Renzo Piano believes that freehand drawing gives freedom, it is instinctive, and its imperfection provokes change and continuous improvement. The briefness of the sketch forces us into a synthetic way of thinking and to capture only the essence of things. Based on examples of Renzo Piano’s works from different periods, we can observe the evolution of his very personal vision of the museum, his thinking about form, the relationship with the environment, with the audience and finally his approach to issues of natural lighting in an exhibition space

Żuk, Paweł

Portal Czasopism Naukowych (E-Journals)

* Ph.D. Arch. Paweł Żuk, Institute of Architectural Design, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University 
of Technology.
TECHNICAL TRANSACTIONS
ARCHITECTURE
4-A/2015
CZASOPISMO TECHNICZNE
ARCHITEKTURA
PAWEŁ ŻUK*
RENZO PIANO MUSEUMS. 
SKETCH AS SYNTHESIS OF THOUGHT
MUZEA RENZO PIANO. SZKIC JAKO SYNTEZA MYŚLI
A b s t r a c t
Renzo Piano believes that freehand drawing gives freedom, it is instinctive, and its imperfection 
provokes change and continuous improvement. The briefness of the sketch forces us into 
a synthetic way of thinking and to capture only the essence of things. Based on examples 
of Renzo Piano’s works from different periods, we can observe the evolution of his very 
personal vision of the museum, his thinking about form, the relationship with the environment, 
with the audience and finally his approach to issues of natural lighting in an exhibition space.
Keywords: sketch, museum, Renzo Piano
S t r e s z c z e n i e
Renzo Piano uważa, że odręczny rysunek daje wolność, jest instynktowny, a jego niedoskona-
łość prowokuje do wprowadzania zmian i ciągłego ulepszania. Lakoniczność szkicu zmusza 
do syntetycznego myślenia i uchwycenia istoty rzeczy. Na przykładach autorskich rysunków 
z różnych okresów twórczości można zaobserwować, jak rozwija się jego bardzo osobista wi-
zja muzeum, myślenie o formie, relacji z otoczeniem, z widzem czy w końcu podejście do kwe-
stii oświetlenia naturalnego przestrzeni ekspozycyjnej.
Słowa kluczowe: szkic, muzeum, Renzo Piano
130
Renzo Piano, a Pritziker Prize winner in 1998, designed 25 museums until the year 
2014. He is a master in this field. Basing on the examples of Renzo Piano’s works from 
different periods we can observe an evolution of his very personal vision of the museum, 
thinking about the form, the relationship with the environment, with the audience and finally 
his approach to issues of natural lighting in an exhibition space. Each time, the sketch was 
the method of developing the project. Piano believes that freehand drawing gives freedom, 
it is instinctive, and its imperfection provokes change and continuous improvement1. 
The briefness of the sketch forces us to think in terms of a synthesis and to capture the 
essence of things. We can also reverse this situation. The sketch is the perfect tool for 
illustrating the main guidelines of a project in a brief and clear manner. “Renzo Piano argues 
that freehand drawing is a basic part of the theoretical process of creating architecture. This 
process begins with the sketches, the next step is a more detailed drawing and the final 
phase is the model. At times, it happens that the architect goes back to the drawing, starting 
the process of circulation”2.
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, 1971‒1977
In 1971, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers ‒ young, little-known architects ‒ won 
a competition for the design of a cultural center in the Beaubourg district of Paris, which, 
after the death of Georges Pompidou in 1974, was named after him. In an era of social 
revolution, the project was a kind of revolution in the world of architecture. The Centre 
Pompidou completely changed the relationship between the museum and the audience. 
It became a meeting place, a melting pot, a container, a machine open to people interested 
in culture and art. It is also considered the first example of high-tech architecture, which 
Piano himself denies: “In reality it is quite an ironic building. It is not a real spaceship ‒ it is 
a Jules Verne spaceship. It’s really more a parody of technology than technology. It was just 
a direct and quite innocent way to express the difference between the intimidating cultural 
institutions like they normally were in the 60s and 70s ‒ especially in this city [Paris, where 
his studio is based] ‒ and the modern building, very open and a curious relationship 
with people. The idea was that it doesn’t intimidate. We were young bad boys and we 
liked that.
But the Beaubourg is not really the triumph of technology. It’s more about the joy 
of  life. It’s a rebellion”3.
