• Director(s):

    PETITJEAN (MARC)

  • Producer(s):

    MIRAGE ILLIMITE

  • Territories:

    Worldwide.

  • Production year:

    1999

  • Language(s):

    English, French

  • Rights:

    NON-THEATRICAL, TV, VOD, DVD, INTERNET

This independent and non-conformist architect owes his renown to the scope of his work. From the Centre Pompidou to the Centre Jean-Marie Tjibaou in Noumea, inaugurated last year, the De Mesnil museum in Houston or Kansa airport in Japan, Renzo Piano edifices are to be found throughout the world.

By offering the televiewer the opportunity to follow three projects at different stages of progress, (running projects like the liturgical centre of Padre Pio in the Puglia region and the Nola cultural & commercial center in Italy, the first discussions about the Paul Klee Museum in Bern, the opening of the Potsdam Square in Berlin?) the director brings us to the very heart of the approach of the architect.
From one architect design workshop to another and from one worksite to another, the viewer sees how Renzo Piano stays true to the artisan approach underlying his initial creations and has striven to find an answer to the specific problems of these projects, in the light of the history and geography of the sites in which they are to be erected, their function and the financial context.
A portrait of Renzo Piano brought together with the complicity of his closest collaborators: architects, engineers, maquette-makers ... A "real-life" portrait of an architect who sees his profession as a living thing, evolving with time and practice.