Italy arch-star Renzo Piano donates design for anti-seismic school

ROME, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Internationally celebrated Italian architect Renzo Piano has designed an anti-seismic, energy-efficient school to be built in an earthquake-prone town in central Italy, local media reported Saturday.

The award-winning architect donated his design for the school to the town of Sora, which lies in a highly earthquake-prone area in the Lazio region where Rome is also located.

The airy, two-story wooden structure is designed around a tree that will grow in its center, and it will have a garden on the roof, according to the drawings published by La Stampa newspaper.

Giant gas, water and electricity meters in the atrium will show schoolchildren how much energy is being consumed on a daily basis.

Piano is internationally known for such buildings as the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Kansai International Airport Terminal in Osaka, Japan, and the Shard skyscraper in London, among others.

"It is made of wood, consumes very little energy, and is flexible," Piano told RAI public broadcaster in an interview, adding that his idea is for the building to "function as an inspiration".

"But in order to inspire, it is not enough to write or publish books -- one must also build," he said.

Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni hailed the project as an example of the "ambitious response we need" to make Italy more anti-seismic and sustainable, La Stampa reported.

Italy's central regions, including parts of Lazio, suffered a deadly earthquake in 2016. The government in its 2017 budget inserted a tax break for anti-seismic home renovation in an effort to make as many of Italy's buildings as safe as possible.

Construction on the school to be publicly financed with 6.8 million euros is slated to begin in a year, according to ANSA news agency. Enditem