Renzo Piano Talks Terrorism at the Tate Modern

Strange times, these, when we have events like starchitect Renzo Piano talking to a packed house at the Tate Modern about what’s the best way to build to avoid the greatest number of casualties during a terrorist attack. Such was the case on Tuesday, as Piano was invited to participate in a discussion, following the UK government’s recent counter-terrorism workshops for architects. And it turns out that Piano bucks the trend by being pro-glass in buildings, finding it safer even thought it’s perceived as more dangerous. Here’s a bit:

“From the point of view of [combating] terrorism, my feeling is that glass is better than anything else because of visibility. I believe transparency is safer than opacity.”

Piano, who was in New York during the 9/11 attacks, framed his remarks with his experience of designing Manhattan’s most recent skyscraper, a new glass-lined HQ for the New York Times.

He also questioned the use of blockades. “We should not answer this [threat] by making buildings like bunkers,” he said.

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