The Italian prime minister has asked Renzo Piano to play a leading role in reconstruction after last week's earthquake.
The Italian government has conscripted Renzo Piano to help with reconstruction and disaster prevention in the wake of last week's earthquake that killed 290 people.
The prime minister, Matteo Renzi, asked that Piano play a leading role in the reconstruction of Amatrice, Accumoli and Pascara del Tronto, the towns worst impacted by the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that hit last week. Rebuilding has been hampered to date by more than 2,000 aftershocks.
Piano will help devise a plan to rebuild, and hopes to be able to introduce legislation that will earthquake-proof buildings, both old and new.
Displaced residents are being housed in tent camps, but the intention is to move them into simple wooden structures before winter.
Speaking to The Guardian, Piano said it is critical that Italy makes structures earthquake resistant.
"“We have to act quickly, with the utmost urgency,” he told The Guardian. “Anti-seismic requirements must be inserted in the laws of the country to make our homes safe, just as it’s compulsory for a car to have brakes that work."
In 2016, an earthquake in central Italy destroyed the homes of 2,500 people.
Piano has worked in quake zones in Japan and California.
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