There are only a few days left to the opening of the London 2012 Olympics and the pressure to perform certain openings is increasing. The new skyscraper, "the highest in Western Europe" with 310 m. height and pyramid-shaped, known as "The Sard" in London, opened yesterday, almost as an endpoint of the works (the interior is unfinished) that have been developed during the last three years on the banks of the Thames. Here we bring the latest pictures of the finished building and a video with the different construction stages.

"The Shard" has been designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano (the author with Richard Rogers of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, in the 1970s). The new tower in London is almost 310 meters in height. The building is part of a controversial urban renewal project and the amount of its cost, as developers say, to €1.8 million, mainly financed by the emirate of Qatar.

Will not last long the new height record of "The Shard" because soon will be ousted by the new Mercury City Tower in Moscow, which will be 332 meters in height.

PROJECT CREDITS

Architects.- Renzo Piano Building Workshop in collaboration with Adamson Associates
Location.- London. England.
Client.-
Sellar Property Group

Consultants.- WSP/Cantor Seinuk; Ove Arup & Partners; Lerch, Bates & Associates; Davis Langdon; Broadway Malyan (for planning application only).

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Renzo Piano was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1937 to a family of builders. He graduated from Milan Polytechnic in 1964 and began to work with experimental lightweight structures and basic shelters. In 1971, he founded the Piano & Rogers studio and, together with Richard Rogers, 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 has been awarded the highest honors in architecture, including; the Pritzker Prize; RIBA Royal Gold Medal; Medaille d’Or, UIA; Erasmus Prize; and most recently, the Gold Medal of the AIA.

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The Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) was established in 1981 by Renzo Piano with offices in Genoa, Italy and Paris, France. The practice has since expanded and now also operates from New York.

RPBW is led by 10 partners, including founder and Pritzker Prize laureate, architect Renzo Piano.

The practice permanently employs about 130 architects together with a further 30 support staff including 3D visualization artists, model makers, archivers, administrative and secretarial staff.

Their staff has a wide experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams on building projects in France, Italy and abroad.

As architects, they are involved in the projects from start to finish. They usually provide full architectural design services and consultancy services during the construction phase. Their design skills extend beyond mere architectural services. Their work also includes interior design services, town planning and urban design services, landscape design services and exhibition design services.

RPBW has successfully undertaken and completed over 140 projects around the world.

Currently, among the main projects in progress are: the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles; the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay; the Paddington Square in London and; the Toronto Courthouse.

Major projects already completed include: the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris; the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas; the Kanak Cultural Center in Nouméa, New Caledonia; the Kansaï International Airport Terminal Building in Osaka; the Beyeler Foundation Museum in Basel; the reconstruction of the Potsdamer Platz area in Berlin; the Rome Auditorium; the New York Times Building in New York; the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco; the Chicago Art Institute expansion in Chicago, Illinois; The Shard in London; Columbia University’s Manhattanville development project in New York City; the Harvard museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Intesa Sanpaolo office building in Turin, Italy; the Kimbell Art Museum expansion in Texas; the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the Valletta City Gate in Malta; the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center in Athens; the Centro Botín in Santander; the New Paris Courthouse and others throughout the world.

Exhibitions of Renzo Piano and RPBW’s works have been held in many cities worldwide, including at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2018.
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Published on: July 6, 2012
Cite: "Bigger, higher, farther? The SHARD by Renzo Piano" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/bigger-higher-farther-shard-renzo-piano> ISSN 1139-6415
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