In an interview in 1977 Piano notes that the idea was born in the mind, not on paper. “We said 
to ourselves: ‘Let’s try and think about this competition. If we get a good idea for it, we’ll 
do it’. And within the first 10 days, we had quite an interesting idea: that of counterproposing, 
in a slightly controversial vein, the concept of a big contraption, or machine, to that of the 
large cultural centre ‒ an idea we both had simultaneously. This idea, although it hadn’t 
1 P. Clemence, Q & A: Renzo Piano, http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/July-2014/QA-
Architect-Renzo-Piano/, New York 2014.
2 A. Białkiewicz, O rysunku architektonicznym, TEKA Komisji Architektury, Urbanistyki i Studiów 
Krajobrazowych, Lublin 2006, 53-60.
3 M. Fairs,  Interview:  Renzo  Piano  on  The  Shard, http://www.dezeen.com/2012/05/18/interview-
renzo-piano-on-the-shard/, London 2012.
131
been drawn yet, seemed interesting enough to warrant our participation”4. Surprisingly, 
freehand drawings became very important in the construction phase of the project. In an 
interview Piano complained that the sketches were taken from them in order to construct 
the building on their basis. “France was terrible. It was a bizarre school [of thought] where 
being the architect was just a sketch-making job”, he says. “They said, ‘Merci beaucoup, 
monsieur, now we’ll do it’ and we said, ‘No you won’t. We’ll do it”’5.
One of the Pompidou Center sketches published on the Renzo Piano Building Workshop 
website  is an example of a drawing illustrating the concept after the project had been 
finished. In the competition entry design, the building was supposed to have 10 levels, 
3 underground and 7 levels above ground; in the competition entry design it wasn’t 
a peculiar glass tube with escalators. However, this sketch perfectly demonstrates the most 
characteristic elements of the front facade: a modular structure with the cross braces, 
the escalator tube or the piazza recessed in the ground in front of the building.
The Menil Collection, Houston, United States, 1982‒1986
The Menil Collection houses a private 20th century art collection of Dominique and John 
de Menil. This is the second Renzo Piano museum (after the Centre Pompidou), his debut 
as an independent author. It is the first example of Piano’s characteristic approach to the use 
of daylight in an exhibition space. While at the Centre Pompidou the exhibition spaces are 
almost completely without daylight access, in the Menil Collection design a glass roof was 
designed, fitted with huge blinds. A conceptual sketch of the building perfectly illustrates 
Renzo Piano’s thoughts on this topic. The painted white blinds are shaped so as to prevent 
the direct penetration of the sunlight into the interior and give a large amount of diffused 
light from upwards. The Sketch shows in a synthetic way another important feature of the 
design ‒ a strict modularity, based on the spacing of the blinds the architect designed for 
the roof drainage system and the artificial lighting of the interior. In the sketch, we can see 
a raised floor covering all the installations and also figures of visitors and sculptures, which 
allows us to evaluate the height of the interior.
Cy Twombly Pavilion, Houston, United States, 1992‒1995
This monographic museum dedicated to the works of the abstract expressionist 
Cy Twombly (whose real name is Edwin Parker) was also funded by the Menil family and 
it is located in the vicinity of the Menil Collection. The design is a further development 
of the idea of the glass roof, with a slightly different approach to the issue of excessive 
light exposure. Among the numerous sketches, there is one very simple drawing that 
focuses on issues of natural light. This fragmentary section highlights a large space between 
the glass roof and the ceiling made of a translucent fabric that diffuses natural light and 
reduces its intensity by about 300 lux. The drawing is rather simple, but it contains many 
descriptions and gives the impression of a quick draft sketch performed in order to solve 
a specific problem.
4 C. Casati, The Parisian Hyde Park Corner, Domus 01/1977, Milano 1977.
5 V. Pitt, Interview: Renzo Piano, http://www.building.co.uk/interview-renzo-piano/5044399.article, 
London 2012.
