Archinect - News

Renzo Piano releases first concept designs for The Center for Arts & Innovation in Boca Raton, Florida

2024-04-19T18:30:00-04:00

Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) has released early concept designs for The Center for Arts & Innovation project in Boca Raton, Florida. The firm was announced as the winner of an international RFP process to imagine the Center in September of last year.

As stated in an announcement today, the new campus aims to foster the convergence of arts, education, business, and community in order to develop a new approach to how the world designs, imagines, programs, utilizes, and embraces cultural infrastructure.

Image: Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW)

The project will consist of a three-story building featuring permeable and luminous multi-use spaces. The eastern side of the scheme will include the “main venue,” a large multi-functional, convertible event, exhibition, and performance space designed to merge seamlessly with the outdoor piazza. The main venue is intended to be highly flexible, allowing for a variety of gatherings, exhibitions, performances, and innovative programming....

Renzo Piano Building Workshop puts the finishing touches on 600 W. 125th residential tower for Columbia University

2023-12-27T18:36:00-05:00

Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) is progressing towards the completion of its new 600 W. 125th Street off-campus Harlem housing project for Columbia University in collaboration with CetraRuddy.

Once complete, the 34-story dorm is set to host 142 apartments for graduate students and faculty with another 5,000-square-foot McDonald’s retail location included at the ground level. Thornton Tomasetti is in charge of delivering the building’s facade system. The construction has been engineered to meet LEED v4.0 Gold certification standards and culminates in a total of 177,000 square-feet, including its terraced podium.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Renzo Piano Building Workshop (@rpbw_architects)

The project is being realized just a few blocks south of the southern edge of Manhattanville, Columbia’s sometimes fraught 17-acre multiphase development that has to date included three other RPBW buildings (the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, Lenfest Center f...

Renzo Piano completes CERN's new Science Gateway project in Geneva

2023-10-13T15:13:00-04:00

Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) has shared photos following the inauguration of its new CERN Science Gateway project in Geneva, Switzerland.

The project for clients at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (or CERN) was realized in collaboration with the local studio Brodbeck Roulet Architectes Associés and offers the agency room for an expanded education and outreach program capable of handling between 300,000 and 500,000 visitors annually.

Image © CERN

The project’s design is inspired by the tubing integral to CERN’s famed Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator and houses two new laboratories, three small exhibition areas, a 900-seat auditorium, shop, and restaurant in a footprint totaling just over 75,000 square feet. A bridge suspended 20 feet above the ground connects the five separate spaces. RPBW says it also establishes a central metaphor as the “link between science and society.”

Image © CERN

More than 400 trees were planted in order ...

Renzo Piano selected to design new Center for Arts & Innovation in Boca Raton, Florida

2023-09-07T13:35:00-04:00

Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) has been announced as the winner of an international RFP process to deliver a new arts and innovation cultural project in Boca Raton, Florida.

The Italian studio beat out Foster + Partners, Ennead, and OMA for the commission of the new Center for Arts & Innovation and will begin the design and development process next month toward an expected 2025 groundbreaking. The Center will be located in the city’s downtown core and offer local K-12 learners facilities equipped for STEAM education while providing much-needed cultural infrastructure. RPBW's proposal also calls for a six-venue program of flexible performance spaces with a capacity for up to 6,000 people.

“We have worked for the last five years to arrive at this milestone moment. The fact that this firm takes two to three commissions at any time in the year just underscores the fact that this project is that enticing to the global market,” the Center’s CEO, Andrea Virgin, indicated via a press ...

‘The limits of what architecture can do’: Critic Alex Bozikovic looks for evidence at Renzo Piano's new Ontario Court of Justice

2023-07-28T15:20:00-04:00

Yet the courthouse reveals the limits of what architecture can do. Its spatial clarity and sedulous details don’t resolve some issues with where it is placed. This is a spectacular execution of a flawed recipe. [...] Then there is a larger question: Is a centralized courthouse a good idea in the first place?

The Globe and Mail architecture critic Alex Bozikovic reviews the massive new RPBW and NORR-designed Ontario Court of Justice project, calling it characteristically calm, natural, and “friendlier” than other contemporary North American courthouse designs owing to a well-articulated “European attitude to justice.”

