Renzo Piano was born in Genoa in 1937 into a family of builders. He developed strong attachments with this historic city and port and with his father’s profession. While studying at Politecnico of Milan University, he worked in the office of Frano Albini. After graduation in 1964, he started experimenting with light, mobile, temporary structures. Between 1965 and 1970, he went on a number of trips to discover Great Britain and the United States. In 1971, he set up the “Piano & Rogers” office in London together with Richard Rogers, with whom he won the competition for the Centre Pompidou. He subsequently moved to Paris. From the early 1970s to the 1990s, he worked with the engineer Peter Rice, sharing the Atelier Piano and Rice from 1977-1981. In 1981, the “Renzo Piano Building Workshop’ was established, with 150 staff and offices in Paris, Genoa, and New York.