132
Beyeler Foundation Museum, Riehen, Switzerland, 1992‒1997
Beyeler Foundation Museum is located in Riehen near Basel. The museum’s founder 
‒ Ernst Beyeler ‒ insisted that his collection of contemporary art should be viewed 
in natural light. The glass roof is a little different here than in the previous Renzo Piano 
projects ‒ it is more modern, with an additional level of saw-tooth-shaped layer made 
of tempered glass with UV filters, as well as the ability to adjust, to some extent, natural 
illumination. There are many sketches describing the issues involved in the design of this 
building. However, one drawing which shows the relationship between the building and 
the environment caught my attention. The museum is located on the longitudinal plot among 
many century-old trees in close proximity to the eighteenth-century villa Berower housing 
museum offices and a restaurant. It is quite a large building, with a length of 127 meters, 
yet it does not dominate over the area and discreetly blends with a gentle hillside. The 
museum is not high, the horizontal proportions are achieved due to the fact that part of the 
exhibition space is located below the ground level. Large areas of glazing in the external 
walls integrate the interior with the surrounding greenery. One of Piano’s sketches shows 
the context of the museum’s park, and also in a very brief way explains the form of the 
building, its proportions, its glass saw-tooth-shaped roof and its shape based on the direction 
of the sun.
Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Noumea, New Caledonia, 1991‒1998
The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre was erected as a tribute to Jean-Marie Tjibaou, 
a New Caledonian leader murdered in 1989. The Center presents an exhibition of the Kanak 
civilization. On the island of New Caledonia, located on the Pacific Ocean, which had 
been under the rule of France for many years, nearly 40 percent of the population have 
European roots. The French government promotes the European lifestyle, threatening the 
Kanak culture. The Centre is a bridge between modern civilization of the Western world, 
and the local traditions. Built using the latest technology, the building has a structure which 
is inspired by local architecture. The form of the building fits perfectly into the landscape 
of New Caledonia. One of Renzo Piano’s sketches of it shows a cross-section of one 
of the pavilions in the shape of Kanak huts. The drawing describes the air circulation in the 
interior. The shape of the high wall of the pavilion can be viewed as a shape similar to a sail. 
It was formed to increase convection and provide efficient interior cooling. Additionally, 
through the closing or opening of the different holes, the air flow can be controlled with 
an optimal effect during different wind conditions. This wall has to resist the force of 
hurricanes which frequently occur on the Pacific Ocean. The presented drawing is probably 
an early concept sketch because the wall was built in a slightly different shape, in the form 
of a double facade.
Paul Klee Center, Bern, Switzerland, 1999‒2005
This museum, located on the eastern outskirts of Bern, contains more than 4,000 works 
of Paul Klee, with the ability to exhibit 200 of them to the public. In a very modest sketch, 
we can read the most important inspiration for its design, whose undulating form of the 
“three hills” refers directly to the landscape surrounding the museum ‒ hills in the foothill 
region of the Alps, and symbolically shows the artistic personality of Paul Klee, himself 
being torn between the world of painting and music, an innovative approach to the concepts 
133
of tension and dynamics in art, fascination with the intuitive art of children, or graphic 
forms of the Arabic alphabet. The attention is drawn to the huge spiral that highlights the 
entrance area which appears sometimes in Renzo Piano’s drawings. The drawing enchants 
with its simplicity and accuracy in showing the architecture of the museum. It seems that 
the undulating form of the building is ideal for searching for the ideal curvatures using 
freehand drawings.
Chicago Art Institute ‒ the new wing, Chicago, United States, 1999‒2009
The new wing of the Art Institute of Chicago houses collections of modern European 
art. It is located in Grant Park ‒ a large green area on the Lake Michigan shore. The old 
part of the Institute was founded in 1893. The addition was built on the east side as a light 
and transparent new wing which is to emphasize the elegance of the limestone-clad old 
building. Renzo Piano comes back to the idea of the glass roof ‒ again in a slightly different 
way. The roof of the new section of the Chicago Art Institute, called the “flying carpet”, 
seems to float above the main body of the building. Beneath it there is a large space for 
ventilation. This is shown on an original Renzo Piano sketch, on which he also analyzes 
the influence of different sunlight angles on the building oriented on a north-south axis. 
As in the case of the Paul Klee Centre, the huge spiral highlights the new entrance on the side 
of Monroe Street. The drawing also shows the details of the design, such as vertical blinds 
to protect the facade, the context of the park and of the lowering of the terrain, in which the 
railway tracks are located.
Kimbell Art Museum ‒ extension, Fort Worth, United States, 2007‒2013
The design and construction of the Kimbell Art Museum extension is a kind of multi-
dimensional conversation between Renzo Piano and Louis Kahn ‒ the author of the older 
part of the Kimbell museum, which was completed in 1972. At that time (during the years 
1965‒1970), which was at the beginning of his career, an unknown Piano worked with Kahn. 