The new Ontario Court of Justice at the center of the photograph. Image courtesy RPBW

Its site opposite Toronto’s spectacular City Hall from 1965 is the largest foil to Piano’s first Canadian design, he argues. The project was completed in March and offers a consolidation of six smaller facilities that expands access to court services, proponents maintain over the protests of attorney associations like the Society of United Professionals. Here it becomes obvious, Bozicovic reminds us, that "design can’t fix everything."

Renzo Piano on the elemental approach to his newly-opened Istanbul Modern design

2023-06-13T15:14:00-04:00

If you are an architect, you have to understand what the genius of the place is, and you have to catch the spirit of the place, and Istanbul is about the water [...] And the Istanbul Modern is about a dialogue between the building and the water.

RPBW’s first project in Turkey comes as the country begins its rebuilding following the devastating February earthquake. Towards this concern, Piano says, “When you make a place for people for art and music, accessibility and safety are fundamental elements.”

A survey of his past work titled Genius Loci also “examines in detail the design process and structural components of Istanbul Modern’s new building” and remains on view in its first-floor library.

The museum opened to the public on May 4th.

Previously on Archinect: Renzo Piano’s Istanbul Modern museum opens in Turkey

Renzo Piano’s Istanbul Modern museum opens in Turkey

2023-05-03T14:06:00-04:00

The first dedicated museum of modern and contemporary art in Turkish history is finally opening its doors this week following the completion of the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW)-designed Istanbul Modern in the country’s most populous city.

Clad in an “iridescent” envelope of aluminum paneling that aims to resemble the scales of a fish, the 110,000-square-foot facility overlooks Istanbul’s Karaköy waterfront at the confluence of the Bosphorus Strait and Golden Horn waterways. In its site placement and silhouette, the structure evokes the passage of a ship through the harbor. The building’s ground floor is made transparent by a glass curtain wall that showcases two site-specific works by Richard Wentworth and Olafur Eliasson while offering visitors a panoramic view of the ongoing $1.8 billion Galataport development beyond.

Image: © Cemal Emden

RPBW says this material transparency “reflects the ethos of the museum: A multifaceted experience offering visitors audience-oriented exh...

Renzo Piano's reworked GES-2 House of Culture makes its much-awaited debut in Moscow

2021-12-08T14:50:00-05:00

After over six years of planning and construction, Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s colorful GES-2 House of Culture has officially opened its doors in Moscow.

Situated on the edge of Bolotnaya Square, Piano’s latest museum, once a former power station, is a testament to the old Soviet concept of culture houses that serve as versatile communal gathering spaces to promote arts, performance, learning, and civic engagement.

Image courtesy GES-2/Facebook

Done over in a vivid arctic white and meant as the permanent home to the V-A-C Foundation, the noted cultural designer’s careful effort to restore the disused early 20th-century structure has yielded a light-filled cavernous space that houses a theater, a large nave-like exhibition hall, and performances areas that are all also inundated with clean air taken in by a pair of distinct 70-meter high blue steel chimneys.

Kjartansson's sketch for his "living sculpture" installation. Image courtesy GES-2 via Facebook.

The 20,000-square-meter (215...

Lawsuit alleges Florida condo collapse was triggered by Renzo Piano-designed building under construction next door

2021-12-03T14:38:00-05:00

A new lawsuit filed on behalf of victims and family members of the Champlain Towers South collapse alleges that the incident was caused by construction work on an adjacent property. 98 people were killed when the condominium tower in Surfside, Florida collapsed suddenly in the early morning of June 24th, 2021.

The neighboring tower, named Eighty Seven Park, was designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and was completed in early 2020. Before the building was completed, it made headlines in 2018 when the 18th-floor, six-bedroom, 11-bathroom penthouse hit the market at a Florida record-setting asking price of $68 million.

The latest lawsuit alleges that excavation, pile-driving, and other works carried out at Eighty Seven Park between 2016 and 2019 caused vibrations that weakened the Champlain Towers building. The lawsuit also alleges that groundwater was funneled from the new building to the Champlain...

The biggest splash: Renzo Piano’s masterwork Academy Museum opens as one of Los Angeles’ newest landmarks

2021-09-29T14:57:00-04:00

When it finally opens on Thursday, the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will do so in a similar vein to so many of this year’s star-studded fall releases. The $484 million museum’s first act will be as a barometer for an industry looking once again to pack theaters and captivate audiences as the tumult of the covid era gives way to Hollywood entrances and red carpet debuts.

