Influential Architects / Artists

        Influences 

     It would be impossible to say who my favourite architect is, however one name stands out - Antonio Gaudi.

      Gaudi 

Gaudí, the son of a coppersmith, developed rheumatism very early and so he was never able to play and horse around with other children. This is why Gaudí took long nature walks as a child. The time he spent surrounded by nature sharpened his exceptional power of observation very early. 

"Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator" - Antonio Gaudi 

At the age of 17 he began his studies for architecture at the “Escola d'Arquitectura” in Barcelona. The most significant and prevalent mission of Gaudí was the making of the "Sagrada Familia", which is the cathedral of the holy family. In the winter of 1883 he took over the project to build the church from the famous architect Francisco de Paula de Villar.  

Frank Gehry

Inventive and irreverent, Frank Gehry has been surrounded by controversy for most of his career. Using unconventional materials like corrugated metal and chain link, Gehry creates unexpected, warped forms that break conventions of building design. His work has been called radical, playful, organic, and sensual.

Early in his career, Frank Gehry designed houses inspired by modern architects such as Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright. As Gehry's career expanded, he became known for enormous, iconoclastic projects that attracted attention and controversy. Many buildings by Frank Gehry have become tourist attractions, drawing visitors from around the world.

"Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness." - Frank Ghery

Explore Frank Gehry's Life and Works:

For an intimate look at Frank Gehry's creative process, see Conversations With Frank Gehry by journalist Barbara Isenberg. The book includes interiews with Gehry and a fascinating collection of sketches, renderings, and photographs of his works.

Zaha Hadid

The designs of architect Zaha Hadid are bold and visionary experiments with space and with the relationships of buildings to their urban surroundings.

Often named as the most prominent contemporary female architect, Hadid is significant for her intellectual toughness, her refusal to compromise on her ideas even when very few of them were being realised in concrete and steel. For many years, her designs filled the pages of architecture periodicals but were dismissed as impractical or as too radical, and Hadid even thought about giving up architecture after she suffered a major rejection in 1995. Her status began to rise internationally when her design for Cincinnati, Ohio's new Center for Contemporary Art was selected and built, earning worldwide acclaim. By the mid-2000s Hadid employed nearly 150 people in her London office and was working hard to keep up with new commissions that were coming in, offering her a chance to help reshape the world architectural landscape.

Daniel Liebeskind

He studied music seriously as a teenager, but at age 19 decided to pursue architecture, enrolling at Cooper Union in New York. 

His architectural firm won the 1989 competition to build the Jewish Museum in Berlin. When the museum opened in 2001, Time magazine reported that “it instantly made him one of the most sought-after architects in the world.” He also received commissions to build additions to museums in London, Toronto, San Francisco, and Denver as well as the creation of a number of other cultural institutions. 

In February 2003, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation chose his design for rebuilding the 16-acre site of the former World Trade Center, which had been destroyed in terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The design includes a hanging garden, a memorial, a cultural center, and is topped by a spiral tower reaching 1,776 feet tall, which will make it the tallest building in the world. Libeskind estimates it will cost $330 million and take more than ten years to rebuild the site.