In his interview with Renzo Piano, Rob Gregory of Architectural Review discusses architecture, responsibility and innovation within the field. Piano talks about architecture is being a highly considered inquiry into the process of making because “architecture is more lasting and profound” and if it is done wrong, with the wrong intentions and assumptions, then “it is wrong for a long time”. In regards to his work, Renzo Piano speaks about the “good and bad stories” that surround buildings. Mentioning The Shard in London, designed in partnership with Hunter Douglas and Pompidou Centre, designed in collaboration with Richard Rogers, Piano reflects on the role of architecture in a city as a public building and cultural magnet.
More after the break.
Renzo Piano has been involved with many cultural projects over the course of his career, which began in 1964. The public buildings that he speaks about, particularly The Shard, expresses the building, not as an object, but as an integral part of the city. He describes it as a “vertical city” of many programs and attractions for different people, day and night uses, and the way in which it interacts with the elements. He also speaks about the challenges associated with each project – cultural, political, economic, technological, structural.
Be sure to check out The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center by Renzo Piano Building Workshop scheduled to begin construction Spring 2012 and the Satellite Whitney Museum, which has already broken ground in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan near the Highline. For more on Renzo Piano click here.
AR Innovators is a series of interviews by Architectural Review that “talk about new ways of thinking and designing that will create the buildings and cities of tomorrow”. There are interviews available from some of the leading architects of today.
