We have arranged to meet in the lobby of the newly completed skyscraper for The New York Times, and I spot him at once in the auditorium, through two glass panes and a garden, being interviewed before television cameras. He waves at me from afar and soon we are starting a conversation which has four scenes and four tempos: adagio in the penumbra of the auditorium stalls, andante in the tables of the café transited by employees in a hurry, allegro in the balcony overlooking three floors of busy editorial offices, and presto on the lively sidewalk outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal, facing the sleek and delicate building fading in a light haze. When we take leave of one another, Piano puts on a small backpack and disappears into the crowd...[+]