Photo by Joshua White, JWPictures/© Academy Museum Foundation

No museum has been so anticipated in the recent history of the city. None in North America have ever been so dedicated to film culture and to moviemaking as this dazzling new magnum opus. It is precisely the vehicle the industry needs to promote itself as it emerges from a fraught decade and one that looks inevitably to the future using the past as prologue and film as a lens through which we experience ourselves and the world.

Renzo Piano’s blockbuster new cinematic arts shrine expands from an old Streamline Moderne department store at the corner...

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announces visitor information ahead of September opening

2021-07-16T09:00:00-04:00

The long-awaited Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is finally opening its doors. The museum announced that timed advance admission tickets will be available through its website or app beginning August 5 in time for its opening on September 30, 2021 in Los Angeles.

The Renzo Piano-designed, 300,000-square-foot museum campus, which dubs itself “the largest institution in the United States devoted to exploring the art and science of movies and moviemaking,” is opening with a collection of exhibitions, including a retrospective of Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki and a showcase covering the extensive history and breadth of filmmaking called “Stories of Cinema.”

Previously on Archinect: Construction completes on Renzo Piano's long-awaited Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA

General admission tickets will be $25 for adults, $19 for seniors, and $15 for students. Visitors ages 17 and younger may enter for free. An additional exhibition titled “The Oscars Experience” offers visitors an...

Renzo Piano on light, water, and gravity

2021-03-24T18:35:00-04:00

“All my buildings fly, which when you think about it makes perfect sense because an architect spends his life fighting against the force of gravity,” he says. “By levitating a building, it does not take from the city and its people – it gives something back.”

Renzo Piano in conversation with the Financial Times.

Related on Archinect: Construction completes on Renzo Piano's long-awaited Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA. Photo by Josh White, JWPictures © Academy Museum Foundation

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures: opening delayed again due to Covid-19 fears

2020-12-23T15:11:00-05:00

The much-heralded opening of the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles has been rescheduled from 30 April until 30 September of next year [...] Los Angeles is in the grip of restrictions imposed by the state as coronavirus cases soar, making it difficult to envision greeting visitors as museums currently are closed due to pandemic concerns.

"We are putting the final touches on our stunning exhibitions and public spaces, and while we were ready and eager to welcome visitors in the spring, with the current surge of COVID-19, it would be irresponsible to maintain an April opening," said Bill Kramer, Director and President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. "We know a new day is coming for us all, and when it does, the Academy Museum will be ready to offer our visitors the remarkable experience we have all been wanting."

The Renzo Piano-designed 300,000 square-foot museum campus on LA's Wilshire Boulevard was originally scheduled to open in 2017.

Renzo Piano's Academy Museum of Motion Pictures receives LEED Gold Certification

2020-11-04T16:14:00-05:00

Slowly, slowly, LA's new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is inching towards its anticipated completion.

The LACMA-adjacent, Renzo Piano-designed 300,000 square-foot museum campus on Wilshire Boulevard was forced to push back several official opening dates — most recently, the December 14 opening was rescheduled to now April 30, 2021 — but there appears to be continued progress at the site: the project was recently awarded LEED Gold Certification for its environmental concept.

Bird's eye rendering © Renzo Piano Building Workshop/©Academy Museum Foundation/ Image from L’Autre Image

Contributing to the rating were high-performance indoor environmental systems, solar power systems, waste reduction programs, easy public transportation access, a rideshare pickup and drop-off point, bike racks, a storm water reuse system that feeds irrigation for the museum’s landscaping, and Green Building Education content that will be accessible onsite and online after the museum’s opening.

Firms invo...

Renzo Piano-designed Genoa Bridge completed in record 15 months

2020-08-05T13:44:00-04:00

Built in less than two years to replace the collapsed Morandi bridge, the new span is already a point of pride for Italy. But residents fear it will not be enough to revive their aging port city.

Documentary about the new Genoa Bridge (in Italian). Video via Webuild S.p.A. on YouTube.

