Carlos Saura's Documentary on Renzo Piano's Centro Botín

Filmmaker Carlos Saura's documentary "Renzo Piano – L'architetto della luce" (Spain, 2018, 80 min) had its world premiere at the Biografilm Festival in Bologna. The film traces the lengthy development of the Centro Botín in Santander, which opened in June 2017 after delays. Saura, born in 1932, followed architect Renzo Piano through the building's various construction phases, using the project as a lens to explore analogies between architecture and cinema. Located in the Jardines de Pereda along Santander's seafront, the Centro Botín features two autonomous, sinuous volumes connected by a walkway. Its external ceramic cladding, composed of 280,000 discs, creates a shimmering "mother-of-pearl" effect. The building houses cultural and exhibition activities promoted by the Fundación Botín, including the exhibition "Joan Miró: sculture 1928-1982" open until September 2. Piano designed the center to extend the urban fabric toward the sea, strengthening the bond between city and water. A key element was the study of light, which Piano calls an "obsession." He describes the creative process metaphorically: "It's a bit like looking in the dark. At first you see nothing; after a while your eye adjusts. You need a bit of silence. You need emptiness."