ISSUE 112 – RENZO PIANO: SPACES FOR CULTURE AND LEISURE

Overview

The present issue of DOMÉS is entirely devoted to Renzo Piano. It includes seven very recent works or works in progress from his practice, which bears the indicative name ‘Renzo Piano Building Workshop’, and a summary account of one of his earliest designs: for the recovery and enhancement of the medieval moat outside the walls of Rhodes, an item from among lost architectural opportunities, of the many in recent years in Greece.

The works described here have significant characteristics in common. They are works of culture and serve as vehicles for radical urban renewal of the areas in which they are situated. They involve the place of art and of the features of culture in contemporary life. They involve research, knowledge, and their dissemination, and, additionally, the image of institutions in the modern city. The majority of them are located near water, and, moreover, at crucial urban points. They are in dialogue with the history and natural data of their locations. They are of a public character in the broad sense of the term; that is to say, they concern the very broadest public, regardless of ownership. They are also prestige works. They are not confined simply to functional performance, but succeed in the creation of a ‘civic’, not ‘public’, or, simply, ‘common’ space.

Please find the complete text in the print edition.