I was somewhat surprised to learn this building is the headquarters of Kum & Go in Des Moines, Iowa 
Renzo Piano Résumé:
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
The Shard, London
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Athens
Kum & Go, Des Moines
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
The Shard, London
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Athens
Kum & Go, Des Moines
This reminds me that one of the finest works of 20th Century architecture was for a floor wax and bug spray company in Racine, Wisconsin
What's your favorite building? For me it's Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House Palm Springs (1946). Commissioned by the same Pittsburgh department store magnate who commissioned Fallingwater by FL Wright. I like this better.
FWIW, I grew up in a American 4-Square farmhouse built by my great grandpa around 1905. When I was a kid we vacationed in California and visited some relatives who had a modernist house with sheet glass and floating fireplace. I was like, holy shit, sign me up for this.
I think it's largely a result of that experience that every house I've ever owned has been modernist.
common misconception. I lived in a flat roofed 1959 modern house in Chicagoland for 17 winters and never once had a roof issue. If flat roofs were impractical, you'd never see them on a commercial building.