We can notice some similarities between both sections of the buildings in their scale, their 
height, proportions or the rhythm of their form. Kahn and Piano share a similar approach to 
the use of indirect natural light and the way of reaching a proper solution through numerous 
sketches. The part designed by Piano is “lighter” and more transparent. One of Renzo Piano’s 
sketches shows the main foci of the concept, developing the concept of the glass roof. In this 
design, as in The Menil Collection, some of the technical infrastructure serving the exhibition 
is hidden under the raised floor. The sketch heavily accents double beams made of laminated 
wood - the main element of the roof structure. This drawing also shows details such as the 
inner membrane diffusing the natural light, artificial lighting systems and elements of the 
roof drainage. The Kimbell Art Museum project is a kind of bracket joining the beginnings 
of  Renzo Piano’s career with the present and it contains a wealth of his thought on the nature 
of the museum.
Agata Bonenberg, who worked with Renzo Piano for over a year, reports that 
according to him, “the advantage of the freehand sketching method is the ability to quickly 
take note of the creative thought and its importance”6. This proves Renzo Piano’s appreciation 
6 A. Bonenberg, Techniki reprezentacji architektonicznej a jakość przestrzeni współczesnego miasta, 
Czasopismo Techniczne, 6-A/2008, 256-261.
134
and use of sketches in the early stage of a design. However, Agata Bonenberg adds, that 
“the master freehand sketches contain the essence of the design concept. Looking at them, 
we understand the meaning of the project faster than analyzing the CAAD drawings”7. This 
statement suggests that the sketches are created as a part of a concept’s explanation, made in 
a later phase of design or even after it has been finished. Often it is the case that the sketch 
becomes an independent piece of art. In times of computer-aided design and 3D modelling, 
the sketch remains the best way to record an architect’s thoughts.
7 Ibidem.
135
Ill. 1. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, 1971‒1977 (copyright Renzo Piano Sketches)
Ill. 2. The Menil Collection, Houston, United States, 1982‒1986 (copyright Renzo Piano Sketches)
Ill. 3. Cy Twombly Pavilion, Houston, United States, 1992‒1995 (copyright Renzo Piano Sketches)
Ill. 4. Beyeler Foundation Museum, Riehen, Switzerland, 1992‒1997 (copyright Renzo Piano 
Sketches)
Ill. 5. Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre, Noumea, New Caledonia, 1991‒1998 (copyright Renzo 
Piano Sketches)
Ill. 6. Paul Klee Center, Bern, Switzerland, 1999‒2005 (copyright Renzo Piano Sketches)
Ill. 7. Chicago Art Institute ‒ a new wing, Chicago, United States, 1999‒2009 (copyright Renzo Piano 
Sketches)
Ill. 8. Kimbell Art Museum ‒ extension, Fort Worth, United States, 2007‒2013, Source: www.rpbw.
com, www.fondazionerenzopiano.org (copyright Renzo Piano Sketches)
136
R e f e r e n c e s
[1] Białkiewicz A., O rysunku architektonicznym, TEKA Komisji Architektury, Urbanistyki i Studiów 
Krajobrazowych, Lublin 2006, 53-60.
[2] Bonenberg A., Techniki reprezentacji architektonicznej a jakość przestrzeni współczesnego miasta, 
Czasopismo Techniczne, 6-A/2008, 256-261.
[3] Casati C., The Parisian Hyde Park Corner, Domus 01/1977, Milano 1977.
[4] Clemence, Q&A:  Renzo  Piano, http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/July-2014/Q-A-
Architect-R P. enzo-Piano/, New York 2014.
[5] Fairs M., Interview: Renzo Piano on The Shard, http://www.dezeen.com/2012/05/18/interview-
renzo-piano-on-the-shard/, London 2012.
[6] Jodidi P. o, Piano: Renzo Piano Building Workshop 1966‒2005, Kolonia 2005.
[7] Kiciński A., Muzea: zagadnienia rozwoju i projektowania: polska perspektywa, Warszawa 2011.
[8] Piano R., Renzo Piano Museumarchitektur, Ostfildern 2007.
[9] Pitt V., Interview:  Renzo  Piano, http://www.building.co.uk/interview-renzo-piano/5044399.
article, London 2012.


Renzo Piano Museums. Sketch as synthesis of thought

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Renzo Piano Museums. Sketch as synthesis of thought

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