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| Originally Aired: June 11, 2009 |
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Architect Renzo Piano on the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Architect Renzo Piano speaks with Jeffrey Brown about his work building the new modern wing to the Art Institute of Chicago. |
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JEFFREY BROWN: It is, first and foremost, an addition. The new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago was intended to expand one of the nation's leading museums and to provide space for its collection of modern and contemporary art. But Italian architect Renzo Piano also conceived it as an addition in a deeper sense to a city rich in architectural condition. RENZO PIANO, architect: You know, as an architect, I grew up with the mythology of Chicago as a city of invention. And, you know, I was a young architect, and I was traveling. And Chicago was already my mythological place. And, when I was offered this job, I didn't think about it. I said, yes, great. I want to do it. JEFFREY BROWN: Piano's new wing is made of steel, aluminum, limestone, glass, and light itself, which he considers a kind of material. |
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The flying carpet
RENZO PIANO: The light coming through the roof under this
big umbrella that we call the flying carpet, the light is sparked on the
corridor and the space. We create the magic of the space, because we are in Chicago.
We use, actually, the view that we filter of the skylight of
the city. So, when you are up on the third floor, even on the second floor, and
you look out, you know where you are.
JEFFREY BROWN: The original Beaux-Art-style building, which
opened in 1893, is itself a historic landmark, its famous lions a longtime city
icon.
The new addition, by far the largest in the museum's
history, was 10 years in the planning and building, at a cost of nearly $300
million, almost all from private donations, civic philanthropy being another
tradition in Chicago.
Most of the money was raised before the current recession began.
RENZO PIANO: You can see the two extreme opposites, the
palace that was built in 1893 that was the beginning of the Art Institute. And
that was to express dignity, trust. It was made of stone and marble.
JEFFREY BROWN: It's very solid. And it's...
RENZO PIANO: Solid. And I don't blame anybody, but that was
the way to express, to celebrate solidity, thrust, confidence, dignity.
Today, we have a different story to tell. I think the
story we are telling with the new addition is about accessibility, in some ways
the opposite. It's about accessibility. It's about openness. It's about a
building that they should not be intimidating, but the opposite. It should be
inviting. |
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Preserving tradition
JEFFREY BROWN: Initially, the plans called for a new wing on
the south side of the existing museum, but, five years ago, what was an empty
rail yard and parking lot to the north became Millennium Park.
A 24-acre oasis, it's blossomed into a major urban success,
an attraction for locals and tourists of all ages that, notably, features art
and architecture, including Spanish artist Jaume Plensa's fountain of faces,
Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate, affectionately dubbed "The Bean," and an
outdoor convert venue by architect Frank Gehry.
Renzo Piano and museum officials realize their new building
should be part of this grand urban space, and the new plan was expanded to
include a direct link, a bridge that takes visitors from the park to a public
outdoor terrace atop the museum.
Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin, calling the
new building a temple of light, says, Piano's design successfully taps into the
city's rich heritage.
BLAIR KAMIN, The Chicago Tribune: Chicago
is often called the first city of American
architecture. It where's the skyscraper was invented. It's where Frank Lloyd
Wright practiced. It's where Daniel Burnham said, make no little plans, and
really reinvented American cities.
The early skyscrapers in Chicago changed construction. Instead of
having thick load-bearing walls of masonry, they substituted thin curtain walls
of glass that were hung on steel frames. And that allowed buildings to grow
tall. This building is like that, in the sense that it's very light. It's very
transparent. It's open to nature and the city around it. |
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The making of an architect
JEFFREY BROWN: Opening up spaces has been a trademark for
Renzo Piano since he first made a name for himself in 1977 with the Pompidou Center
in Paris which,
he designed with Richard Rogers. Brash and controversial at first, it quickly
became a landmark in a city filled with them.
He's gone on to become one of this era's premier architects
of museums, with notable buildings in the U.S.,
including the Menil Collection in Houston and
the Nasher Sculpture
Center in Dallas. He's known for a refined style that
doesn't fight the art inside.
RENZO PIANO: As an architect, you have to be strong enough
to make good architecture, but humble enough to understand that what you do
serves something else.
If you make a concert hall, you make a space -- great space
to play music. If you make a house, you have to build emotional protection,
intimacy. If you make a museum, it's about art. It's about enjoying art.
JEFFREY BROWN: In Chicago, even as they tinker to fine the
best ways to use the natural light filtering into the galleries, the museum's
curators now have space to show new acquisitions, as well as many works
previously in storage.
They have also taken the opportunity to reinstall the entire
collection of this great encyclopedic museum, most of which remains in the
original building, including its renowned impressionist paintings and Asian
sculptures.
All of this comes, of course, amid an economic
downturn. The museum is raising its admission price from $12 to $18, though
that will now include special exhibitions, and admission will be free to
schoolchildren, teachers, fire and police men and others. |
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Opening day
On opening day, when it was free to everyone and packed to
the gills, museum president James Cuno was ecstatic.
JAMES CUNO, president, Art Institute of Chicago: The opening
of the building now, I think, makes all the difference in the world, because it
shows people about -- about Chicago, that Chicago can still dream
big and deliver on those dreams.
JEFFREY BROWN: Even at a time like this?
JAMES CUNO: Even at a time like this.
You can look around, you can see the energy in the people's
faces, the pride they have, because I think that we can still make it work
around here. Now, whether we have done the -- the sort of calculus correctly,
with regard to sort of the finances and the budget, we will monitor that every
week throughout the rest of the year.
But, just in terms of doing it right now, the pride of
opening this building now, you know, five years after the opening of Millennium Park, further reinvestments in the
center of the city, is just what, again, drove us to do so now.
JEFFREY BROWN: Among the opening day crowd was Renzo Piano
himself, greeting visitors and checking out his creation suddenly filled with
people, including this would-be young architect.
MAN: So, this is his modern wing. And this is his modern
wing.
The hope now for Piano, museum officials and the city
itself is that Chicagoans will continue to embrace this new gathering place,
the latest addition to their urban skyline.
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