Great Architects

Alvar Aalto, one of Finland's most famous people who reshaped architecture and furniture of public buildings on the basis of functionality and organic relationship between man, nature and buildings, is now called the "Father of Modernism" in Scandinavian countries.

He was born Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto, on February 3, 1898, in Kuortane, Finland (at that time Finland was part of Russian Empire). He was the first of three children. His father, J. H. Aalto, was a government surveyor. His mother, Selma Hackestedt, was of Swedish ancestry, she died in 1903. His father remarried and moved the family to the town of Jyvaskyla. There young Aalto attended the Normal School and the Classical Gymnasium, graduating in 1916. During the summer months, young Aalto accompanied his father on surveying trips. From 1916-1921 he studied at the Helsinki University of technology, graduating with a degree in architecture. While a student, Aalto worked for Carolus Lindberg on the design of the "Tivoli" area for the 1920 National Fair. At that time Aalto was a protégé of Armas Lingren, partner of E. Saarinen during the formative period of Finnish National architecture of Romanticism. Aalto served in the Finnish National Militia during the Civil War that followed after the Russian Revolution, when the nation of Finland gained independence from Russia.

In 1922-1923 Aalto worked for a project in Sweden, he collaborated with A. Bjerke on the design of the Congress Hall for the 1923 World Fair in Goteborg. He also designed several buildings for the 1922 Industrial fair in Tampere. In 1923 Aalto opened his first architectural office in Juvaskyla. In 1924 he married architect Aino Marsio, they had two children, Johanna (born 1925), and Hamilkar (born 1928). Aalto and his wife had their honeymoon in Italy. The Mediterranean culture made a profound influence on Aalto's creativity, it blended with his Nordic intellect and remained important to his visionary works for the rest of his life. The simple massing and ornamentation of the "architettura mirwire" of Northern Italy translated into Aalto's style with its balanced proportions, harmonious volumes rendered in stucco or wood, and sparse decoration with selective use of classical elements. In 1927 the Aaltos moved to the city of Turku. There Alvar Aalto designed the Paimio Sanatorium, a building that elevated him to the status of master of heroic functionalism. He soon moved forward in his pursuit of artistic harmony through organic integration of people and buildings with the environment. Such was his design for the Villa Mairea (1938) in Noormarkku, one of the most admired private residences in contemporary architecture.

In 1933 Aalto moved to Helsinki. There he founded his architecture firm "Artek" where he executed his major international commissions, such as Finnish Pavilions for the 1936 Paris World Fair and the 1939-1940 New York's World Fair, libraries in Oregon, USA, and Finland, Opera House in Essen, Germany. His other significant buildings included Baker House at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., USA, Central University Hospital in Zagreb, Croatia, Helsinki Institute of Technology, North Utland Art Museum in Denmark, Nordic House in Reykjavic, Iceland, Public Library in Vyborg, (now Russia), and many other buildings. His later masterpieces include the municipal building in Sayanasalo (1952), the Vuoksenniska Church (1959) and the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki. His works exhibit a range of innovative ideas presented with comforting clarity and carefully crafted balance of intricate and complex forms, spaces, and elements, that are integrated in a simple and well-proportioned way. Aalto's design for the Finnish Pavilion at the 1939 New York's World Fair was described as "work of genius" by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Functionalism and synthetic attitude were important in Aalto's evolution from Nordic Classicism towards Modernism. He created his own way of converging forms, materials, and purpose of his buildings on the rationale of their functionality, aesthetics, and comfortable use. Aalto's architecture, furniture, glassware and jewelery evokes multiple allusions to images of unspoiled nature, thus making an ennobling influence on public behavior. He designed 70 buildings for the town of Jyvaskyla, 37 of which were realized, such as the Institute of Pedagogy (1953-1957) and other public buildings. Aalto's ecological awareness was epitomized in his design of the Sunila Cellulose Industry and the residential village for employees (1936 - 1939) and its second stage (1951 - 1954). Aalto's creativity was deeply rooted in his own organic way of life, traditional for the people in Scandinavian countries. "The very essence of architecture consists of a variety and development reminiscent of natural organic life. This is the only true style in architecture" said Alvar Aalto.

Alvo Aalto was Chairman of the Arcitects Union and President of the Finnish Academy. His latest building for the Art Museum in Jyvaskyla was named after him. His awards included the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (1957) and the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (1963). Alvar Aalto was featured on the last series of the 50 Finnish mark bill, before the Euro. He died of natural causes on May 11, 1976, in Helsinki and was laid to rest in Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki, Finland.

