Working in Manhattan, I love the idea that we accept the clear and simple geometry of a building. We accept that logic. But complexity comes from texture, from vibration to change, to breath. Sometimes buildings even make sounds.
—Renzo Piano

Speaking at his offices at the Renzo Piano Building Workshop near Genoa in an interview with Architectural Record in 2001, the architect described his hopes for a building still in design—the New York Times Tower. The completion near Times Square of a new, 52-story tower—home of the country’s premiere news daily at Eighth Avenue and 41st Street—coincides with the news that on December 13, Piano was awarded the 2008 Gold Medal by the American Institute of Architects. The confluence of peer recognition of this former Pritzker winner, broad media attention, and tall architecture in record’s backyard provokes ruminations on fame: Is a starchitect worth the hype?