Renzo Piano knows how to build a mean sandcastle

Making sandcastles was my training in fantasy. Now, as an architect constructing buildings like the Shard, I have to think about the final result, but as a child making castles of sand I didn’t, they were ephemeral.

As quoted in The Guardian, he explains matter-of-factly, "I have four children; the oldest is 50 and the youngest 16, so I have been making sandcastles for a long time. There is no age limit – you can enjoy making a sandcastle however old you are, although it helps to think like a child."

His method for sandcastle building is at times very precise (the angle of the sand mound's incline should ideally be 45°) and decidedly whimsical: "The magic moment is when the waves come and the ditch becomes a moat ... To capture the image in your memory quickly, close your eyes when the water comes in." (via Archinect)