Lorenzo Ciccarelli

Renzo Piano is one of the world’s greatest living architects and creator of a host of iconic modern buildings, including the Pompidou in Paris, the Menil Collection in Texas, Kansai Airport in Japan, the Shard in London and the new Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Written and created in collaboration with the Piano Foundation in Genoa, this richly illustrated volume covers the early work as well as the most recent designs, making a complete survey of his career to date. Starting with his beginnings with the Pompidou Centre in the 1970s (in collaboration with Richard Rogers) the story continues up to construction of one of his latest works, a spectacular new bridge in Genoa in 2020. The book explores all of the studio’s main projects: the public spaces and museums, airports, theatres, and libraries. As well as giving unique insights into the creative process of Piano himself, the book includes numerous unpublished designs and photographs. In the process the book reveals Piano’s unique way of handling light and space, as well as his particular attention to the social implications of the profession of architect and the relationship of buildings to their urban environment and landscape.

One of the world's most renowned architects, Renzo Piano was born in Genoa in 1937 into a family of Italian builders. He is responsible for such iconic landmarks as the Shard in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. 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 introduces this exceptional publication, before a series of texts by major figures from the worlds of culture, engineering and building, including the Oscar-winning actor and director Roberto Benigni, the artist Susumu Shingu and the architect Richard Rogers, Piano's co-designer of the Centre Georges Pompidou.

This is not only a book about Vittorio Gregotti’s projects and works, but rather a historical-critical analysis of his peculiar figure. Like a few others, Gregotti embodied the model of the architect-intellectual that characterised post-war Italian design culture. Editor of leading magazines, author of influential books and essays, professor at prestigious universities, curator of memorable exhibitions and events such as the 1976 Venice Biennale and founder of a firm that developed a wide range of projects for over 40 years, Gregotti tenaciously occupied all the territories available to the architectural profession, promoting cultural and design trends and triggering long-lasting controversies. This book examines the formation of Gregotti’s theoretical positions around the notions of territory and modification, the connection with the profession, the relationship with history and the tradition of modern architecture, the notion of critical internationalism and the idea of the city and urban design in an era of increasing disurbanism. All aspects of a cultural project aimed at shaping and elaborating a certain tradition of modern architecture in the different social and economic conditions of his time, namely the emerging society of entertainment and consumption, and then of information technologies and global financial markets. This work will be of interest to postgraduate researchers and academics in architectural theory and history, as well as urban design and planning theory and history.

This is not only a book about Vittorio Gregotti’s projects and works, but rather a historical-critical analysis of his peculiar figure. Like a few others, Gregotti embodied the model of the architect-intellectual that characterised post-war Italian design culture. Editor of leading magazines, author of influential books and essays, professor at prestigious universities, curator of memorable exhibitions and events such as the 1976 Venice Biennale and founder of a firm that developed a wide range of projects for over 40 years, Gregotti tenaciously occupied all the territories available to the architectural profession, promoting cultural and design trends and triggering long-lasting controversies.This book examines the formation of Gregotti’s theoretical positions around the notions of territory and modification, the connection with the profession, the relationship with history and the tradition of modern architecture, the notion of critical internationalism and the idea of the city and urban design in an era of increasing disurbanism. All aspects of a cultural project aimed at shaping and elaborating a certain tradition of modern architecture in the different social and economic conditions of his time, namely the emerging society of entertainment and consumption, and then of information technologies and global financial markets.This work will be of interest to postgraduate researchers and academics in architectural theory and history, as well as urban design and planning theory and history.