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Renzo Piano in Fort Worth

2/2/2016

4 Comments

 
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When the San Francisco Academy of Sciences was rebuilt a few years ago, I was more excited about the architecture than the science. While the science is impressive, the building was designed by Renzo Piano, and it has, among other things, a green roof, intelligent ways to use water and electricity, and the most beautiful indoor rainforest. It’s one of the most architecturally stunning contemporary buildings I’ve ever seen, and I became a big Renzo Piano fan. I have also seen his NEMO science museum in Amsterdam which looks like a big fish, and the appropriately named The Shard in London. I don’t have pictures of those, because I wasn’t doing a blog then. You’ll have to trust me on that.
When I went to Fort Worth, Texas, last week, I went to visit another Renzo Piano building, the Piano Pavilion, which is part of the Kimbell Art Museum.

The building is divided into two parts, the front entrance hall with galleries on each side (no photos in there, I tried), and the back side which has another gallery and an auditorium.
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Exterior, South
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Entrance Hall
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Steps going down to the auditorium
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I wanted to lick that wood. No licking allowed. If they’re looking.
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Between the two halves of the building, there is an outdoor picnic area.
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Hallway over the stairs, looking from the rear building to the entrance hall.
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Entrance hall with cafe seating. Nice place for stretching your legs!
Now that I’m a fan of Renzo Piano, I look forward to going places where I can see his works. Maybe I’m delusional, but I feel like I’ve got friends waiting for me in many places--friends who are lovely buildings.

We’re going to Paris in a couple of weeks, and I can’t wait to visit the Georges Pompideau Center, designed by a team including Renzo Piano. The building’s guts are on the outside, instead of tucked away where you can’t see them. I think it’s best seen in this Electric Light Orchestra video.

Have you seen any Renzo Piano buildings? Did you like them?

PREVIOUS: Koneko, New York City
NEXT: New York Movie Theater
4 Comments
Suzanne DSpain
2/2/2016 10:56:32 am

I took Jack and Patrick D'Spain to see the Chinese Exhibit of warrior-wear several years ago. It was in the Piano Building. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the architecture since I was herding a couple of youngsters. My main objective was to get these artistically inclined boys to see ancient clothing worn by Samurai. It was a success when I convinced them to listen to the Kids' Audioguide. They were very interested and Jack did some drawing. Next time I'm at the Kimball I'll take a second look at Piano's design.

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Yvonne
2/2/2016 12:42:57 pm

I love Piano's buildings because they present their contents in beautiful ways--the buildings don't draw attention to themselves, but let the works inside them be seen to their best advantage. I'm glad you took the boys!

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Sue Bell
2/4/2016 06:37:27 am

When I saw your pictures, I thought of a visit to the Art Institute in Chicago a few years ago. Sure enough, he did the Modern Wing expansion, opened in 2009.

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Yvonne
2/4/2016 01:06:39 pm

I haven't been to Chicago, but this gives me yet another reason to go!

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