Genova, 14th September 1937

Renzo Piano Benassi Alice

Meglioli Lorenzo
Piano’s life and art
_He first attended the school of architecture in Florence and
then the Polytechnic of Milan, where he graduated with
honours.

_After the experiences with Franco Albini , Marco Zanuso ,

Louis Kahn and Makowskj ,he began the project activities with
a series of experimental studies about nuts spatial structures
and the innovative construction systems.

_Together with Richard Rogers and Gianfranco Franchini,

Piano won the international competition for the realization of
the Centre Pompidou in Paris in1971.
The building is now considered the manifesto of high-tech
architecture and thanks to it Piano became an architect of
international renown.

_In 1981 he founded the "Renzo Piano Building Workshop",

with offices in Genova, Paris and New York.

_In 1988 the Municipality of Genova appointed him to renovate

the Porto Antico. The project renewed the area of the cotton
warehouses and the Millo, in addition to the construction of
new buildings , such as the Aquarium, the Bigo and the
1971-1977, Paris

Centre Pompidou
1992, Genoa

Porto Antico
Piano’s life and art
• After ten years of planning and work , the California
Academy of Sciences opened in San Francisco in 2008:
it is one of the most sustainable buildings in the world
thanks to the painstaking care over the selection of the
materials.

• 6 July 2012: The Shard in London was inaugurated; it is

the tallest skyscraper in the European Union (310
meters).

• In May 2007 Piano (already an UNESCO ambassador at

the time) became the urban planning consultant for the
mayor of Genoa to lay down the architectural plans for a
project to take the city into the third millennium.

• In August 2013 he was made a senator for life of the

Italian Republic. The senatorial office and salary that go
with this honour were placed at the disposal of 30 young
architects . Called G124, this team aims to channel its
energies into the regeneration and transformation of
Italy’s suburban areas.
2008, San Francisco

California Academy
of Sciences
2000-2012, London

The Shard
High-Tech architecture in Italy

In Italy the concept of high-tech architecture appeared for the first time in the Manifesto
of Futurism in 1914, in which there is the need to apply every possible new technology
to architecture. The high-tech movement fully develops towards the early seventies, in
accordance with the rest of Europe, and the most important Italian architect of the
movement is Renzo Piano. In more recent years the new concept of high-tech
architecture has multiplied in Italy; in 2001 Renzo Piano realised the Biosphere in
Genoa, near Porto Antico, and the next year he made the Auditorium Parco della
Musica in Rome. Also the Spanish architect
S. Calatrava made three of his works in Italy; they have a very strong impact with the
surrounding context: the Constitution Bridge in Venice, the bridges over the A1
motorway and the high-speed station in Reggio Emilia.
1995-2002, Roma

Auditorium Parco Della Musica

The story
• Rome Auditorium is a multi-functional
complex dedicated to music, contributing
to enrich the already immense heritage of
the Eternal City.

• The choice of the position is linked to

urban renewal needs.

• The project is dominated by three

“harmonic cases”, that seem to fly above a
sea of vegetation, and that are
orthogonally arranged around a large
open-air theater cavea .

• The complex also includes a series of

spaces for commercial and recreational
purposes, as well as for exhibitions and
study activities.
The structure

• Music has been the underlying priority

of the Auditorium’s architectural and
urban project.

• Both the internal and external available

areas have been planned in order to
be functional to musical activity. More
specifically, the Auditorium has not
only three concert halls, but also a
Theatre Studio, Studios 1, 2, 3, a foyer
and a cavea.

• Each of the three halls is different in

size and has been constructed with the
aim of satisfying the needs of any
music genre.
The structure
The structure
Santa Cecilia Hall
The hall is covered with shell-vaults made with frames of girders of glue-laminated wood, combined with
steel elements.
The stage is surrounded by the “vineyards”: seated places that rise like a valance around the stage.
The innovative conception is that of the suspended ceiling. Even the pit and the galleries are veneered
with wood in order to make a harmonic chamber out of the hall, guaranteeing excellent acoustics.
Sinopoly Hall
This hall is designed mainly for symphonic music, with or without choir, and chamber music. Its main
feature is an extremely flexible stage.
Petrassi Hall
The smallest hall is a real musical theatre. There is a pit for the orchestra and the stage is well equipped
to allow for stage and dress changes. The two stage flank walls can rotate by 90° allowing a traditional
proscenium.