People/Products

Renzo Piano never wanted to build a house. With a portfolio of museums, towers, and other award-winning buildings across the world, his mind was elsewhere. But in 2005 a friend approached the architect asking if he would design a home for his family in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Piano was resolute: he had never done residential work and had no intention of starting now. Hoping to entice the architect, the friend invited him to visit the site—a 183-acre ranch on a mountainside along a breathtaking valley veiled with aspen and scrub oak—via Google Earth. “That was the end,” says Piano. “I went flying in a little spaceship and then landed on that mountain with a light touch, floating a bit above the ground—then we started to dream together.”