assonances: Renzo Piano / Georges Mathieu

Definitely a strong combination, or a flight of the imagination. But, Renzo Piano’s design sketches remind me very much of Georges Mathieu’s works. Beyond the correspondence of vertical / oblique lines of the works compared here (deliberately chosen to emphasize the comparison), I find that there are similarities in the compositional style of their works.

Everything seems to revolve all around a fulcrum (sometimes composed of one, two or three masses), from which lines – important as much as the more concentrated part – free themselves towards the outside. There are also different thicknesses and textures that guide the eye from one line to another.

And no, not all architects use the same style. Take a look at the works of Alvaro Siza and Steven Holl:

There will almost certainly be no a documented and tangible link, probably they are only “sons” of the same time.

Certainly, they are both extraordinary.