View of Trento and Renzo Piano’s Science Museum
View of Trento from the cable car
I spent the last week of June in Trento, Italy during the San Vigilio Festival. The city is surrounded by hills and mountains on all sides, and the Adige River to the west. Several days into my stay, the wind was calm enough to take the cable car up to the village of Sardagna. I made the journey up to the top with my son and a fellow architect. The view from the top is nothing short of spectacular!
From the top, I spotted a large construction site along the river. Locals at the adjacent museum in the Palazzo delle Albere were eager to share information about the new energy efficient development.
Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s new Science Museum is currently under construction on the site of the former Michelin Factory (seen at the lower right of the photo). The enormous redevelopment includes brownfield remediation and re-linking the city center to the river front. Residential units, office space, and a park are also included in the project.
The museum will feature a large pitched roof with photovoltaic panels, and an atrium space that will house a tropical greenhouse. Perhaps more intriguing however is the focus of the anticipated museum exhibits: glacier and earth sciences, global climate challenges, and new technology.
Erin Nunes Cooper, AIA, LEED AP is an Architect, Green Building Consultant, and the owner of 
