Kansai International Airport, Passenger Terminal Main Building, Osaka, Japan (Study model of main structural truss)

Renzo Piano is an Italian architect and structural engineer whose practice spans buildings, installations, and conceptual frameworks that prioritize transparency, modularity, and the relationship between structure and skin. Born in Genoa in 1937, he trained under Carlo Scarpa and collaborated extensively with engineer Peter Rice, developing a vocabulary of exposed steel frames, prefabricated components, and moveable glazing systems that became signature to his work. His approach emerged directly from postwar reconstruction and industrial production methods, treating the building envelope as a deliberately legible apparatus rather than a concealing surface.

Genoa, Italy