Hoping For A Building That Lets Its Contents Shine

Italian architect Renzo Piano will shortly be bringing his subtle, understated style to Chicago, as designer of the Art Institute of Chicago’s planned expansion. Critic Blair Kamen has visited Piano’s latest triumph – Dallas’s $70 million Nasher Sculpture Center – and says that, if the Nasher is any indication, Chicago can look forward to a classic building which actually seeks to serve the art it houses, rather than overwhelm it.