Calatrava grew up in Valencia. He attended school there until 1968. He then attended the Art School in Valencia from 1968 to 1969. From 1969 Calatrava studied architecture at the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura in Valencia. He completed his training in 1974. This was followed by studying civil engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich from 1975 to 1979. Calatrava then received his doctorate there. Ing., in order to then teach as a lecturer in technical sciences at the architecture department at ETH Zurich. In 1981 he opened his own architectural and engineering office in Zurich. Through his training, Calatrava combines the design and technical areas. Calatrava is a widely honored architect who has received numerous awards and honorary doctorates. In 1985 he became a member of the Association of Swiss Architects (BSA).

In the same year he was presented with the Auguste Perret Prize by the Union Internationale d'Architectures in Paris. He took part in the 17th Milan Biennale in 1985. The city of Barcelona awarded him the municipal art prize for planning the Bach de Roda-Felipe II bridge in Barcelona. In Valencia, Calatrava was honored with the Premio de la Asociación de la Prensa. Also in 1985 he received the IABSE Prize from the Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering. In Spain he won the FAD prize. Calatrava was presented with the Fritz Schumacher Prize in Hamburg in 1985. And in the same year he became an honorary member of the Association of German Architects (BDA). In 1990, the Foundation Académie d'Architecture in Paris honored him with the Médaille d'Argent de la Recherche et de la Technique. In 1991 Calatrava received the European Glulam Award in Munich. In the same year he received the City of Zurich Award for good buildings for planning the Stadelhofen train station in Zurich.

In 1992, Calatrava was awarded the GEOE Foundation's Dragados y Construcciones Prize for the Alamillo Bridge. This year he became a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos in Valencia and the European Academy in Cologne. In London, the Spanish architect was awarded the gold medal from the Institute of Structural Engineers. The city of Zurich also honored him with the Brunel Award for the Stadelhof train station in Zurich. Calatrava became an honorary member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in London in 1993. The Polytechnic University of Valencia awarded him an honorary doctorate. In Madrid, the Fundacion Gercia Cabrerizo presented him with the Medalla Honor al Fomento de la Invencion. In Toronto he accepted the City of Toronto Urban Design Award. In 1994 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters in Environmental Studies at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. The Scottish Royal Incorporation of Architects made him a Fellow Honoris Causae.

Calatrava became an honorary member of the Colegio de Arquitectos of Mexico City. In 1999 he received honorary doctorates from the Italian University Stugi di Cassino and the Swedish Lund University. That year he also received the Asturias Award for Arts. He became an honorary member of the Spanish Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernado and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. In addition, Santiago Calatrava exhibited in international museums, exhibition halls and galleries. His bridge constructions, in which the dynamic forms as well as the support systems vary again and again, attract particular attention. The award-winning Alamillo Bridge in Seville, which was completed in 1992, should be mentioned here. Its forms appeal more to the emotionality of viewers and users than to their reason. Calatrava always strives to expand and mutually open the boundaries of architecture, engineering and art. He wrote a book about his creative process entitled: "Santiago Calatrava's Creative Process".

His projects include the Lyon-Satolas TGV train station (1989-1994), the Lucerne train station (1984-1989), the Spandau train station in Berlin (1990), the "Estacao Oriente" train station in Lisbon, the Bilbao Airport Terminal, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Puerto Madero pedestrian bridge, the Blackhall Place bridge in Ireland, the Ernstings warehouse in Coesfeld, the Guillemins Thalys train station in Belgium, the concert hall and exhibition center in Tenerife and, in 2004, the library of the university's law institute Zurich.

Norman Foster was born on 1 June 1935 in Manchester, England, UK. He is married to Elena Ochoa. They have one child. He was previously married to Sabiha Rumani Malik and Wendy Cheesman.

Gaudi y Cornet initially completed an apprenticeship as a blacksmith. In 1872 he began studying at the Escola Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona. While still studying, he and another Catalan architect designed the fountain system in the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona. The building project was carried out between 1877 and 1882. In 1878 Gaudi completed his training with a diploma. He then traveled to Catalonia and other regions. He came across the French architect and cultural historian Eugenie Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and his works, which greatly influenced him. The Casa Vicens project in Barcelona is also one of Gaudi's early works, which was completed between 1878 and 1880, as is the house El Capricho in Comillas, northern Spain, which employed the architect from 1883 to 1885. In this house project, Gaudi documented his masterful use of iron as a building material, for which his training as a blacksmith was a brilliant prerequisite.

