Renzo Piano

Graduated in 1964 from the Politecnico di Milano. During university, he worked in the studio of Franco Albini and completed his practical training assiduously attending his father’s construction sites. Between 1965 and 1970, he made numerous research and work trips to the United States and Britain. It was also during this period that he met Jean Prouvé, with whom he forged a friendship that had a profound influence on his work. In 1970 he founded the studio Piano & Rogers with Richard Rogers, his partner in the project of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In 1977 he founded the Atelier Piano & Rice, with the engineer Peter Rice, a professional figure who assisted him for many years, and who collaborated on many projects, until his death in 1993. Finally, in 1981 it set up the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, with offices in Paris, Genoa and New York, in which about one hundred and fifty people (architects, engineers, specialists) work.