Renzo Piano in New Caledonia

Renzo Piano  Tjiabao Cultural Centre, Noumea, New Caledonia

"A mistaken concept of universality would have led me to apply my mental catgegories of history and progress outside the context in which they developed, a grave error". Paul Oliver references Piano in the introduction to his book, "Dwellings" (p. 9).

 Piano is the architect of many iconic Western buildings, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris and, very recently,  the Shard, in London.  When commissioned for the work in Noumea (1998), he chose to work in a very different "style", which reflected the constructive methods of local buildings.  This homage produces an effective and sculptural result, but is it simply a superficial interpretation of the Noumean culture?  It would be interesting to know more about the process of Piano's design - whether he consulted with local people, for example. It does seem from the photograph that he used some building materials native to the country.