[ architects and designers ]

Renzo Piano

("Being an architect is a very old occupation, like hunting, fishing, cultivating fields or exploring")

architect and designer.

Born in Genoa in 1937.
A graduate from the Milan Polytechnic in 1964, he had on-site practice with his father in his home town, and designing experience from 1958 to 1964 with Franco Albini. From 1965 to 1970, he worked with Louis Kahn in Philadelphia and with Z.S. Makowsky in London.
His collaboration with Richard Rogers (Piano & Rogers) dates from 1971, from 1977 with Peter Rice (Atelier Piano & Rice), and with R. Fitzgerald in Houston from 1980; he has worked with Shunji Ishida, associated architect, in Genoa, with A. Vincent, associated engineer, N. Okabe, and Bernard Plattner, associated architects, in Paris.
He has been visiting Professor in a number of Universities throughout Europe and the United States and has received awards in both national and international architecture competitions. In 1978, he was conferred the “Union Internationale des Architects” Honorary Fellowship in Mexico City.
In 1981, he was awarded the AIA Honorary Fellowship, along with his first Compasso d’Oro award, followed by another in 1998, for Nuvola, the lighting system he designed for iGuzzini Illuminazione.
He was awarded the R.I.B.A. Honorary Fellowship in 1985 and the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1989.
In 1998, he received the Pritzker Architecture Prize.
His most recent projects include the refurbishment of the Beaubourg, the reconstruction of Potsdammer Platz and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas.
Many exhibitions have been devoted to his work, in London, Paris, Milan, Rome, Venice, Genoa, Arezzo, Bologna, Bari, Naples, Helsinki, San Paolo, New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nice, Toronto, Boston and Sydney.
He is now living in Paris, and shares his time between his three offices located in Paris, Genoa and Houston, flanked by a group of collaborators who are experts in a variety of disciplines.

The collaboration between Renzo Piano and iGuzzini dates back to 1986, when the refurbishment work on the Lingotto began. For this project, following Piano’s instructions and proceeding via a series of tests and checks, iGuzzini perfected the Lingotto projector, which went on to be included in the company’s standard production.
Again, upon Piano’s request, iGuzzini developed and realised the Nuvola project, an innovative luminaire for outdoor settings that transferred the type of indirect lighting from indoor settings to the outside.
The innovative nature was recognised by the ADI, who awarded Nuvola the Compasso d’Oro in 1998.
Between 1999 and 2000, Piano saw to the refurbishment and reorganisation of the Centre National George Pompidou.
For this project, he made use of the lighting technology consultancy offered by iGuzzini technicians, who developed and completed the Le Perroquet luminaire which Piano designed especially for this project.
Piano then went on to use iGuzzini products and the lighting technology consultancy offered by iGuzzini technicians for a large number of projects: from the Jean Marie Tibaou centre to the Mercedes Design Centre in Silfingen, to the refurbishment work at Genoa Port for the G8 Summit and the work in progress for the construction of the Padre Pio church.