Renzo Piano: The Art of Making Buildings

by Renzo Piano (contributor), John Tusa (Contributor), Kate Goodwin (Contributor)

Fifty years of pioneering architecture from the icon behind the Whitney Museum in New York, the Shard in London and the Pompidou Centre in Paris One of the world's most renowned architects, Renzo Piano (born 1937) is responsible for such iconic landmarks as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Menil Collection in Houston, the Shard in London and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. He works closely with engineers to craft his buildings, which have changed cities across the globe. The Renzo Piano Building Workshop, based in Paris and Genoa, fosters this spirit of collaboration and mentoring, and continues to pioneer groundbreaking architecture that challenges and inspires. This book, which accompanies an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, provides an intimate look at the life and work of a man who believes passionately that architecture should make a positive contribution to people and place. An exclusive interview with Piano himself, in which he shares his professional experience and personal and architectural wisdom, introduces this exceptional publication, before a series of texts by major figures from the worlds of politics, culture, planning and building, including the Oscar-winning actor and director Roberto Benigni, the internationally renowned sculptor and architect Susumu Shingu and the architect Richard Rogers, Piano's codesigner of the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Genres: Architecture

159 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1989

About the author

Senator Renzo Piano is an Italian Pritzker Prize-winning architect. Architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff said of Piano's works that the "...serenity of his best buildings can almost make you believe that we live in a civilized world."[1]
In 2006, Piano was selected by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.[2] He was selected as the 10th most influential person in the "Arts and Entertainment" category of the 2006 Time 100.
In August 2013 he was appointed Senator for Life in the Italian Senate.

Reviews

[Leandro Llorente · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to Renzo Piano's work and his blueprint working drawings.

[Morris Yen · Rating 5 out of 5]

sweet and concise introduction of Renzo Piano, his works, and his philosophy