Renzo Piano, from Genoa, Italy,  is the recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, AIA Gold Medal, Kyoto Prize and the Sonning Prize. He was a graduate of Politecnico di Milano, where he eventually also taught. After graduating from the university in 1964, he began working with experimental lightweight structures and basic shelters.
 
In 1971, he founded Piano & Rogers Architects with partner Richard Rogers.  The firm won the competition for the Centre Pompidou in Paris. From the early 1970s to the 1990s, Piano collaborated with engineer Peter Rice, founding Atelier Piano & Rice in 1977. In 1981, he established the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, with offices today in Genoa, Paris and New York. Renzo Piano’s awards include prestigious honors such as: the Pritzker Prize; RIBA Royal Gold Medal; Medaille d’Or, UIA; Erasmus Prize; and, recently, the Gold Medal of the AIA.  Some of Renzo Piano’s most recently notable projects include Beyeler Foundation Museum, High Museum Expansion, Jean-Marie Tjiaou Expansion, Kansai International Airport Expansion, Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church, Potsdamer Platz, and many more.