How Renzo Piano went from $0-$20M as an Architect

over 140 projects built around the world renzo piano is one of the top earning architects in the world with a net income of 20 million dollars but how did he get started in architecture what inspired him and ultimately what led to his big break that led to the success that he has now well in this video i'm gonna be breaking that down so if you're interested let's get started [Music] friends or piano grew up in a family of builders his father and his grandfather were all builders and so his father had his own practice building homes and factories along with other construction materials he really enjoyed as a kid being on site and having that hands-on experience seeing the building come together and all the different components come together so at the age of 18 renzo piano knew that he wanted to become an architect so when renzo piano told his father that he wanted to become an architect this is what happened and i'm gonna read this part of what renzo piano had said i will never forget the day i went to tell my father he watched me for a while and he was a man of a few words and finally said fine but why would you want to be an architect when you can be a builder the builder was a god in his family and of course i eventually became an architect with a big passion for construction but people fail to realize that it's not just the making of things in ancient greek the world is also about the process of invention and creation and that is what it means to me so renzo piano was interested in that process of creation and as he mentions the art of building and so that is what led him into going into architecture and ultimately becoming an architect so after graduating architecture school renzo piano worked for his father and then later on renzo piano expanded his skills his technical skills and design skills by being an intern for louis khan and a structural engineer and that all looking back now those were all small stepping stones to his career now and this internship also led to what he really ultimately enjoyed to do in architecture but while he was working as an intern he was still experimenting and working with his father as he continued to work as an intern he continued to experiment with lightweight structures exploring portable fiberglass and different materials and really spending the time researching and experimenting with those materials which again looking back you can start to see how things are starting to build up to the projects and work that he does today and so even today he had mentioned in an interview that he would be perfectly happy researching and designing lightweight structures and exploring the dream of lightness but then things continued to grow and he continued to grow and he won a commission and this commission was the turning point of his career so upon winning his first international commission he got to design the pavilion for the italian industry for the expo 70 in osaka japan and this was that turning point that big break which i'm sure at the time he did not realize that but he worked with his father's company that built construction materials and so on and with that in mind that led to his design in the pavilion so he collaborated with his brother and the family business so in the end the structure was lightweight and it was composed of steel he really took his technical experience to design long spans and you can see that the exterior really shows and expresses that structure with the trusses on the exterior upon finishing that pavilion richard rogers loved the pavilion he just fell in love with the work so he got in touch with renzo piano and that led into doing a collaboration and they both decided to open a practice together renzo piano and richard rogers that led for them to do a few projects together but one of the first few projects was they competed for the center on padu and so they actually competed in this international competition at the time they were both in their 30s so i think renzo piano was 32 and richard rogers 38 at the time and so they decided to compete they put together their proposal for the competition they were against top competition internationally known architects and guess what they won the commission and the project rocked the world of architecture he brought the inside out and completely took the architectural world upside down which i thought this is such a great lesson how someone as them at the time who was not known in the architecture world could win a competition simply by having great ideas and putting together a great project and that ultimately led them to winning and at the same time it brought their name into the industry and now they're known for that project and it's one of their top projects and they're famous for it and has been so well received and it is beautifully done there's such poetry and elegance to it and it was completely outside of the box at that time so this was a complete surprise to them that they won the competition and it was not only a surprise to them but to again the whole architectural world and i just want to read this clip from the new york times that declared their design they turned the architecture world upside down more literally it turned architecture inside out since in the museum the apparent structural frame of the building and the heating and air conditioning ducts were on the exterior painted in bright colors the escalator in a transparent tube crossed the facade of the building at a diagonal the building was astonishing success entirely transforming the character of a run-down commercial section near paris and made piano one of the most known architects in the world you know i have to say when i started reading about the story i thought this was at the height of his career but no it wasn't this was at the start of his career and to think how powerful your ideas can be and that you should just go and compete for competitions despite knowing who you're competing against and anything can happen it's such an inspiring story i hope this also inspires you as well and to not be intimidated by the competition out there because the power is in the ideas and you have to start somewhere and that's what i love about this story is that renzo just went for it perhaps he did have a few unfair advantages because he did come from a family of builders and so on but you can also think about what unfair advantages you have and how you can use them as well so as you know now lorenzo piano is well renowned in the world of architecture and is building tons of beautiful projects across the world but till this day you can still see his early works from that pavilion just reflected in his works today so i thought that this was such a great story to share with you all and i hope you take this as an inspiration for your projects as well if you enjoyed this video i think you're also going to enjoy this video here and if you'd like to support the channel don't forget to subscribe i'll see you on the next video until then bye [Music]

Channel: Architecture with Ashley

Views: 15,888

Keywords: renzo piano, renzo piano workshop, renzo piano architect, successful architect, life of an architect, architect journey, good architect, renzo piano career, renzo piano life, renzo piano success, renzo piano buildings, making of an architect, becoming an architect, becoming a good architect, renzo piano income, renzo piano net worth, top earning architects, architect salary, how much an architect makes, how much income of an architect, architect income, architect earning

Id: 3a5s6gCPzdk

Length: 7min 38sec (458 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 25 2022