Shard architect to design Hollywood film museum

Renzo Piano's The Shard dominates London's skyline

Italian architect Renzo Piano, who is behind London's Shard skyscraper, will co-design the inaugural Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.

The celebrated architect, who partnered Richard Rogers on Paris's Pompidou Centre, will work with Californian native Zoltan Pali.

Museum chief Dawn Hudson called the collaboration "a perfect marriage".

The proposed museum, which explores the art of film-making and how movies have evolved, is set to open in 2016.

"Renzo's track record of creating iconic cultural landmarks, combined with Zoltan's success in transforming historically significant buildings is a perfect marriage for a museum that celebrates the history and the future of the movies," said Ms Hudson.

<bold>Ruby slippers</bold>

Piano designed the expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which will sit alongside the new museum, in the heart of Hollywood.

"The Academy museum will take the visitor through the back door of cinema, behind the curtain, and into moviemaking magic," said 74-year-old Piano, whose buildings have frequently divided opinion.

Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, is among the driving forces on the committee for the new museum.

Among the centrepieces will be Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, acquired on behalf of the museum - with the help of a consortium including Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg - earlier this year, according to industry website Deadline.

Last year it was announced that actors Tom Hanks and Annette Bening would join as co-chairs of the museum committee, alongside the Walt Disney company chief Bob Iger.

"With Bob, Annette, and Tom's leadership, our dream of finally opening a world-class film museum in Los Angeles will become a reality," Sherak said, in December.