In 1882, the collaboration began with Count Eusebi Güell as his client, who also became his greatest patron. Gaudi realized several buildings for him on his Les Corts estate near Barcelona, such as stables and the entrance gate. In 1883, Gaudi began work on the monumental Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, which would occupy him for the rest of his life. He worked on it for a total of 43 years. The work is still unfinished to this day. Gaudi planned a gallery for 1,500 singers, 700 children and five organs for the gigantic church. In 1885, design work began on the Palau Güell in the old town of Barcelona, his second commission for his patron Eusebi Güell. A building with a dome, glazing and stairs was built on an area of 18 by twelve meters, which had a voluminous external appearance. The work on this was completed in 1889. During this time, the Spanish architect was planning his next project, the pavilion of the shipping company Compañia Trandatlántica for the maritime exhibition in Cadiz. The following year he planned a pavilion for the world exhibition in Barcelona for the same client.

In 1887 he was busy rebuilding the burnt down bishop's palace in León. The work was never finished due to the death of the client, Juan Grau, Bishop of Astorga, in 1890. In 1894 the sacred building Convento Teresiano was completed. The result was a building that expressed the neo-Gothic style with its clear lines. Gaudi had to forego his usual design habit of ornamentation and detailing for cost reasons. His work was determined by the guiding principles of a Gothic style adapted to the Mediterranean region and traditional Catholicism in architecture. The light and climate of his country played a primary role, which he incorporated into his designs. Between 1898 and 1904, Gaudi was busy planning and realizing the Casa Calvet in Barcelona. To do this, he implemented one of his most traditional plans. The city awarded the measure an official price. It remained the only award from Barcelona, although Gaudi realized his most important works there.

In 1898, Gaudi planned apartments for Count Güell for the employees of his factory in Santa Coloma de Cervelló. Among other things, there was also a chapel where he carried out design experiments that were used elsewhere, for example in the Sagrada Familia cathedral. The plan remained a fragment, as did Park Güell, which was intended to be a garden city. The project consisted of an ensemble of gardens and architectural forms that were supposed to be in harmonious balance with one another. Gaudi was versatile. He planned apartments, townhouses, schools, churches and garden landscapes. In 1905 Gaudi started his final design. He designed the Casa Milá as a residential building. But this planned work was not completed either. In 1911 the architect fell ill.

Antoni Gaudi died on June 10, 1926 as a result of a tram accident.

After graduating from Harvard University, Gehry studied architecture. In the middle of his studies he moved to the University of Los Angeles. In 1962 he founded his own architectural firm in Venice, California. In the following years he advanced from a conventional planner to an early representative of deconstructivism, an architectural movement that existed from the 1970s onwards and which, contrary to conventional principles, sought free, collage-like combinations of divergent buildings. His breakthrough was the design of the California Aerospace Museum Los Angeles (1982-1984). While the architectural style trend at this time was still directed towards postmodernism with its colorfulness and chic facade design, Gehry allowed deconstructivism to take tangible form in his planned buildings. In 1989 he caused a sensation in Europe with the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein. At the Vitra Design Museum, he showed what the new extravagance should look like: The building no longer houses harmony, but stands out due to a variety of dissonances.

Cubes are either raised or inserted into one another, multiple broken vaults or half and quarter arches are the external components of the extravagant building for the museum, which, even when viewed through the usual glasses, is missing the structure with roof and facade. This work, like many of Gehry's other designs, was ahead of his time. Nevertheless, the interior is functionally designed for its exhibition purposes and fulfills the desired intentions. Due to the development direction from inside to outside, the light intake is moved upwards. The original planning of the Vitra Design Museum established the architect's global reputation. The attention, acceptance and also rejection that Gehry received culminated in the awarding of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the informal Nobel Prize for architecture, in 1989. In Düsseldorf, Gehry designed the "Neuer Zollhof" (1997-1999) on the new media mile with its three extraordinary buildings as office and shop towers. They are also known as dancing houses.

