The 30 Most Famous Architects in History

Compilation of 30 of the Most famous architects of history , Who for their works left an indelible mark. There are no accurate data on who were the names that sponsored this art but many architects who influenced its development.

Considered as one of the branches of art, along with dance, sculpture, music, painting, literature, engraving, photography, theater and cinema, architecture has a long history in humanity accompanying the development of Civilizations almost from the outset.

The term that gives rise to his name is the conjunction of the Greek words authority and builder, and ancient Greece was his birthplace.

Architecture is, according to its theoretical definition, the art and technique of designing, designing, constructing and modifying the human habitat. In practice it translates into the appearance of buildings, monuments and spaces, which make up part of human life.

Top 30 most famous architects in history

1- Miguel Á Angel Buonarroti

The 30 Most Famous Architects in History

(1475-1564, Italy) Original, multifaceted and rupturista, Miguel Angel was one of the great artists of the history. He ventured into different branches of art, all with their particular stamp and architecture was no exception.

Among his most outstanding works are the Laurentian Library of Florence, the Capitol Square in Rome and the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican. In addition, he is the designer of the dome of the Sistine Chapel.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

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(1598-1680, Italy) It is not clear whether there was any influence of Miguen Ángel in his works, but his works were closely related. It was, undoubtedly, the most representative figure of the Italian baroque and marked an entire era of architecture.

Among his most remembered projects is the Plaza and the columns of the Basilica of St. Peter or the Cornaro Chapel. In addition, it left a legacy populated with monuments and buildings with imposing and decorative style.

3- Ustad Ahmad Lahauri

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He was the chief architect of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. While there are no records of his works, he was considered a builder of wonders of the world and was recognized as"a tear in the face of eternity."

4- Ictino

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He may be one of the fathers of architecture, although there is no accurate data from the fifth century BC. Undoubtedly, his works were fundamental in the development of this art.

The Parthenon, the Telesterion and the Temple of Apollo, are his three most recognized works, all with a defined style of columns and entablatures.

5- Calícrates

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The other Greek teacher. Together with Ictinos they rebuilt the Acropolis of Athens. It had an enormous influence in the architectural culture by its works in the Parthenon and other buildings of the antiquity.

6- Bonanno Pisano

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(12th century, Italy) While there is controversy over whether he really was the architect in the project of the Tower of Pisa, there is no doubt that he was involved in its construction.

Defender of Byzantine art and classical antiquity, the door of the leaning cathedral is its authorship and in its panels of bronze tells in twenty-four scenes the main episodes of the life of Christ.

7- William Morris

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(1834-1896, United Kingdom) Creative and obstinate in his ideas, Morris was the founder of the Arts and Crafts movement that totally rejected the industrial production impelling a return to the crafts like way of development of its works. The Red House is his most admired work.

8- Antoni Gaudí

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(1852-1926, Spain) One of the geniuses who died without seeing finished his most important work: The Holy Family (expected to be complete in 2026). However, its existence can be felt throughout the architecture of the city of Barcelona, ​​where it left dozens of buildings and monuments.

Defender of modernism, he was elusive to straight lines, had a style in which details, color, textures and shapes abound, all within a concept. The Casa Batlló and the Parc Güell are two of their most renowned works.

9- Walter Gropius

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(1883-1969, Germany) Creator of one of the most influential movements of modernity, the Bauhaus school, Gropius was a convinced rationalizer and believed in the necessary conjunction of aesthetics and use.

"The form follows the function,"said the German architect who marked an entire era. The PanAm Tower is perhaps his best known work, which responds to a sober style without ornaments, something that he considered unnecessary.

Le Corbusier

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(1887-1965, Switzerland) A militant of the pure and clean lines, Le Corbusier is another of the theorists of modern architecture. In addition to his constructed works, he left behind a theoretical legacy.

He believed in the possibility of changing the world with architecture, which he considered a machine to generate beauty. Something that in practice solved it mostly with reinforced concrete as an ally and the implementation of open spaces. In turn, he developed his own system of measures, called"Le Modulor", which was based on the dimensions of the human body. Its peak works are Villa Savoye, Poissy and the chapel of Notre Dame du Haut.

11- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

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(1886- 1969, Germany) The influence of van der Rohe is no less in relation to the aforementioned architects. Also part of the Bauhaus and with an advanced style for his time, this German genius was a strict rationalist.

Marble, iron and glass were the favorite elements for his works. The Seagram Building in New York, the Farnsworth House and the German Pavilion in Barcelona, ​​are his main works.

12- Gustave Eiffel

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(1832 -1923, France) Although Eiffel was not an architect, it is impossible to ignore this list because of the influence his work as a civil engineer had on the next generations of architects.

His concepts in the structure were decisive for a way of conceiving the bridges, but he will always be remembered for being the creator of the Eiffel Tower. This monument had a strong rejection by the Parisian society after its construction in 1889, but at present it is one of the symbols of the light city.

13- Frank Lloyd Wright

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(1867-1959, United States)"Minimalism in all its expression", that is the most correct definition for the work of Wright. Persecuting a pure style, this architect sought a great visual transparency, leaving spaces for the passage of light, which gave sensations of breadth.

His main goal was to differentiate closed spaces from defined spaces, with a particular way of structure, which gave a unique style to his works like the Fallingwater House and the Kaufmann House.

14- Frank Owen Gehry

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(1929, Canada) Gehry was an innovator, original and special. Architecture was an art and as such, every building was to be a work of art, similar to a painting, sculpture or drawing.

His creation knew no bounds, used all kinds of materials, structures, shapes and colors. He could construct with irregularities and with uncompensated planes, to give expressive life to each work.

