|
Renzo Piano
Renzo Piano, architect of the first two phases of Transformation, LACMA's ambitious renovation, is among the leading architects for museum projects in the United States. In addition to his role at LACMA, Mr. Piano is presently working with the Art Institute of Chicago and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Other current projects include the expansion of the Columbia University campus in New York City and the London Bridge Tower.
Among Mr. Piano’s completed buildings are the acclaimed expansion of The Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City; the New York Times Manhattan headquarters, also in New York City; the expanded High Museum of Art in Atlanta; the Menil Collection in Houston; the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco; the Beyeler Foundation Museum in Basel; the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas; the Kansai International Air Terminal in Osaka; and the reconstruction of the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.
Mr. Piano’s buildings are known for their sensitivity not only to design, but also to issues of habitability and sustainability. Additionally, the quality of light in Mr. Piano’s projects is often noted, including in LACMA’s Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM), which has a naturally lit top floor. Rather than imposing a single signature style, he creates designs that are appropriate to the mission of each institution and its community. In 1998, Mr. Piano received the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered the architecture equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
Renzo Piano was born into a family of builders in Genoa, Italy, in 1937. He established strong roots with his home city—it’s historic center, port, sea, and his father’s business all held both sentimental and cultural value. While attending the Milan Polytechnic, Renzo worked in the studio of Franco Albini. He graduated in 1964 and then began to work with experimental lightweight structures and basic shelters. Between 1965 and 1970 Renzo travelled extensively in America and Britain. In 1971, he founded the studio Piano & Rogers with Richard Rogers, and together they won the competition for the Centre Pompidou in Paris, where he now lives. From the early 1970s until the ’90s, he collaborated with the engineer Peter Rice, forming Atelier Piano & Rice, between 1977 and 1981. Finally, in 1981, he established the Renzo Piano Building Workshop with a hundred people working in Paris, Genoa, and New York.
All photos © Rpbw, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Italy.
Image, top: Site drawing, west elevation, Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, architects.
|
 Fondation Beyeler
 Nasher Sculpture Center
 Menil Collection
|