In Oeynhausen he designed a center for communication and technology, which he gave a complex appearance. Inside, there is once again tidy functionality in favor of the users' wishes. In Berlin on Pariser Platz he planned the DG Bank building. In doing so, he had to adhere to specified design requirements - structure of the facades and a geometrically strict window cut. The building now appears with a classicist facade. From 1991 to 1994, the American Center in Paris was built after Gehry. Gehry achieved his most important and media-effective design with the new Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (1993-1997). The outside of the building is characterized by a futuristic-looking titanium facade. A bold construction that goes against even the most unusual architectural conventions. The building in Bilbao is a worldwide attraction and is itself considered a work of art of building construction - in fact, a calling card of art.

As unusual as his results look and appear, the entire planning phase of the projects is just as unusual. The design often begins with building blocks that are used for spatial experiments by turning and turning. Gehry constantly reworks his designs and sketches. For further processing and calculation he uses 3D simulation software from the aerospace industry. Gehry also designs armchairs made of corrugated cardboard, which are also very successful. From 2001 to 2005 he realized the MARTa Herford Museum in Herford. From 2003 to 2006, the Hotel Marques de Riscal in Spain was built according to his plans. In 2014, the Fondation d''entreprise Louis Vuitton in Paris was opened according to his plans. This private museum was created on the initiative of Bernard Arnault, chairman of the French luxury goods group Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH).

In the same year, 2014, he received the Prince of Asturias Prize in the Art category. In 2016, he was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the United States of America's two highest civilian awards.

Gropius was a great-nephew of the architect Martin Gropius. His parents were Walther Gropius, who was a secret building officer in the German Empire at the time, and Manon Gropius, née Scharnweber. Between 1903 and 1907, Gropius studied architecture at the technical universities in Munich and Berlin. From 1908 to 1910 he was employed by Peter Behrens in Berlin. He then opened his own architectural office. In 1911 he joined the "Deutscher Werkbund". In the same year he worked with Adolf Meyer on the design of the Fagus factory in Alfeld an der Leine. This was the first time he succeeded in avant-garde architectural design in the 20th century. The centerpiece was a complete glass facade. From 1918, Gropius headed the Labor Council for Art in Berlin. The following year he founded the "Bauhaus" in Weimar, which he directed until 1928. With this institution, Gropius realized his educational reform ideas.

At the Bauhaus he integrated all creative art genres and combined training and practice. In his art school, the architect placed great emphasis on craftsmanship and group work within artistic activities. In 1925 and 1926, the avant-garde architectural style culminated in the construction of the "Bauhaus" in Dessau, where the institute moved from Dresden. In the new Bauhaus building, Gropius implemented the construction method according to the modular principle with a rationalistic character in the material mix of glass and iron. In 1928 Gropius moved to Berlin and worked there as an architect. The Siemensstadt settlement there goes back to his planning. He was particularly committed to combating the housing shortage in the imperial capital. To this end, he pushed forward the rationalization of the construction industry.

In this way, numerous residential buildings were built, including the Berlin Haus Sommerfeld in 1927. With the outbreak of the Second World War the Bauhaus was closed. Gropius retired to London in 1933. There he ran an architectural office together with Maxwell Fry from 1934 to 1937. Gropius then went to the USA. As a professor at the Graduate School of Design Harvard University in Cambridge, he taught from 1937 to 1950. He also opened his own school of architecture, the "Archiects Collaborative". In 1952, together with Konrad Wachsmann, he designed the so-called "packaged house", which was based on the "growing house" concept from 1932. For Gropius, architecture was linked to social responsibility. The new person should be placed in a new society. His idea of total architecture as a synthesis of art and technology was based on the claim of uniting the arts into a total work of art.

Gropius' aim was to make optimal use of the possibilities of technology and to free people from the monotony of work processes. In his pragmatic ideas, Gropius pursued the goal of eliminating homelessness. As a designer, Gropius became known for his chairs, ceramic works, lamps and other objects. He is considered a key pioneer of avant-garde architecture in the industrial age. His planning work was accompanied by an extensive work of specialist articles and lectures.

Walter Gropius died on July 5, 1969 in Boston.

