- Tubelator AI
- >
- Videos
- >
- Howto & Style
- >
- Renzo Piano Building Workshop: architectural process explained – Albert Giralt | HubTalks
Renzo Piano Building Workshop: architectural process explained – Albert Giralt | HubTalks
What secrets lie behind Renzo Piano’s "workshop method" and its enduring success in architecture? In this episode of #HubTalks, Albert Giralt, Partner and Director at Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), discusses the studio’s renowned approach and the design values shaping their projects across the world, from the Menil Collection in Houston to the New York Times Building.
Albert Giralt has been deeply involved in realising transformative projects including the newly-opened Shard Place in London and the Tokio Marine Headquarters in Tokyo (opening 2029), bringing forward RPBW’s longstanding philosophy along with a new generation of partners.
In this conversation, HubTalks host Bana Bissat speaks with Albert Giralt about how the studio’s collaborative model fuels everything from timber innovation and daylight design to sustainable urban development.
*Timestamps*
00:00 Introduction
00:32 Joining Renzo Piano Building Workshop RPBW
01:19 The Workshop Method and Model Making
03:02 Exploring Interior Atmosphere Through Models
06:27 Designing for the Public Realm
09:03 Blending Public Spaces into Private Projects
12:00 Urban Transformation and Mixed-Use Design
13:33 The Future of Workplace Design
16:47 Timber Architecture at Tokio Marine
20:00 Sustainable Design and Life Cycle Thinking
22:21 CLT Slabs vs. Concrete: Carbon Trade-Offs
24:11 Balancing Low Carbon with User Comfort
25:08 Renovation as a Sustainable Strategy
28:09 Daylight Design Philosophy at RPBW
32:35 Fostering Workplace Connection with Architectural Tactics
36:00 The Future and Legacy of Renzo Piano Building Workshop RPBW
*About HubTalks*
HubTalks are filmed conversations discussing the infinite potential of the indoors. What emerging opportunities can improve interior comfort? Can we build for both our basic human needs and the pressing urgencies of the environment? A thought leadership series from Rockfon, the world's leading acoustic company.
Subscribe to our channel for upcoming episodes of HubTalks: /@rockfonofficial
*More from Rockfon:*
Website: https://rockfon.link/pkcyg3
Instagram: https://rockfon.link/d7xqpw
LinkedIn: https://rockfon.link/qiicqi
Pinterest: https://rockfon.link/6b66ya
#architecture #renzopiano #timberarchitecture
Install Tubelator On Chrome
Video Summary & Chapters
No chapters for this video generated yet.
Video Transcript
Hi, I'm Bana, host of today's
episode of HubTalks.
Joining me in the Hub today is
Albert Giralt, partner
at Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
Albert, thank you so much for joining
us here in Copenhagen today.
It's a pleasure to have you.
Pleasure, likewise.
You joined Renzo Piano Building Workshop
in 2009, and then you
progressed to partner by 2021.
How was the process of the
evolution over the years?
It's a learning experience.
Every day, I remember at the beginning,
I had already some experience before,
but it's true that the way in which
RPBW operates is a bit different
from what I had experienced before.
That notion of "Workshop",
of craftsmanship, of working the details
of each building until the very
end of the design process.
It's just a learning experience.
With years, you really absorb that way
of working and your experience grows, and
then you go from one project to the other.
You have more responsibility
with time until now.
Wow.
The Renzo Piano Building Workshop method
was established over 35 years ago.
From my understanding,
no one really knows where it came from or
when it was exactly established,
but everyone knows about it.
It sounds like this mystical method.
Today's conversation is about
how the method is manifested
in the interior expression
of the practice's buildings.
But I'd be curious,
how would you describe
this magical, mysterious...
Yeah, well, I wouldn't say it's magical.
It's quite grounded.
But I think a bit the secret
is in the name of the office.
Renzo Piano at the time,
when he founded the office together
with his partners at the time,
they decided that the name of the office
would be Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
The notion of "Workshop" is, I would say,
key in this because the workshop,
you can understand it as a physical place.
It's our two offices.
We understand them as a workshop.
We have a workshop in Genoa, we have
another workshop in Paris.
But the notion of workshop is also about
a virtual place where
all actors that play a part in building
a building, that's where they meet,
where they discuss, where they exchange
ideas and where the project takes shape.
We see our offices almost as the place
where everyone, the client,
which is very important,
having a good client is essential,
engineers,
the contractor later on in the process,
consultants, everyone brings their
expertise and everyone
enriches the project.
The idea of the workshop is this one
of putting together all this
knowledge and working together.
This is also a method about how you
challenge the project,