It has a variety of works with its label among which are: Frank Gehry House (California), Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao), Hotel Marqués de Riscal (El Ciego, Spain), Casa Danzante (Prague) Berlin).

15- Jorn Utzon

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(1918 - 2008 Denmark) Utzon was the creator of the Sydney Opera House, one of the most iconic buildings in the world. Defender of a monumental style, he always tried to adapt his works to the environment that surrounds him.

16- Richard Meier

(1934, United States) Perhaps the Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona is the work that best describes its style: clear, harmonious, with straight lines, spaces, light and abundance of white.

Admired by Le Corbusier and Lloyd Wright, Meier reflects that influence on his work.

17- César Pelli

(1926, Argentina) Pelli is one of the most recognized architects today. Linked to teaching and research, his works stand out all over the world.

Among his works are the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, which between 1998 and 2003 were the tallest building in the world.

18- Mario Palanti

(1885 - 1978, Italy) Perhaps its name surprises, but this Italian architect is responsible for two emblematic works in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, one of which (Barolo Palace) knew to be the highest building of Latin America at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Lover of the Neogothic style, Palanti was in charge of the construction of the Barolo Palace in the Argentine capital and the Salvo Palace in the Uruguayan capital.

They are two twin buildings, inspired by the Divine Comedy Scored by Dante Alighieri. Both have a powerful reflector in their dome and are made with opposite orientations, as if looked at each other. The funny thing is that Palanti took the plans with him and never appeared.

19- Philip Johnson

(1906-2005, USA) Johnson has a masterpiece, which is also his graduation project and his home. This architect built the Crystal House, a structure entirely of iron, without concrete walls and covered entirely with crystals, as if it were a large window.

twenty- Ieoh Ming Pei

(1917, China) He studied in the United States and acquired American nationality, where he has developed his entire career. It has works all over the world and in all can be recognized its style of pure lines and functional efficiency, inspired by the criteria of Groupis and the"international style".

Cement, glass, steel, abstract shapes and an original ability to create effects, are the trademark of the original Pei. Among his works the pyramid of the Louvre museum in Paris stands out.

21- Oscar Niemeyer

(1907 - 2012, Brazil) Admiral Le Corbusier, this Brazilian architect made a hundred works in his career but stands out for having been responsible for designing a whole city: Brasilia, the capital of his country since 1960.

Niemeyer based his career on reinforced concrete, a material that he used in most of his works and to which he attributed great versatility in shaping his works.

22- Norman Foster

(1935, UK) Foster is modernity, for giving his works a touch that represents the changes that the planet has undergone in the last decades. The communications tower of Collserola in Barcelona, ​​is a sample of it.

23- Rafael Viñoly

(1944, Uruguay) This architect has works and designs all over the world, but his fame lies in the controversial aspects of his concave glass designs, which provoke a magnifying effect in the interior and exterior that produce a great increase in temperature .

The reflection of the solar rays in the buildings of Viñoly generated burns in people, melting of parts of automobiles and until an experiment was realized in which a fried egg was cooked in one of its buildings.

24- Jean Nouvel

(1945, France) He is one of the most prestigious architects of today, with worldwide recognition for his works. One of his most outstanding works is the modern building of the Torre Agbar in Barcelona.

25- Buckminster Fuller

(1895-1983, United States) His fame lies in being the developer of the geodesic dome, a structure composed of polygons, such as triangles and hexagons, whose vertices all coincide on the surface of a sphere. This form inspired the name of carbon molecules known as fullerenes.

That was the main contribution to the architecture of Fuller, who also stood out for his works and his philosophy on the limited resources of the world, which led him to find ways to do more with less.

26- Kengo Kuma

(1954, Japan)"My goal is to recover space,"says this Asian architect about his style, in which he seeks to combine contemporary Japanese minimalism with simple and pure designs.

Its mission in each work is to relate the work to the nature that surrounds it. The Vancouver Tower is one of his most outstanding works.

27- Louis Kahn

(1901-1974, Estonia) A follower of Le Corbusier's ideas, this Estonian-born but US-based architect was the first to build a structure in which light and air-conditioning ducts were visible, The Art Gallery for Yale University.

Kahn defined his work as"reflective construction of spaces"and recognized the influences that had on his works the ancient ruins, monumentality, monolithism and timelessness. In addition to being an architect, he was a teacher and left behind a long legacy of writings and works.

28- Glenn Murcutt

(1936, Australia) Owner of a simple and primitive style, works alone in his studio, something unusual in architecture. Mies Van der Rohe is one of his main influences and his works reflect that intention to incorporate the natural context that surrounds them.

His work is almost totally realized in his country, where he has worked in different residential projects with a style full of sensitivity and local craftsmanship.

He describes himself as one of the few architects with a love of humanity, defines his work as a way of thinking and believes that:"Architecture must be an answer. Not an imposition."

29- Zaha Hadid

(1950 -2016, Iraq) Perhaps the most famous female architect. Despite his Iraqi origin, he did most of his career in England. Coming from the deconstructive currents, Hadid was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, one of the most important of the discipline.

His works do not understand straight lines and are unpredictable, which marks an original style throughout his career. His works include the Corones Mountain Museum, the Rosenthal Contemporary Art Center, the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center and the Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion.

Diébédo Francis Kéré

(1965, Burkina Faso) The importance of this African architect does not lie in the majesty of his works, but in the original of his career.

Born in the community of Gando, studied architecture in Germany and after graduating decided to return to his hometown to boost the development of his country, combining his knowledge with the methods of construction used there. Thus has built schools, parks, health centers and spaces for containment.


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