Hadid spent her childhood and teenage years in European boarding schools. She began studying at the American University in Beirut. In 1972 she continued her architecture studies at the renowned Architectural Association in London. Hadid completed her studies in 1977. She then held numerous international teaching positions and visiting professorships and led master classes. Among other things, she was a visiting professor at Harvard and Columbia University. Even before she opened her own office, she attracted attention with her extraordinary design sketches. She became a member of the "Office Metropolitan Architecture". The Iraqi master of architecture received a wide range of inspiration from the works of Russian constructivism, such as Kazimir Malevich or El Lissitzki. Hadid impressed with her forward-looking visions. Hadid also wanted to shape people's future with her designs. Her construction sketches feature dynamic shapes and conformist 90-degree angles.

Her designs are often confused with the deconstructionists, of which the architect did not consider herself one. Her personal concern was the implementation of theory into construction practice. With her ideas about avant-garde architecture, Hadid signaled the dissolution of space and at the same time a new definition of its realized form. This gives the person affected a new, unprecedented spatial experience. Despite all the novelty and future promise, the architectural artist attached great importance to functionality, which is expressed in flexible, flowing spatial divisions. They make the rooms suitable for both old and new usage concepts. In 1983, Hadid first earned international credit for the project "The Peak", a suspended amusement and recreation park on a hill in Hong Kong. She was also able to win the competition. Her most extraordinary recent projects include the contemporary art centers in Rome and Cincinnati, the "Mind Zone" in the Millennium Dome in London and the Science Center in Wolfsburg.

Hadid's other works include the Art and Media Center in Düsseldorf (1989), the exhibition pavilion for Video Art in Groningen (1990) and the Cardiff Bay Opera House (1994). In 1982 she was awarded the Architectural Design Gold Medal for the design of the London apartment in Eaton Place. In addition, Hadid designed furniture and interior design for her own projects. In 1992 she realized an installation for the Great Utopia exhibition in New York's Guggenheim Museum as well as other theater sets and theater costumes. She designed a revolving stage for the pop group "Petshop Boys". The all-rounder created architectural drawings as artistic works that are as valuable as a house. In her early phase she devoted herself to painting and drawing. Hadid's works have already been shown in exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum in New York (1978), in the GA Gallery in Tokyo (1985), in the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1988), in The Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and in Waiting Room at Grand Central Station in New York (1995).

Her works enrich the holdings of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt, among others. In 1999, Hadid caused a sensation at the State Garden Show in Weil am Rhein. For this event she designed a 140 meter long pavilion made of concrete, wood and glass. The building stands in an artificial landscape on the site of a former gravel pit. The architect has already built another building in the Baden town: a fire station for the Vitra factory in Weil am Rhein (1993). In January 2000, the Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid received first prize and the construction contract for the "Science Center" in Wolfsburg. In 2003 she designed the Bergiselschanze near Innsbruck. In 2004 she received the Pritzker Prize. This was the first time that the world's most important architectural award went to a woman. She was awarded the German Architecture Prize for the central building of the BMW factory in Leipzig. In 2009 she received the Praemium Imperiale; In 2010, Hadid was awarded the Stirling Prize. In 2015 and 2016, Hadid was honored with the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria and the Royal Gold Medal. Most recently she lived and worked in London.

Zaha Hadid died of a heart attack on March 31, 2016 in Miami, USA.

Toyo Ito was born on 1 June 1941 in Seoul, Korea. He is known for Perfect Days (2023), Japan: 3 Generations of Avant-Garde Architects (1989) and Sur/Face juyon-nin no gendai kenchikuka-tachi (2003).

Philip Johnson was born on 8 July 1906 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He is known for Camera Three (1954), Richard Meier (1986) and Beyond Utopia: Changing Attitudes in American Architecture (1983). He died on 25 January 2005 in New Canaan, Connecticut, USA.

In 1900, Le Corbusier trained as a painter, engraver and goldsmith at the École d'Art in his birthplace. From 1904 he began studying architecture there. Between 1907 and 1911 he traveled through Europe. During this time he was employed in well-known construction offices in different cities. In 1914 he succeeded in developing a skeletal system made of reinforced concrete called "Domino", which was intended for use in multi-story buildings. In 1917 the painter and architect settled in Paris. The following year, Le Corbusier created his first oil painting. This was followed by further pictures in which he painted his preferred motif, the structured still life, such as in the works "Vertical Guitar" or "Still Life with a Stack of Plates".

