The Matitone (a popular nickname meaning literally ''"big pencil"'', officially San Benigno North Tower) is a high-rise

office building An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

in the San Teodoro district of the area in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

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. Built between 1987 and 1990, and inaugurated in 1992, the tower stands at tall with 26 floors. It was designed by

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

, Mario Lanata and Andrea Messina and is currently used as a business center. It has been the tallest building in Genoa since its completion in 1992.

History

The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in the late 1980s, one of the largest American engineering, architecture and urban planning firms, in collaboration with architects Mario Lanata and Andrea Messina to become a modern office building. Construction of the complex began on November 16, 1987 and was completed in November 1990, in view of the 1992 Columbiades.

Architecture

The skyscraper is located in the San Teodoro district, in the San Benigno area, near the Genova-Ovest motorway toll booth and the Dinegro station of the Genoa metro. It is positioned opposite the Lanterna tower, remaining visible both from the port and from the entire western area of the city. It is one of the tallest and most characteristic buildings in the Ligurian capital, by virtue of its particular architectural shape that resembles a pencil. It is 109 metres high, divided into 26 floors above ground. It is the tallest building in Genoa, exceeding the central Torre Piacentini by just one metre. The skyscraper has three buildings: the offices in the centre, the car parks to the west and the commercial area to the east, between via Cantore and via di Francia. The intention was not to build a pencil-shaped building, but the architectural form of the building earned it the popular nickname of "Matitone" due to its resemblance to a large pencil and which would instead be inspired by the octagonal bell tower of the church of San Donato located in the historic center of Genoa. The facades have a covering of alternating bands of gray granite and green glass. The pyramidal roof, however, is made of copper. The flag with the cross of St. George, symbol of Genoa, flies on its summit. The skyscraper is currently also home to some offices of the Municipality of Genoa. In Savona there is the "Matitino", a small skyscraper that has similar shapes to the Matitone and was named in this way to remember its "big" Genoese brother.

Trivia

The Matitone is home to several administrative offices including: * Municipality of Genoa, Services Private Building and

Urban Development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

. * In 2006 it was used for filming the video for the

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

''Cosa vuoi che sia'' by Ligabue. * In

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

there is a smaller, similar building that was named Matitino in honor of his older peer in

Gallery

File:Lanterna di Genova 3.jpg, The Matitone (in the center) seen from the Lantern File:Lanterna di Genova dalla mia camera da letto.jpg, The Pencil with the Lantern, photographed from the Colle di San Benigno File:Porto di Genova, Matitone, vista.jpg, The Matitone seen from the port

References

External links

*
Webcam posta sul Matitone - sito del comune di Genova

Il Matitone
at

CTBUH The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including skyscrapers, and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in Chicago, Illinois, U ...

Il Matitone
at

SkyscraperPage SkyscraperPage is a website for skyscraper hobbyists and enthusiasts that tracks existing and proposed skyscrapers around the world. The site is owned by Skyscraper Source Media, a supplier of skyscraper diagrams for the publication, marketing, an ...