Renzo Piano: Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, The Architecture

by Renzo Piano (Contributor)

The prominent Genovese architect Renzo Piano--recipient of the 1998 Pritzker Award and architect of the Whitney Museum of American Art and Morgan Library renovations, as well as the new New York Times building--has just completed a new and unusual museum building--the Zentrum Paul Klee on the outskirts of Bern. The center, says Piano, is dedicated to the "poet of silence," and thus it was fitting to consider building a museum that would speak softly. The Zentrum Paul Klee rises upward in the form of three hills connected by a 150-meter-long thoroughfare, the "Museum Street" serving as a path within the complex. The three structures make up a harmonious yet prominent landscape sculpture whose roofs are supported by innovative steel construction. Includes photographs, design sketches, plans and models--a living image of a magnificent building.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2006

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.