Italo Rota was born in 1953 in Milan and graduated from the Milan Polytechnic Institute in 1982. In 1980, he and Gae Aulenti created the plans for the Musee dOrsay and the Centre Beaubourg in Paris. In 1990, he initiated the planning for the Center for Postgraduate Studies at Columbia University. His return to Italy marked the beginning of a highly creative phase, including projects that ranged from museum installations, the Maison Cavalli (the showroom-cafes in Miami, Milan, and Moscow), to a series of public buildings in Italy and India. This book focuses on a recent decade of Rotas work and is aimed at professionals and lovers of architecture, fashion, and design.