The Renzo Piano Foundation’s seventh monograph.

The Whitney Museum's history goes back to 1914, when sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney opened the Whitney Studio in Greenwich Village, as a space where American artists could meet and show their works. Over time, the collection expanded so rapidly that the museum had to keep looking for new premises. Eventually even the famous building designed by Marcel Breuer proved too cramped. The commission Renzo Piano received in 2003 was to extend the Breuer Museum. However, problems of space and planning restrictions led in 2006 to the radical decision to go for a new building. A site was chosen in the Meatpacking District, an area that still preserves its industrial character, not far from Greenwich Village and the High Line. This was a homecoming for Whitney, being close to where the museum was founded.

The volume is enriched by contributions from Adam Weinberg, the museum’s director, Donna de Salvo, its head  curator, and Elisabetta Trezzani, RPBW’s project manager.