Thus The Wall Street Journal today. “At ninety, with no children and no designated heir,” the newspaper elaborates, “legendary French fashion designer Pierre Cardin wants to plow his entire fortune into one last pet project: an 840-foot tower across the lagoon from the historical center of the City of Canals.” Born near Venice, Cardin says nothing else thrills him as much. Many Venetians are horrified, though. And so am I. A coalition is forming against the project, which is promoted as the Palace of Light. They have enlisted Francesco Bandarin, the head of the United Nations Agency for Culture and Science, which includes Venice on its World Heritage List, a record of sites that deserve international protection. Bandarin is a Venetian, too. The main argument for the project is that it would give Venice up to five-thousand jobs. Also, it would replenish the city’s coffers by some thirty-million euros, as well as many more in taxes, which is why the mayor, Giorgio Orsini, is interested in the project. And what is that against more than twenty-million tourists who visit Venice every year? At any rate, the project is close to its final approval. “The project, the location, everything—it’s the stupidest thing one could imagine,” the newspaper quotes Vittorio Gregotti, the last architect who was authorized to build new housing visible from the historical part of Venice in the 1980s. “If Mr. Cardin needs a mausoleum so badly, I’m sure we can find a good-hearted mayor somewhere who’ll build an equestrian statue of him in a square.” Hey, how about the moon? As an added benefit, there are no mayors there.