28 Facts About Renzo Piano

Renzo Piano was born and raised in Genoa, Italy, into a family of builders.

Renzo Piano's grandfather had created a masonry enterprise, which had been expanded by his father, Carlo Piano, and his father's three brothers, into the firm Fratelli Piano.

Renzo Piano studied architecture at the University of Florence and Polytechnic University of Milan.

Renzo Piano graduated in 1964 with a dissertation about modular coordination supervised by Giuseppe Ciribini and began working with experimental lightweight structures and basic shelters.

Renzo Piano completed his first building, the IPE factory in Genoa, in 1968, with a roof of steel and reinforced polyester, and created a continuous membrane for the covering of a pavilion at the Milan Triennale in the same year.

Renzo Piano collaborated with his brother Ermanno and the family firm, which manufactured the structure.

In 1977 Renzo Piano ended his collaboration with Rogers and began a new collaboration with engineer Peter Rice, who had assisted in the design of the Pompidou Center.

Renzo Piano's portable pavilion for IBM was an example; designed with Peter Rice, it a lightweight portable tunnel for expositions.

Renzo Piano designed a two major reconstruction projects in northern Italy; the reanimation of the old port of his native city, Genoa, and the conversion and modernization of the gigantic and historic Fiat factory in Turin, Italy.

Renzo Piano continued his modifications and additions over two decades; without destroying the historic core of the building.

Renzo Piano carried out a large program for revitalization of the old port of Genoa to transform it from a rundown industrial area into a cultural center and tourist attraction.

Renzo Piano designed the exterior of the ships to resemble a dolphin.

Renzo Piano designed a series of curved wooden screens, from 9 to 28 metres high, to protect the exposition structures, then three "villages" of structures; one for welcome and exhibitions space; one for an auditorium and media center; and one for service functions.

Renzo Piano wrote in The Disobedience of the Architect that he tried to match his architecture to the personality of a city.

Renzo Piano retained the original exterior walls of the main building, but removed the transversal interior walls and replaced them with glass walls, so the entire interior is visible from the outside, and those inside can see the park outside the theater.

Renzo Piano acknowledged that his inspiration for the interior plan was the vineyard style seating, placed around the orchestra, of the Berlin Philharmonic by Hans Sharon.

Renzo Piano, who had been building art museums since 1977, was one of the most active and creative designers of these new buildings; though the requirements and the collections were often similar, he usually succeeded in giving each museum a distinct look and personality.

Renzo Piano explained that the shape of the galleries was inspired by naval architecture and the hulls of ships, which were adapted to the form of waves as his building was adapted to the landscape.

Renzo Piano extensively renovated the existing structures and a built a new building the same height as the historic building, with a simple rectangular facade that complemented it.

Renzo Piano added a five-metre cube as a small exhibit space, an underground auditorium with 199 seats, and a glass-walled atrium which united all the parts, old and new.

Renzo Piano designed a minimalist 620-foot steel bridge connecting the sculpture terrace of the museum to Millennium Park.

The extension of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas is an addition to the museum designed by Louis Kahn the modernist architect for whom Renzo Piano worked at the beginning of his career, completed in 1972.

Renzo Piano created a dramatic new entrance for the museum, with huge windows showing the bright red furniture against the alabaster white walls within.

In 1998, Renzo Piano won the Pritzker Prize, often considered the Nobel Prize of architecture.

In 2006, Renzo Piano was selected by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Renzo Piano was chosen as the tenth most influential person in the "Arts and Entertainment" category.

Piano founded the Renzo Piano Building Workshop in 1981.

In 2004, he became head of the Renzo Piano Foundation, dedicated to the promotion of the architectural profession.