Designing with Renzo Piano

DESIGNING WITH RENZO PIANO

Just under 100 individuals work together each day in RPBW’s Genoa and Paris offices to make their own contribution to what has been dubbed a multifaceted ‘horizontal design process’. RPBW associate architect Francesco Giacobello tells us what it means to work alongside one of the world’s most famous architects

At the world-renowned Renzo Piano Building Workshop, everyone works together on every project. The idea of “horizontal design” reigns supreme – the creative phase is essentially a kind of round table involving a number of individuals, from Renzo Piano himself to students that have only recently joined the studio.

“Renzo Piano always says ‘You never know where the best ideas might come from’”, says Francesco Giacobello, an

associate architect at RPBW. No two creative journeys are ever the same for the studio. “It’s all about a type of creative freedom that’s inextricably linked to function and focuses on the impact the design will have on the city. We begin by studying the location from a geographical and sociological point of view. We get right into the heart of the place, we walk around, we reflect on what could happen once we begin: projects are like drops added to a pre-existing urban

fabric and will inevitably have consequences”.

Life at RPBW is dynamic, a hyper-participatory process in which colleagues work as equal partners and the scope of action is not rigidly pre-defined. The work of the Renzo Piano Foundation is a crucial factor – it also owes its valuable existence to a desire to create a “living archive”, a place where the work done is like a seed that ultimately produces new shoots.

To RPBW, the architect of today is a hybrid figure, never too wrapped up in the role of rigorous designer – in fact, Giacobello says that one of Renzo Piano’s favourite sayings is “Guys, stop acting like architects”, an invitation to shift perspective and avoid focusing too much attention to formalism. The architects of tomorrow are the ones building up experience right now in Italy and abroad. “For us, every project is the

beginning of a new adventure. ‘Starting out and then returning’ as Piano often says to us”. This subtle core belief reverberates like a soul through all the studio’s creations. Everyone that steps across their thresholds has the feeling of being enfolded in the same human “embrace”. From Piano’s most famous museums to less illustrious local buildings, there’s a definite feeling that the design is about much more than lines on paper – a clear impression of a profound bond with the local area. As Giacobello puts it: “Piano has passed down the idea that if you want to understand a building, you shouldn’t look at it from outside – you have to look at it through the eyes of the people observing it”. This creates a platonic bond between designer and user. “The building speaks about itself through its physical impact on its environment. We try to make the

ground floor permeable so it becomes part of the city without creating barriers. The building’s ability to put down roots depends not on its opulence but its ability to come to life. We like it when a building bypasses its function and becomes a place to visit”. Another crucial element is the shell, which wraps around the structure like a skin. RPBW maintains that the best solution isn’t always completely smooth and seamless, but an open surface that reveals something of what lies behind it. A way of allowing buildings to breathe.

One of the most recent projects Francesco Giacobello worked on was the Waterfront di Levante, Genoa (set for completion in 2025), on which he was associate in charge of a part of the project. This marked a return to his first love, water. Ligurian by birth and Genoese by adoption, Giacobello grew up with sea views and can’t imagine life without that kind of horizon. “Yachts are a familiar image for me and contact with the water is vital. That’s what I’d work

on if I had to design a vessel, while being aware that the dynamics involved are different to designing a building. I’m intrigued by the approach to details, to the idea of ‘bespoke’. Buildings are fixed, immovable, but yachts are the exact opposite!”

Piano’s sailing experience is well-documented and it was something he was able to draw on in terms of trying out materials, design dynamics and the ingenious ways that space can be used aboard: “I’ve loved the sea and sailing since my early childhood”, he said in an interview. “When I was eight years old, I built a boat in our garage, with my own hands. I was sure I’d measured everything properly, but then we then had to take off the garage door to get it outside. My father was furious”. Things turned out much better in 1998 when Piano and the Vismara studio worked together to craft the 60’ sailing yacht, Kirribilli Piano, finally giving shape to what had become a private passion.