on Italian architecture in post-war reconstruction, answered by criticising our designers for not giving due weight to economic difficulties or keeping an eye on expenses. Much time has passed since then, but this particular bad habit continues. In Rome, for Fuksas's so-called Cloud, the new congress hall erected 350 m away from the old one designed by Adalberto Libera 80 years ago, a cost of 200 million euros was estimated during the contracting stage, a figure which was doubled in the final balance. We have had similar problems with foreign designers. The costs of the MAXXI, the new Rome museum of 21~(st)-century art designed by Zaha Hadid Architects tripled compared to estimates, in a measure that the sudden decision to construct earthquake-proof structures hardly justified.
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