The Genoa bridge project and its tragic origin on Archinect:

Photos of Renzo Piano's first residential building in Miami

2020-03-02T19:48:00-05:00

Renzo Piano Building Workshop recently celebrated the completion of Eighty Seven Park, the firm's first residential building in Miami.

Designed for developers Terra and Bizzi & Partners Development, the 200-foot-tall condo tower made headlines in 2018 when the 18th-floor, six-bedroom, 11-bathroom penthouse hit the market at a Florida record-setting asking price of $68 million.

French studio RDAI envisioned the building's interior design, and Rotterdam's West 8 were in charge of the landscape design.

Photo: The Boundary, image courtesy Eighty Seven Park.

"The site is the last piece of land north of North Shore Open Space Park at the limit of the city of Miami Beach," explains RPBW's project description. "The main idea of the project is to enhance the presence of the green space in the area of North Shore Park, by extending the green area to the 87th Terrace at the northern limit of the project site."

Photo: Douglas Friedman, image courtesy Eighty Seven Park.

"Reducing the footprint of...

Construction of Renzo Piano-designed Genoa Bridge reaches milestone

2020-02-19T15:01:00-05:00

The last of the 18 piers that will support the new Genoa bridge in Italy has been completed less than eight months after construction of the first foundations began. [...] Ten of the sections of the deck that will rest on the piers have been installed so far; the current deck length of 550m is more than half of its eventual 1,067m length.

43 people were killed and 14 more injured on August 14, 2018 when the nearly mile-long Morandi highway bridge in Genoa partially collapsed. Architect Renzo Piano, a Genoa native, was commissioned to design the 1,067-meter replacement bridge, and construction work started in June 2019.

The 18 bridge piers each rise 40 meters (131 feet) high, with their foundations sunk 50 meters (164 feet) underground. Workers will now continue to raise the remaining bridge spans.

Video via Salini Impregilo's YouTube channel.

"Above ground, they all measure 9.50 metres by 4.0 metres in order to guarantee a uniform perspective to the structure as well as to quicken the pace of its construction with the use of the same type of external formwork for every pier," explains a statement released by Salini Impregilo, the contractor building the bridge together with Fincantieri as the joint venture, PerGenova. "The piers are elliptical in shape, allowing the light to slide off the surface and soften the visu...

A closer look inside Renzo Piano's newly completed residential tower in Manhattan

2019-12-10T18:55:00-05:00

A few weeks after Renzo Piano completed the high-end 565 Broome SoHo, more photos of the Italian architect's first residential project in New York City have been revealed. The luxury condominium building was developed by real estate firms Bizzi & Partners Development, Aronov Development, and Halpern Real Estate Ventures, and Parisian practice Rena Dumas Architecture Interieure (RDAI) was in charge of the interiors. Renzo Piano Building Workshop collaborated with SLCE Architects.

Photo: Adrian Gaut / Edge Reps.

According to Renzo Piano, the design of the 17,000-square-foot tower was “shaped by light,” which led him to create conjoined glass structures with curved corners and an exterior of “low-iron” reflective glass. Inside, the building contains 115 light-filled residential units—ranging from studios to four-bedroom condos—that maximize views of the city. For the interiors, RDAI wanted to deliver a cohesive design that pr...

Inside Renzo Piano’s first residential tower in New York City

2019-11-25T14:30:00-05:00

Known for his work on The New York Times Building, the Whitney Museum, and the Morgan Library expansion, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano has completed his first residential building in NYC at 565 Broome Street. The Soho tower has 115 residences, ranging from studios to four-bedroom condos. Uber’s Travis Kalanick and tennis star Novak Djokovic have already scooped up units in the building, where sales launched last September.

The latest trend in luxury real estate? Bespoke automated parking

2019-09-23T12:59:00-04:00

“[Parking is] sort of becoming an expected amenity for a high-end condo,” said Andrew Bradfield, a principal of Orange Management, a developer that has installed automated garages in two Brooklyn condos: Waverly Brooklyn in Clinton Hill and the Symon in Downtown Brooklyn. “To not have parking hampers marketing.”

Despite having one of the best public transportation systems in the world, New York City's developers have taken to embracing bespoke and automated parking options as luxury building amenities in recent years. The spots can cost upwards of $200,000 per stall to rent, depending on the development.

