Hear Renzo Piano speaking about his design for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta
Architect Renzo Piano discussing his design for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, from the documentary Riches, Rivals, and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America.
Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Architect Renzo Piano on his design for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, from the documentary Riches, Rivals, and Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America.
Transcript
[Music in]
GLENN LOWRY: There's been a great deal of thinking about museum and museum architecture over the last 25 years. How do you build the ideal museum? And what should that be?
NARRATOR: America's greatest art museums have accepted the challenge of creating architectural icons that are the pride of their communities.
MARJORIE SCHWARZER: You need things that pop out. Museums become this coveted commission in the mid- to late '90s, and this is where your Frank Gehrys and your Calatravas and your Renzo Pianos start building these incredible structures that stand out in a landscape.
NARRATOR: Across the pond, on the shores of the Italian Riviera north of Genoa, a glass elevator is the only way to reach the building workshop of architect Renzo Piano. The workshop itself is the embodiment of light and transparency—ideas that Piano brings to all his designs. With a new century comes a new vision—a sparkling village for the arts—at the High Museum in Atlanta.
RENZO PIANO: The story we wanted to tell with this building is a story about art. It's about enjoying art; it's about preserving art.
NARRATOR: And about seeing the art.
RENZO PIANO: You cannot bring natural light by side on the—on the museum; otherwise, you are blinded. The only way to bring natural light in the room—in the space for art—is from above, from the top.
NARRATOR: Up on the rooftop of the High's new galleries, row after row of hooded skylights, 1,001 skylights, collect the safe northern light and channel it down to the new galleries below.
RENZO PIANO: It's a—it's a bit like the opposite of sunflower. The sunflower look for light from the south, and you have to look for light from the north. And the reason is very simple, because by doing this you don't have direct sun inside.
NARRATOR: But that's not all. Piano reshapes an entire block on Peachtree Street into a village for the arts, carving the center into a plaza for eating, walking, shopping, enjoying.
RENZO PIANO: But there's a moment, then, when you mentally take your shoes off. You change the speed, you go out, and you find yourself in a different dimension that is, by definition, silent. It's a silent dialogue, and that silent dialogue must be protected; otherwise, you—you—you may forget the reason why the museum is a museum.
[Music out]
GLENN LOWRY: There's been a great deal of thinking about museum and museum architecture over the last 25 years. How do you build the ideal museum? And what should that be?
NARRATOR: America's greatest art museums have accepted the challenge of creating architectural icons that are the pride of their communities.
MARJORIE SCHWARZER: You need things that pop out. Museums become this coveted commission in the mid- to late '90s, and this is where your Frank Gehrys and your Calatravas and your Renzo Pianos start building these incredible structures that stand out in a landscape.
NARRATOR: Across the pond, on the shores of the Italian Riviera north of Genoa, a glass elevator is the only way to reach the building workshop of architect Renzo Piano. The workshop itself is the embodiment of light and transparency—ideas that Piano brings to all his designs. With a new century comes a new vision—a sparkling village for the arts—at the High Museum in Atlanta.
RENZO PIANO: The story we wanted to tell with this building is a story about art. It's about enjoying art; it's about preserving art.
NARRATOR: And about seeing the art.
RENZO PIANO: You cannot bring natural light by side on the—on the museum; otherwise, you are blinded. The only way to bring natural light in the room—in the space for art—is from above, from the top.
NARRATOR: Up on the rooftop of the High's new galleries, row after row of hooded skylights, 1,001 skylights, collect the safe northern light and channel it down to the new galleries below.
RENZO PIANO: It's a—it's a bit like the opposite of sunflower. The sunflower look for light from the south, and you have to look for light from the north. And the reason is very simple, because by doing this you don't have direct sun inside.
NARRATOR: But that's not all. Piano reshapes an entire block on Peachtree Street into a village for the arts, carving the center into a plaza for eating, walking, shopping, enjoying.
RENZO PIANO: But there's a moment, then, when you mentally take your shoes off. You change the speed, you go out, and you find yourself in a different dimension that is, by definition, silent. It's a silent dialogue, and that silent dialogue must be protected; otherwise, you—you—you may forget the reason why the museum is a museum.
[Music out]