The Architectural Exhibition “Renzo Piano Building Workshop – Piece by Piece”

The opening was open to the public. During the opening Mr. Andreas Dracopoulos, co-President of the SNF, and renowned architect Mr. Renzo Piano  offered remarks appearing via video link. At the opening Mr. Giorgio Bianchi, RPBW partner, was present. 

Presentation of the Exhibition

The presentation in the SNFCC is the last stop of the traveling exhibition, which began its journey back in 2013, at the Gagosian Gallery in New York. Previous stops included the Palazzo della Ragione in Padua, in 2014, as part of the International Biennial Architecture and Shanghai, in 2015, where the exhibition was hosted at the Power Station of Art. The creation of the exhibition, its tour in the cities leading up to Athens and, of course, its stay at the SNFCC, were all realized with an exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. 

The exhibition showcases architectural projects from the last thirty years by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. It consists of 18 tabletop displays of scale models, drawings, photographs and video, chronicling the history of different projects by the internationally renowned architectural firm.

Preparation of the Exhibition – Time Lapse Video

The models, like islands, represent a wide range of projects, such as museums, libraries, airports and even private residences, recounting the building design process, starting from the architect’s vision and the project’s conception, all the way to construction. 

Renzo Piano, the internationally renowned architect has said about the exhibition: "It is very difficult to successfully exhibit architecture. Nothing can really substitute actually being in the building itself, the feeling of the hybrid texture of a city, the continuous stream of voices that make up the sounds of life. An architectural exhibition can, however, clearly transmit something of the complex and shared process through which the buildings we design are conceived, constructed and then inhabited. … I like to think of this exhibition like a journey through space.”  

Opening of the Architectural Exhibition “Renzo Piano Building Workshop – Piece by Piece”

The SNFCC itself holds a special place in the exhibition. One of the Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s most recent works, its construction began in the fall of 2012 and was completed in August 2016. 

As such, exhibition visitors will have the opportunity to get acquainted, step by step, with the conception, design and implementation of one of the largest construction projects in Greece’s recent history. 

Andreas Dracopoulos, Co-President of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation stated “at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation we had the privilege to experience Renzo Piano’s and RPBW’s architectural philosophies and design approach firsthand through the creation of the SNFCC. We are very proud that by hosting the final stop of this exhibit at one of RPBW’s latest buildings, we are providing the public with an opportunity to experience the evolution of Renzo Piano’s creative language, while living and breathing a building that we would like to believe is the culmination of decades-long remarkable journey.”

The Renzo Piano Building Workshop was established in 1981. Currently, 130 architecture and engineering experts work with the Italian architect in his practices in Paris, Genoa and New York. In collaboration with them, Renzo Piano has developed some of the most unmistakable landmark projects worldwide, including the Kansai International Airport Terminal Building in Osaka, the Beyeler Foundation Museum in Basel, the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center in New Caledonia, the Parco della Musica Auditorium in Rome, the Morgan Library in New York, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, USA, the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago, the New Whitney Museum in New York and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens.

Exhibition info:

“Renzo Piano Building Workshop – Piece by Piece”

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center - Lighthouse

April 27 – July 23, 2017

Opening: Thursday, April 27 at 19:00

Opening Hours: 06:00 – 24:00

Free Admission