Renzo Piano's Latest Project in Italy is a Bit of an Overachiever

Well, it seems Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) has been quite busy. While we were all distracted trying to figure out what exactly Renzo's new building for the Whitney Museum of American Art calls to mind—and finding its interiors admirable despite a façade for radio—RPBW has moved right along, completing work on a new headquarters for Turin, Italy-based bank Intesa Sanpaolo. The building is something of an overachiever. It clocks in at 166-meters-high (about 545 feet), and is, thus, the city's second-tallest structure. It's also got a three-level "bioclimatic greenhouse," a naturally ventilated space open to the public with a roof garden, restaurant, and terrace. If you feel like you've heard this one before, perhaps it's because it's a dead ringer for Renzo's New York Times headquarters in Manhattan, down to the planted indoor courtyards.

· Renzo Piano's Italian Bank Tower Contains a Public Bioclimatic Greenhouse [Designboom]
· Overwrought Shell Conceals Porous, Visitor-Friendly Design in Renzo Piano's New Whitney Museum [Curbed]