THE FOUNDATION'S ARCHIVES
From conservation to enhancement
Since the late 1990s, the Renzo Piano Foundation has established and refined an increasingly precise work program dedicated to archival conservation and enhancement.
Through the study of sketches, drawings, models, photographic documentation, and correspondence, which encapsulate the professional activity of Renzo Piano and his associates, it is possible to retrace not only the history of individual projects, but also the methodological imprint that distinguishes the Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
The archive consists of the collection relating to projects carried out between 1960 and 2015. It currently holds more than 5,000 models and maquettes, around 100,000 sketches and hand drawings, over 1,500 linear meters of documentation, and more than 12 terabytes of digital documentation.
The photographic collection has been catalogued and estimated to contain approximately 500,000 traditional media (slides, plates, prints, rolls of film, negatives) relating to the 1960-1999 Projects Collection.
The multimedia material produced and collected by Renzo Piano and his collaborators over the years of the studio’s work is also preserved.
ACCESS TO DOCUMENTATION
As this is a “living archive”, the documentation is constantly archived and inventoried, sometimes rendering parts of the collection inaccessible.
The material available for study and personal research can be consulted in the Archives – Projects section (link).
Specific requests should be sent to contact@fondazionerenzopiano.org, specifying “Request for documentation” in the subject line.
L’ACCESSO ALLA DOCUMENTAZIONE
Direct access to the archives is free of charge and reserved for scholars and researchers, subject to acceptance of the request by the Management. To obtain this authorization, scholars must contact contact@fondazionerenzopiano.org, specifying the subject of their research and its purpose, and attaching a letter of introduction from their university or institution of origin.