Benedetta Tagliabue said all the rows and controversies which surrounded the project made her fear it would not come to fruition. And she described how, right at the start, her husband and Donald Dewar had clashed, making her think they would not win the competition to design the new parliament. Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
Advertisement Advertisement But, speaking as part of a panel at a Festival of Politics event, she said it was "a fantastic building" which worked. The Holyrood parliament building was officially opened in 2004 with a final price tag of £414 million - 10 times the original quoted cost - and three years later than planned. Enric Miralles died before it was completed but Ms Tagliabue, who was also Miralles' professional partner, carried on with the project.
At the event marking 20 years since the parliament's opening, the panel was asked what inspired them about the building. Ms Tagliabue recalled the project had frequently been on a knife edge. "One of the inspirations now is that I see the building present and working - this is a miracle,” she said.
"Many times we do project competitions and they never come to reality - and with this there seemed to be a big possibility of not arriving to reality because there were so many controversies, so many difficulties. But it arrived at reali.