Inside Renzo Piano’s Latest Design—a Residential Tower Built on New Land in Monaco

Much of this curiosity is due to the largest structure on the newly conceived land. Le Renzo, as the building is called, demands what only great architecture can: a universal sense of curiosity from the public. Shaped in the figure of a large ship, the 376,000-square-foot building features 50 residential units and appears to be floating at sea. There is perhaps no more appropriate architect in the world to design such a project than Renzo Piano, a Pritzker Prize winner who, more than anyone in his field, has designed a litany of iconic nautical structures. “Lasting architecture always tells an engaging story,” explains the 84-year-old Piano, founder of the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. “A home, for example, is not just a roof or a shelter. Rather, it’s a dialogue between those who live there now and the moments that shaped the land before they arrived. It’s about revealing the truth of the moment.” This sentiment certainly rings true for Monaco—a place that used to be a sleepy fishing village was in the mid-19th century , and is now home to the extremely affluent. 

The rapid rise of wealth and prestige in Monaco was met with the new tastes and demands of its citizens. But the layout and design of its apartments have not evolved in a way that’s true to the times. One quick Google search shows a monotony of units for sale in decades-old towers with small floor plans. “There has been an increasing demand for open floor plans, outdoor space, and greater amenities,” says Guy-Thomas Levy-Soussan, managing director of SAM L’Anse du Portier, the firm responsible for the development and financing of Mareterra (Levy-Soussan works directly with Patrice Pastor, the founder of the project and one of only nine private shareholders.) “The prince, along with the founders of Mareterra, saw this as an opportunity to diversify the residential offerings here by attracting new buyers,” Levy-Soussan continues. “But it’s more than just that; this project will significantly improve the public space in Monaco.”  

Architecture is always a response to the limits of the environment it’s meant to serve. And there’s few greater limits challenging Monaco than the public’s access to the waterfront. Mareterra easily could have been a vanity project that catered only to the whims of a select few. But the prince had other plans. “The purposes of different seaboard extensions in Monaco have varied over time,” Prince Albert II explains. “I have personally ensured that Mareterra meets Monaco’s real estate needs, while respecting the environment in which it is built. The development is being carried out in a sustainable way, respectful of both the landscape and quality of life, to be seen as a natural extension of our territory.” By ceding over 90,000 square feet of prominent waterfront land back to the public (including nearly 2,000 feet of bicycling paths), Mareterra embodies the cardinal rule of architecture: It makes life better not just for those who live in, but around it, too. 

In fact, more than any speech or declaration Monaco’s monarchy could have given, its decision (along with the founders of Mareterra) to save the best plot of land for the public speaks volumes about their ideals for Monaco’s future. Here, as always before, architecture provides a vivid symbol of social values.