The New York Times reports that Renzo Piano Building Workshop's 565 Broome SoHo, BIG's XI residences, and Robert A.M. Stern's 70 Vestry are among many recent Manhattan condo projects that offer "hefty amounts of accessory parking."

Morphosis, SOM, and Renzo Piano make short-list for new office tower slated for former L.A. police headquarters site

2019-09-04T14:30:00-04:00

The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering has announced a trio of finalist teams competing to redevelop the site of the former Parker Center police headquarters in the city's Civic Center district.

Each of the teams, according to Urbanize.la, is each made up of designers, contractors, operations providers, and community "equity" members. The project RFP calls for a 750,000-square-foot office tower, ground floor retail spaces, pedestrian passages to the surrounding neighborhood, and a requirement for including public displays highlighting the history of the former Parker Center complex. The project can rise up to 27-stories and would, according to Urbanize.la, rival City Hall in terms of height. A breakdown of the teams follows below.

DTLA Civic Partners

The DTLA Civic Partners team is headed by SOM and includes Clark Construction, Meridiam and Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate as equity partners, and ENGIE Services providing operations and management services.

LAC 3 Partn...

Genoa blows up remaining Morandi Bridge to make way for Renzo Piano's replacement

2019-06-28T14:10:00-04:00

Morandi Bridge in the Italian city of Genoa has been demolished almost a year after its partial collapse killed 43 people. Thousands of residents were evacuated before the operation, which was over within eight seconds. Water was sprayed over the scene to reduce the dust produced by the blast.

The partial collapse of Genoa's nearly mile-long Morandi highway bridge on August 14, 2018 killed 43 people trying to cross the bridge at the time. A controlled explosion brought down the last two pillars this morning while the rest of the old bridge is being removed.

Construction on the Renzo Piano-designed replacement bridge reportedly started this week as well.

Rendering of the replacement bridge. Image: Renzo Piano Building Workshop.

Watch the video of the dramatic controlled explosion below.

Renzo Piano's Academy Museum of Motion Pictures won't open until 2020

2019-06-24T14:07:00-04:00

Contrary to plans previously announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will not open in 2019, or any time prior to the 92nd Oscars on Feb. 9, 2020. The $388 million project on the site of the old May Co. department store on the Miracle Mile, which was first announced in 2012, was initially slated to cost $250 million and open in 2017, but it has been delayed several times now.

Rendering of the completed Academy Museum. Image: © Renzo Piano Building Workshop/ © A.M.P.A.S./ Images from L’Autre Image

The Hollywood Reporter published a statement released by the museum last week: "The Academy Museum's intention is to create a unique and unparalleled museum experience. Achieving this has required a highly complex construction effort — renovating a 1939 L.A. landmark, building a new spherical structure that includes a 1,500-panel glass dome and joining them together to produce 300,000 square feet of spectacular public and exhibition space."

View this post on Instagram Good things come to those who wait! The Academy Museum is coming soon.
A post shared by Academy Museum (@academymuseum) on Jun 14, 2019 at 11:48am PDT

Renzo Piano-Designed Miami Beach Penthouse Could Set Florida Record at $68 Million

2018-12-13T12:45:00-05:00

As Art Basel kicks off this week in Miami the city has a new listing to boast about that comes with everything you would expect for the highest-priced penthouse in the area right now: a celebrity architect, more square footage than its competitors, ocean views that go on forever and, of course, an unusual luxury amenity...

Renzo Piano's new Bay Area mall creates modern public space for the suburbs

2018-12-12T09:20:00-05:00

He designed the Shard in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, but for his latest project, Italian architect Renzo Piano has taken his impressive legacy to the unsuspecting city of San Ramon in order to build a suburban shopping center.

Completed for a reported cost of $300 million, City Center Bishop Ranch is located in a Bay Area suburb, about a 45 minute drive from San Francisco. Retail spaces have begun opening their doors, and one can expect to find mall staples like Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma coexisting alongside Bay Area favorites such as the Slanted Door—the famed San Francisco Vietnamese restaurant—and local brewery Fieldwork Brewing Co.

As the latest champion of a new kind of mall culture, the creators conceived of Bishop Ranch, not just as a luxury shopping complex, but as a downtown area and modern public space for the suburbs. "We're trying to avoid the traditional sort of shopping center model and create a place that feels a little bit more endear...

