Two of the world’s top architects have become embroiled in an unseemly row over a bridge in Bilbao, partly because the city’s rainy climate has made it a hazard for pedestrians.

The Zubi-Zuri pedestrian bridge, designed by Santiago Calatrava, was opened in 1997, about the same time as Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim museum. The projects helped to kick-start Bilbao’s transformation from a gritty industrial city into a playground for the world’s most exciting architects. Now Mr Calatrava, renowned for futuristic constructions such as Milwaukee’s art museum and Valencia’s Palace of the Arts, is taking the Bilbao city government to court, claiming that it has defiled his creation and infringed his artistic rights.

Mr Calatrava is demanding the demolition of a walkway that has been added by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki to connect his new riverside tower blocks with the suspension bridge. Failing that, Mr Calatrava has demanded €3 million (£2 million) in compensation from the city for the “enormous moral damage” caused by the “mutilation” of his work.

“Never in his professional career has [Mr Calatrava] encountered such a complete lack of respect,” the lawsuit charged. The architect’s lawyers reminded City Hall that its client had received more than 20 international prizes in his career and that the bridge was “an authentic work of art”. Bilbao’s government has responded with outrage, saying that his bridge may have looked good but was completely unsuitable for the city’s rainy climate. The mayor, Iñaki Azkuna, called the Valencian architect a diva and threatened to countersue for the cost of repairs to the bridge’s glass floor.

Dozens of Bilbao residents have reportedly injured themselves by slipping on the glass floor during rainfall. Mr Azkuna said that the city has had to spend thousands of euros a year adding nonslip strips and replacing cracked glass tiles.

Mr Isozaki, famous for designing buildings such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Team Disney building in Orlando, has also expressed his “distaste” for Mr Calatrava’s move, calling him “egocentric”.

Most Bilbao residents seem to agree that the new walkway saves them considerable time and effort when crossing the river. Without it pedestrians would have to descend from the bridge, cross a road and a tramway, then walk back up several flights of steps on the other side.

“The walkway is useful because you can walk from the river almost to the centre of Bilbao,” Eduardo MartÍn, 24, a student, said. “I don’t think it’s mutilated Calatrava’s bridge. It belongs to the city because the city paid for it.” The row has highlighted the question over who controls a building — the client or the architect. Legal experts doubt that Mr Calatrava has a strong case.

“I find it slightly odd,” Marcus Harling, specialist practice consultant for the Royal Institute of British Architects, said. “It sounds almost like he’s following an emotional agenda rather than the merits of the case.”

Just too far. . .

Vibrating Built of steel in 1890 across the Spokane River Gorge, USA. In 1907 circus elephants refused to cross because of the vibration

Wobbling On opening day, Millennium footbridge, in London wobbled with 80,000 people on it. Shut for repairs

Sinking The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge over Lake Washington was built in 1940. In 1990, after a botched repair job, it sank

Galloping Opened in 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, above, was called Galloping Gertie because in high winds motorists would see the car in front vanish as if over a wave. Collapsed after four months

Sources: PBS, Times archive, HistoryLink, discovery-school.org

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