Product Description

The array of buildings by Renzo Piano is staggering in scope and comprehensive in the diversity of scale, material, and form. He is truly an architect whose sensibilities represent the widest range of this and earlier centuries." Such was the description of Renzo Piano given by the Pritzker Prize jury citation as they bestowed the prestigious award on him in 1998. Whereas some architects have a signature style, what sets Piano apart is that he seeks simply to apply a coherent set of ideas to new projects in extraordinarily different ways. "One of the great beauties of architecture is that each time, it is like life starting all over again," Piano says. "Like a movie director doing a love story, a Western, or a murder mystery, a new world confronts an architect with each project." This explains why it takes more than a superficial glance to recognize Piano`s fingerprints on such varied projects as the Pompidou Center in Paris (1971-77), the Kansai airport in Osaka, Japan (1990-94), and the Tjibaou Cultural Center in Nouméa, New Caledonia (1993-1998). This stunning monograph, illustrated by photographs, sketches, and plans, covers Piano`s career to date.
The updated publication includes new photographs of projects completed since the previous edition, such as his The New York Times Building in New York, the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, Switzerland, The Morgan Library in New York, as well as some sneak peeks at his current projects, including the 66-story London Bridge Tower, which is set to be Europe`s tallest building.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91318 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-01
• Original language: French, English, German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 528 pages

About the Author
Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard University, and was editor-in-chief of the leading French art journal Connaissance des Arts for over two decades. He has published numerous articles and books on contemporary architecture, including TASCHEN's Architecture Now! series, Building a New Millennium, and monographs on Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano, Santiago Calatrava, Jean Nouvel, Richard Meier, and Álvaro Siza.

Customer Reviews

Good but not great
The monograph presents a good selection of limited photos of the projects. The issue is that the projects are not documented with enough depth from a written or drawing perspective. Closer to a thick coffee table book than a clear presentation of the excellent work and the thought behind it, but a worthwhile purchase none-the-less.

High Value/Price Item...
It is a very high Value/Price Item...I totally advice it for its Value/Price quality...
Not a fully detailed technical book, also not a fully picturized one...(fifty/fifty situation)

Philip Jodidio has done it again
Another excellent book from Philip Jodido. All of the sketches and illustrations in the book have been chosen attentively to convey Renzo Piano's intents for each project. I have enjoy the experience of reading/looking at the book very much, although I would not mind if the book covering more of Renzo's project. With a such a low price price tag, I would recommend all Renzo's fans to add this book to their library.