Renzo Piano offers design to replace collapsed Genoa bridge

2018-08-29T16:07:00-04:00

Renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano has offered to help design a new Genoa bridge to replace the one that collapsed, killing 43 people. A native of the city, Piano was already involved in redesigning a 2km (1.2-mile) stretch of its waterfront. Regional governor Giovanni Toti said: "We have gladly accepted the help, and he's already made some proposals."

The BBC writes that Piano reportedly "provided sketches to Genoa officials, showing the road sitting on pillars that each resembled the prow of a ship. The other main feature would be 43 very tall posts illuminating the bridge at night in the shape of sails - one for each victim of the disaster."

View of the Ponte Morandi highway bridge in Genoa, which partially collapsed on August 14, killing 43 and injuring 14 people. Photo: Salvatore Fabbrizio/Wikipedia.

Renzo Piano to design new $50M art gallery for mega-dealer David Zwirner

2018-01-09T18:22:00-05:00

That, Mr. Zwirner said, is the site of what in the fall of 2020 will become the new heart of his New York operation: a five-story, $50 million gallery designed by Renzo Piano. [...] The precise design has yet to be determined — Mr. Piano is in the early stages of the process. But it is likely to have a similarly spare aesthetic to Mr. Zwirner’s current spaces, by Annabelle Selldorf.

In its article about art dealer David Zwirner's upcoming Renzo Piano-designed gallery and global headquarters, the NYT recounts a telephone interview with Piano about (early) design visions for the building: "You kill art by making just white boxes, so you need to integrate emotion in some way. You cannot be neutral, because otherwise you disappear."

David Zwirner's current portfolio of NYC galleries includes this 20th Street gallery in West Chelsea by Selldorf Architects. Photo: Jason Schmidt.

When completed in 2020, the building will be the Zwirner art empire's fifth gallery in New York and the seventh worldwide.

Renzo Piano on his Academy Museum of Motion Pictures: "It may work. We shall see."

2017-10-26T14:49:00-04:00

"I cross a bit my fingers,” Renzo Piano told me. “It may work. We shall see.” We were standing inside the concrete shell of the main auditorium of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, an ambitious but troubled project that after a series of delays is expected to open in 2019. [...] Construction workers hammered away all around us, producing a ring of noise that occasionally made it tough to hear Piano, who at 80 speaks more softly than he once did.

LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne dissects Renzo Piano's third Southern California project, the troubled Academy Museum of Motion Pictures which — plagued by delays and controversy — is currently under construction right next to his other two completed buildings, the 2008 Broad Contemporary Art Museum and the 2011 Resnick Pavilion (both for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and both not living up to Piano's expected excellence as a museum designer, Hawthorne writes).

Just last month, the Academy released new renderings that document minor updates to the museum plans in the hopes of laying to rest quarrels about the project's flawed design.

Renzo Piano about the "idea of openness as an antidote to terrorism"

2017-05-30T13:46:00-04:00

For Renzo Piano, every building should tell a story. The 79-year-old architect is as busy as ever with a workload that spans from Los Angeles to Uganda. With no signs of fatigue in a nearly 50-year career, Piano doesn’t struggle to find meaning in each new project. “I’ve wanted to make buildings since I was a kid,” says the Italian-born architect, who fondly recalls spending time at construction sites with his dad.

CityLab recently sat down with Piano for a conversation that, among other topics, touched on urban peripheries, Columbia University’s new Manhattanville Campus, and "the importance of designing buildings that reject paranoia in a world increasingly concerned with terrorism."

A Manahattan Pianoville, for a new neighborhood by the river

2016-11-13T14:12:00-05:00

a triumph of postindustrial classicism by the ultimate deluxe architect. More a craftsman than a visionary, he conjures steel membranes and glass scrims that seem to float free of their tethers. With beams as fine as pencil lines, he draws planes that seem flatter, volumes more graceful, and angles righter than anyone else’s. ..a mini-city so perfectly ordered and ruthlessly pleasant that by rights it should exist only in the mind.

Justin Davidson visits the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. As the first architectural marker on the new 17-acre Manhattanville campus, which RPBW masterplanned, Davidson looks for clues to the future/past of the new campus/city...