ART NEWS

RENZO PIANO HONOURED BY MAXXI The acclaimed Italian architect Renzo Piano received a Lifetime Achievement Award on 18 June during a digital culture marathon by Rome’s MAXXI National Museum of the 21st Century Arts. The accolade, part of the Italian Architecture Award 2020, was organised by MAXXI and the Triennale Milano, with the support of Italy’s culture ministry. The award was presented virtually to Piano by MAXXI president Giovanna Melandri, as the museum celebrated its 10th anniversary in Rome. The international jury approved the recipient unanimously, underlining “the professional and civil commitment that has marked and continues to mark Piano’s architectural production and his tireless work of promoting the quality and public value of architecture.” Born in Genoa in 1937, Piano is best known for his high-tech public spaces, particularly his design (with Richard Rogers) for the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (1971-77), the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome (1994-2002) and The Shard in London (2000- 12). More recently Piano designed the new bridge for his home town Genoa, free of charge, to replace the Morandi bridge which collapsed on 14 August 2018 leading to the deaths of 43 people. Considered Italy’s greatest living architect, Piano was named a senator for life in 2013 by then Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, giving him the right to vote in the parliament’s upper house. The Premio Italiano di Architettura, which will take place annually, recognises the architectural production of Italian designers, or those active in Italy, whose commitment is orientated towards innovation, quality and the social role of architecture. In addition to Piano’s Lifetime Achievement Award, there will be awards for best building or project carried out in the last three years, including by architects under 40, to be announced in an award ceremony at MAXXI on 30 June. LIVING CHAPEL IN ROME Rome’s Botanic Gardens hosts an installation this summer called The Living Chapel, launched to mark World Environment Day on 5 June. Made of recycled material, the installation is covered entirely with young plants and trees and is equipped with a music system generated by water. The project was conceived by the Australian-Canadian composer Julian Darius Reviel who, with the help of 100 volunteer students, sought to recreate the Porziuncola chapel of St Francis in Assisi. The recycled aluminum structure was covered by 3,000 permanent ornamental plants and thousands of young trees from the forests of central Europe and a collection of ancient fruit trees from Umbria. The project promotes the “greening” the planet, in line with Pope Francis’s Laudato sì encyclical and the principles of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Sound installations have been created by turning oil barrels into musical instruments which, animated by a flow of water drops, create a continuous musical symphony. The project represents a “place of profound harmony between nature, music, art, architecture and humanity” according to Rome’s La Sapienza University which manages the Orto Botanico. At the end of the summer the structure will be dismantled and the trees will be donated to green areas and used in the creation of new gardens. The Living Chapel is open Mon-Sun 09.00- 18.30. Reservations are required (ortobotanicoroma@ yahoo.com or tel. 0649917135). For information see website, web.uniroma1.it/ortobotanico. The Orto Botanico entrance is at Largo Cristina di Svezia 23A, near Galleria Corsini in the Trastevere district.

Andy Devane