A rendering at dusk of the proposed San Ramon City Center, designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano and his firm. Photo: Renzo Piano Building Workshop

As preposterous as this might sound, master Italian architect Renzo Piano has returned to the Bay Area to focus his firm's efforts on - a suburban shopping center.

It's a far cry from his acclaimed CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, or such refined icons as Piano's 52-story New York Times tower. We're talking southern Contra Costa County, San Ramon to be exact, 70 retail spaces and a cineplex with 1,300 parking spaces thrown into the mix.

The new City Center proposed for suburban San Ramon by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. This view shows the exterior from Bollinger Canyon Road. Unlike most suburban complexes, it is designed to be open to pedestrians from all sides. Photo: Renzo Piano Building Workshop

Yet the everyday nature of the commission is what makes it important, oddly heroic. Piano is grappling with the building blocks of 21st century suburbia, a realm that other A-list architects only ponder from 30,000 feet if at all. Our very own East Bay will be the judge of whether he succeeds or fails.

The piazza of new City Center proposed for suburban San Ramon by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. The first block, shown here, wraps two stories of shops and a cineplex around a "piazza." The block to the east is to be developed later, with housing and a hotel also designed by Piano's firm. Photo: Renzo Piano Building Workshop

"This is a great opportunity for us to explore the nature of the suburban environment," said Antonio Belvedere, a partner at Renzo Piano Building Workshop who presented the San Ramon City Center project to the City Council on Tuesday. "We have to plant the seed that allows other things to grow."...Continue Reading

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