With the words below, Renzo Piano, in the exclusive interview contained in this volume, tells the story of the birth of the new Istanbul Modern Museum in the historic district of the port of Galata in Istanbul, overlooking the Bosphorus. The new museum will become an urban focal point between the Old Town to the west, the Bosphorus to the south, Tophane Park to the north, and the new Galataport Waterside development to the east which will replace the old pier business. The museum project is part of a general regeneration masterplan of 1.5 km along the quay.

“In this project we had to deal with the concept of limit.Limits can be seen in two ways: they may prevent you from making interesting choices or there may represent a solid ground to climb and make projects. Some choices here were indisputable: the ground floor structure, the presence of ships docking in front of the building, the height, and, last but not least, a budget that had to be strictly respected. All these things can be seen as terrible obstacles, or on the contrary, providential help to focus attention elsewhere”.