It also refers to the triangular area of Venice where the Grand Canal meets the Giudecca Canal, and its collection of buildings: the church of Santa Maria della Salute, (hence the area is also known as Punta della Salute), the Patriarchal Seminary of Venice, and Dogana da Mar at the triangle's tip.

The temporary structures built to store merchandise and customs workers were replaced by the Punta della Dogana, whose construction began in 1677.

[3] The building was restored by Tadao Ando from January 2008 to March 2009, funded by François Pinault,[5] a French billionaire and art collector.

Dogana da Mar's stuccoed brick exterior was restored without additions, and is the only part of the original structure left intact.

[2] Frank Peter Jäger called these smooth surfaces Ando's trademark, along with glass and steel fixtures that clash with the raw irregularities of the unfinished walls.

Complex's Elisa Carmichael called Punta della Dogana's Prima Materia show of about 80 works from the Pinault Collection an "absolute must-see" outside of the 2013 Venice Biennale.

[5] François Pinault commissioned a statue for the tip of Punta della Dogana from Charles Ray upon receiving approval from the city to start the museum.

Independent curator Francesco Bonami wrote in La Stampa that the removal was "administrative cowardice" and the lamppost represented "cultural darkness".