Berlusconi, Libeskind, and the drooping tower of Milan

When the celebrated American architect Daniel Libeskind unveiled his plans for an art museum and office tower in the heart of Milan he expected plaudits. Instead, he found himself ridiculed by Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who said the skyscraper, which bends in the middle, was "in need of Viagra". Instead of shrugging it off, Libeskind has gone on the offensive, calling Berlusconi a xenophobe and claiming his politics are "repugnant".

The spat began when Berlusconi expressed his view of the building to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. He said: "Milan is full of people with crooked members. There will simply be one more in need of Viagra." It is believed he was put up to this by critics of Libeskind's building, who want him to straighten up his design a little. But the award-winning architect, who won the competition to design a new building on the site of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan, hit back in an interview with the same newspaper, comparing Berlusconi's aversion with Fascist ideology.

Libeskind, who is of Polish Jewish descent, said: "In Fascist Italy, everything that was not 'straight' was considered 'perverse art'. My tower is inspired by the work of Leonardo da Vinci, and great Italian culture. [Mr Berlusconi] does not have the time or intellect to study these. As an American and Jew brought up in Poland, I find Berlusconi abominable. His concept of nationalism, of closing borders and denying what's different, is repugnant. He hates foreigners."