Renzo Piano
The Italian architect who helped bring us the iconic Pompidou Center in Paris defends his continuing efforts to break the mold
By Richard Lacayo; Renzo Piano

RENE BURRI/ MAGNUM PHOTOS

Summer 2005 Style & Design
Three decades after he co-designed the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Italian architect Renzo Piano has hardly slowed down. In the U.S. alone, he has under way much anticipated additions to museums in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, as well as the new skyscraper headquarters of the New York Times. TIME's Richard Lacayo talked to him about the meanings of context and the drawbacks of mere style.

THE POMPIDOU WAS ONCE CRITICIZED FOR BEING TOO UNLIKE THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOOD. WERE THERE LESSONS YOU TOOK FROM THAT?

The most important is that I learned that being "contextual" doesn't mean to hide yourself. For me and Richard [Rogers, the co-designer], the Pompidou was like a spaceship landing in the middle of a medieval town. This is exactly what happened when people built Gothic cathedrals. They were celebrating the difference between those buildings and their surroundings.

NOW YOU'RE KNOWN AS SOMEONE WHOSE WORK IS VERY SENSITIVE TO CONTEXT, BUT PERHAPS ALSO MORE SUBDUED. DO YOU AGREE?

I don't see it that way. Look at the Kansai airport in Japan or the Tjibaou Cultural Center in New Caledonia. Those are buildings that have a kind of freedom.

YOUR BUILDINGS ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER. DO YOU WORRY ABOUT NOT HAVING A SIGNATURE STYLE?

I hate the idea of style, that architecture should become self-referential. If you do something like the Pompidou, then for 10 years people keep asking you for the same thing. Style in the negative sense, as a repetitive gesture, a kind of logo—this is the end of freedom for the architect.

DOES IT BOTHER YOU HOW MUCH TIME ARCHITECTS HAVE TO SPEND THESE DAYS NEGOTIATING WITH LOCAL COUNCILS TO GET THEIR DESIGNS APPROVED?

For the London Bridge Tower, I went through a "public inquiry" for six months. People discuss and discuss, and of course you become a bit nervous. But in the end I love that process. It's a guarantee of quality. Architecture is an imposed art in some ways, imposed upon the public, so people must be sure about what you're doing. You have to be sure about what you're doing.

SKYSCRAPERS ARE BEING CRITICIZED FOR ISOLATING PEOPLE. SHOULD WE RETHINK THEM?

I would never say tall buildings are always a good thing. But towers can concentrate energy. Take the London Bridge Tower. It combines a transportation hub, offices, a hotel, apartments, an observation deck—it's like a vertical town, which is a great idea from the point of view of urban life.

YOUR WORK HAS INGENIOUS WAYS OF ADMITTING SUNLIGHT. ANY NEW IDEAS ALONG THOSE LINES?

Many. The research in light is never ending. When I am totally happy with what I've done, I will stop working, I guess.

WHOM DO YOU LOOK BACK TO AS AN INSPIRATION?

Since I was a boy, I have loved Brunelleschi, who built the Duomo in Florence. He was a beautiful synthesis of artist and engineer. He designed not just buildings but the tools, the machines, the scaffolds with which to build them.

DO YOU REGRET THE SEPARATION OF ARCHITECT AND BUILDER?

For centuries there has been a misunderstanding between having an idea and making it. In the Renaissance nobody saw any separation. When you observe a really good pianist, can you separate the idea of music from the physical touching of the piano?

WHEN YOU STARTED OUT, DID YOU FORESEE THAT ARCHITECTS WOULD BECOME CELEBRITIES?

I don't think it's a good thing. It doesn't celebrate architecture; it celebrates the architects. It's a sad story, because they can become trapped in the necessity to repeat themselves so as not to lose their recognizability. I enjoy popularity, but I'm not a star. I'm the son and grandson of a builder.

YOUR FATHER WAS SURPRISED WHEN YOU TOLD HIM YOU WANTED TO BE AN ARCHITECT. WHY?

He was totally convinced that a builder was a little god, somebody who thinks something, then makes something. He was very nice about it, but he said to me, "You can be a builder! Why would you just want to be an architect?"

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