Pritzker Prize-winning genius behind the world's most famous buildings: Who is Renzo Piano?

What you need to know about Renzo Piano

The 85-year-old Italian architect won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1998.

Notable buildings include Center Georges Pompidou in Paris, The Shard in London, Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Fondation Beyeler in Basel, and now Istanbul Modern.

In 1970, he received his first international commission for the Italian Industry Pavilion for Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan. He collaborated with his brother Ermanno, who produced the building, and the family business. The lightweight and original construction, made of steel and reinforced polyester, looked artistic and industrial at the same time. The 1970 Osaka structure was admired by British architect Richard Rogers, and in 1971 Piano and Rogers decided to open a joint architectural office and worked together until 1977.

The first project of the new firm was B&B Italia's headquarters in Como, Italy. This design featured a suspended container and an open load-bearing structure, painted in bright colors (blue, red, and yellow) on the outside of the heating and water pipes. These splashy features attracted a lot of attention in the architectural world and prompted Piano and Rogers to be chosen to design the Center Pompidou.

Renzo Piano (born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (2015), İstanbul Modern in Istanbul (2022) and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens (2016). He won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1998. Piano has been a Senator for Life in the Italian Senate since 2013.

This came as a surprise to the architectural world, as both architects were very young and little known, and had no experience with museums or other large structures. The New York Times declared that his designs "turned up the world of architecture." However, they had literally turned the architecture inside out, because, in the new museum, the visible structural frame of the building and the heating and ventilation ducts were on the brightly painted exterior. The escalator in a transparent tube crossed the building's façade diagonally. The building was a surprising success, completely changing the character of a ramshackle commercial center near the Marais in Paris, making Piano and Rogers some of the world's best-known architects.

Life of Renzo Piano

Renzo Piano was born in Genoa on September 14, 1937, as the son of a family of construction and contractors.

Renzo Piano graduated from the Milan Polytechnic School of Architecture in 1964. He enriched his professional experience by traveling to England and the USA between 1967-70.

Renzo Piano's meeting and friendship with Jean Prouvé deeply affected his professional life. In 1971, he established the Piano & Rogers partnership and realized the Center Pompidou project in Paris with Richard Rogers.

He founded "l'Atelier Piano & Rice" in 1977 and undertook many projects with Peter Rice, a civil engineer, until Rice's death in 1993. The successful architect later established the Renzo Piano Building Workshop with offices in Paris and Genoa. More than 100 architects, engineers, and experts in various branches still work here.

Renzo Piano is one of the representatives of the deconstructivism movement. It exhibits a focused approach to fewer materials and functional solutions. Renzo Piano, who provides training on architecture and contributes to the development of architecture, has signed more than 120 projects just after the establishment of RPBW. Osaka Kansai International Airport Terminal, Rome Auditorium, Tokyo Maison Hermes, and New York Times Building are just a few of his works.

As an architect, he has a collaborative production style that allows perfect works in terms of engineering. He embodies his projects by first drawing them with a pencil. His drawings are a great source of inspiration for a new generation of architects.

Authorities who look at Renzo Piano's drawings and projects find his genius equal to Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. The biggest reason for this is; developed problem-solving techniques.

It is an architect who determines the direction of future architecture and expands its angle. It tries to express architecture with highly industrialized materials. In an era where diverse architectural concepts are mixed, it consistently combines architectural styles with emerging technology to achieve a higher level of humanistic expression, opening the way for new architectural possibilities.

Awards

Gold Medal from the London Chamber of Architects in 1989, the Kyoto Prize, an international award honoring those who have made significant contributions to the scientific, cultural, and spiritual betterment of humanity in Japan in 1990, the Goodwill ambassador award from UNESCO in 1994, Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1998, 2000 He received the famous Golden Lion Award from the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2008, a gold medal from the American Institute of Architects in 2008, and the Sonning Kophenag award, one of Denmark's biggest cultural awards, in 2009. In 2004, he created a non-profit organization and established the Renzo Piano Foundation. Italian architect Renzo Piano, who also has the phrase "Architecture is a struggle between the practical and the spiritual world", was appointed as a lifelong senator by the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, on 30 August 2013. He was awarded an honorary degree from Columbia University in 2014.

Worldwide Loved Works

International Kansai Airport terminal, Japan (1994)

Nasher Sculpture Center, USA (2003)

New York Morgan Library renovation and extension, USA (2006)

Paul Klee Library, Switzerland (2005)

Center Pompidou, France (1977)

Church of San Pio, Italy (2004)

Menil Collection, USA (1987)

Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center, France (1998)

National Center for Science and Technology, Netherlands (1997)

High Museum add-on, USA (2005)

International Columbus Exhibition Aquarium and Convention Hall, Italy (1992)

Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Italy (1991)

Usibuka Bridge, Japan (1996)

Olivetti Office Building, Italy (1984)

Potzdamer Platz, Germany (2000)