A Guided Tour of Renzo Piano’s Architectural Projects in NYC
A visit of three sites (Morgan Library, New York Times Building and new Whitney Museum) led by Architect Kyle Johnson (American Institute of Architects)
Saturday, October 5, 2013
(meeting time and place TBA)
New York City
Free, very limited spaces available
See media coverage of the event
This guided tour of one of the most dynamic cities in the world through the lens of a kaleidoscopic yet composed architect like Renzo Piano was designed by Dr. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair) as a complement to the September 26th lecture on the humanistic legacy in Piano’s architecture. In highlighting the blending of traditional and innovative elements in the work of this celebrated Italian architect, the tour functions as a physical and metaphysical walk through the past and the future at once. To borrow from Piano himself in a fortunate phrase imbued with an Italo Calvino–esque spirit: “When they ask me how the city of the future will look like, I reply: ‘Like that of the past.”
This three-hour tour, led by AIA architect and tour leader Kyle Johnson, will include stops at three of the four sites designed by Piano in Manhattan: Morgan Library Expansion (Midtown East), New York Times Building (Midtown West) (TBC), new Whitney Museum (West Village) – the new Manhattanville campus in West Harlem is still at the early stages and will not be included.
Aperitif will follow.
- Designed, organized and sponsored by the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at Montclair State University, NJ
- Co-sponsored by the NYIT (New York Institute of Technology), School of Architecture and Design, NY and the Italian Culture Institute of New York
A graduate of Rice and Columbia Universities, Kyle Johnson worked as Senior Associate at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners / I. M. Pei & Partners between1977 and 2009. He is currently an architecture tour leader and independent curator, serving as co-chair of the Architecture Tour Committee at the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter. He also serves as conference organizer, curator, and juror for prestigious institutions (NJ Institute of Technology, Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, among others).
This event is part of 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the United States, an initiative held under the auspices of the President of the Italian Republic, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Italy, and supported by the Corporate Ambassadors Eni and Intesa Sanpaolo.
