engineering

Matitone

Matitone is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Matitone rather than just read about it. In short: The Matitone (a popular nickname meaning literally "big pencil", officially San Benigno North Tower) is a high-rise office building in the San Teodoro district of the San Benigno area in Genoa, Italy. Built between 1987 and 1990, and inaugurated in 1992, the tower stands at 109 m (358 ft) tall with 26 floors.

Key takeaways

Matitone belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Matitone to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Matitone from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Matitone (a popular nickname meaning literally "big pencil", officially San Benigno North Tower) is a high-rise office building in the San Teodoro district of the San Benigno area in Genoa, Italy. Built between 1987 and 1990, and inaugurated in 1992, the tower stands at 109 m (358 ft) tall with 26 floors. It was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 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. In 2006 it was used for filming the video for the song Cosa vuoi che sia by Ligabue. In Savona there is a smaller, similar building that was named Matitino in honor of his older peer in Genoa.

Gallery

See also List of tallest buildings in Genoa

References

External links

(in English) Scheda del Matitone - Emporis.com Webcam posta sul Matitone - sito del comune di Genova Il Matitone at CTBUH Il Matitone at SkyscraperPage Il Matitone at Structurae Il Matitone at SKYDB

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Matitone

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Matitone claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Matitone before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Matitone ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Matitone

In research: Matitone appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Matitone in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Matitone is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1992 establishments in Italy, 20th-century architecture in Italy, Buildings and structures completed in 1992, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Matitone outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Matitone in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Matitone means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Matitone out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Matitone in simple terms?

Why does Matitone matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Matitone?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Matitone.