Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Vol. 4

As Peter Buchanan has shown in the first three volumes of Renzo Piano’s complete works, he follows no fashions of form or theory, nor is he limited to a personal idiom. Instead he concerns himself with the specifics and potential of a particular situation and moment, meeting the challenges of the programme, pushing the limits of technology, but always responding sensitively to the topography or urban fabric of the building’s site. This fourth volume on Renzo Piano provides an illuminating study of the architect’s working method, in particular his regard for context, followed by a presentation of his projects from 1989 to 2000. These range from urban works such as the Potsdamer Platz masterplan in Berlin, a science museum in Amsterdam and high-rise towers in Rotterdam and Sydney, to the acclaimed Beyeler Foundation and the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre in New Caledonia, which exemplifies the architect’s sensitivity to site and local tradition, combining traditional materials and techniques with those from the cutting edge of technology.