On 17 May 2013 a ship, the Jolly Nero, leaving the harbor knocked down the control tower, killing nine people. Rising on a new spot, the replacement – the Torre Piloti – has two parts. One volume contains the rooms for staff, offices, parking spaces, and stores; the other, the actual control tower and cabin. A plinth sits on the existing dock, opening on to the city and the port.

The tower rises in continuity with the north facade of the plinth. It presents a metal structure whose expressive language resonates with that of other architectures in the harbor of Genoa. The control tower is located 59.85 meters above sea level. The entire construction has a metal structure held up by pilotis anchored 30 meters deep, and it is formed by four steel tubes filled with reinforced concrete, each with a diameter of 323 millimeters and every two separated by a distance of 3.6 meters and connected transversally by welded steel tubes set at regular intervals of 3 meters. Completing the scheme is a set of St. Andrew’s crosses made of high-resistance steel braces. The result is a highly solid structure that nevertheless comes across as being lightweight and transparent.