"One of the great beauties of architecture is that each time, it is
like life starting again." -Renzo Piano
The Renzo Piano Box is a limited edition, highly collectible boxed
set containing three of the most sought-after volumes by star architect
Renzo Piano that also includes a "Letter to the Reader" personally
signed by Piano. The box is an elegantly designed collectible object
that envelops three (11" x 11") gorgeously printed paperbound books,
each showcasing one of the great architect's iconic buildings: The
Whitney Museum in New York; The Shard in London; and the Stavros
Niarchos Foundation in Athens.
The Whitney Museum, New York In 2015, the new home of the Whitney
Museum opened to the public in downtown Manhattan's Meatpacking
District, substantially enlarging the Whitney's exhibition and
programming space. The new building includes some 4,650 sq. meters of
gallery space distributed over the fifth, sixth and seventh levels. The
fifth level boasting a 1670 sq. meters, column-free gallery - making it
the largest open-plan museum gallery in New York City. The book includes
many architectural drawings and the text at the end of the book provides
the reader with a "behind the scenes" view. A conception of the museum
that starts from the work of art to arrive at the architectural project.
A journey that takes the reader through time and space during its
realization.
The Shard, London: The London Bridge Tower, the tallest building in
Europe, also known as the Shard, is a 72-storey, mixed-use tower located
beside London Bridge Station on the south bank of the river Thames. A
mix of uses - residential, offices and retail - creates a building that
is in use 24 hours a day. The slender, pyramidal form of the tower was
determined by its suitability to the mix of large floor plates at the
bottom for offices; restaurants, public spaces and a hotel located in
the middle; private apartments at the top of the building. The final
floors accommodate a public viewing gallery, 240 m above street level.
This arrangement of functions also allows the tower to taper off and
disappear into the sky, and makes the building look like a shard of
glass, a particularly important detail for architect Renzo Piano given
the building's prominence on the London skyline.
The Stavros Niarchos Cultural Centre, Athens The Stavros Niarchos
Cultural Centre was constructed in Kallithea, 4 km south of central
Athens. An important cultural and educational project, the site
comprises the National Library of Greece and the Greek National Opera in
a 170,000 square meter landscaped park. Previously a parking lot left
over from the 2004 Olympic Games, once upon a time the site of a
racetrack, this new Renzo Piano project restores the site's lost
connections with the city and the sea.