In 1919 he published the magazine "L'Esprit Nouveau". In it he published his avant-garde architectural concepts. For the first time during this time he marked his contributions with the pseudonym "Le Corbusier". In the same year he published his "Manifesto of Purism", in which he propagated elementary, geometric shapes. Le Corbusier's "Radiant City", an urban planning concept for a city with three million inhabitants, was published in 1922. The outstanding and groundbreaking features were the separate traffic routes for cars and pedestrians as well as large residential units in combination with retail and commercial businesses. He also designed these architectural concepts in basic geometric shapes. The reaction among experts to Le Corbusier's designs was divided.

Le Corbusier devoted himself to painting until 1922. His images are technical objects that he created in a mixture of cubist, neo-plasticist and dadaist styles. After that he only occasionally returned to painting. His work also included furniture designs and groundbreaking theoretical writings. In 1923, Le Corbusier's work was published under the title "Vers une Architecture" as a collection of his specialist writings. In this, the master builder sees architecture as "a clever, correct and wonderful play of united bodies in the light". He used both functionalist and artistic elements in his architecture. In the same year he took part in a Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar.

He had contacts with fellow architects Walter Gropius and Bruno Taut. In 1927, Le Corbusier was involved in the construction of the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart with some designs. The following year he was one of the co-founders of the "Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne", or CIAM for short. Le Corbusier became a sought-after urban planner who worked worldwide from 1929 onwards. He designed important buildings everywhere, such as the Salvation Army night shelter in Paris, which was completed between 1929 and 1933. Or he planned the Swiss House of the Cité universitaire in Paris, which was built from 1930 to 1932. In 1930, Le Corbusier married Yvonne Gallis. From 1936 to 1945 he delivered the design for the Ministry of Education in Rio de Janeiro. The provocatively new thing about it was the use of sun protection elements as a facade design.

With this, Le Corbusier set groundbreaking accents in design according to functional specifications. As a supporter of the French Vichy government, the architect returned to Paris in 1943. There he founded the "Association of Designers for Architectural Renewal". The aim of this institution was to help with reconstruction together with young architects after the end of the Second World War. From 1946 onwards, Le Corbusier built in a style that approached sculptural forms. The Unité d'habitation in Marseille is an example of this. Between 1950 and 1954, the pilgrimage church of Notre-Dame-du-Haut in Ronchamps was built according to his plans. From 1961 to 1964, the building he planned for the Carpenter Center for Visual Art at Harvard University in Cambridge was completed.

Le Corbusier died on August 27, 1965 near Cap Martin in France.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born on 27 March 1886 in Aachen, Germany. He is known for Charlotte Perriand: Pioneer in the Art of Living (2019). He was married to Adele Auguste Bruhn. He died on 17 August 1969 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Oscar Niemeyer was born on 15 December 1907 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was a production designer, known for Tricheurs (1984), Pedro Mico (1985) and La Noce de Milena - Milena Leblanc (Clip Officiel) (2021). He was married to Vera Lúcia Cabreira and Annita Baldo. He died on 5 December 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Renzo Piano was born on 14 September 1937 in Genoa, Liguria, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for A Brighter Tomorrow (2023), Quark - Viaggi nel mondo della scienza (1981) and Renzo Piano: An Architect for Santander (2018).

In 1923, at the age of thirteen, Eero Saarinen left Finland with his family and moved to the United States. There his father Eliel Saarinnen continued his work as an architect. At this time he was already a famous planner who popularized avant-garde architecture in Finland in the New Building style. His main work is the Helsinki train station. From 1929, Eero Saarinen studied sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. In 1930 he enrolled at the prestigious Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, to study architecture. He completed his studies in 1934. Saarinen then stayed in Finland and Europe. He then joined his father's office in Ann Arbor in 1936. In 1941 he became his partner with J. Robert Swanson. In 1950, Saarinen founded his own architectural practice under the name "Eero Sarinen and Associates" in Birmingham.

His first significant project was the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial near Saint Louis (1948), for which he won the competition. However, Saarinen's plans were not implemented until 1963, after his death. The project is still characterized by its initial stylistic language of rationalism with its geometric shapes. In this he modeled himself on the famous Bauhaus architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The building is a 192 meter high parabolic arch made of concrete and stainless steel cladding. The General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, presents itself in the same expressive style. The building designed by Saarinen features geometric steel and glass architecture and was built between 1949 and 1956. The Kresge Auditorium at the Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was completed between 1953 and 1955, belongs to the same cubic style.

The striking feature of this building is the roof construction, which is made up of concrete shells in the shape of a spherically arched triangle. The institute chapel received a brick cylinder. As an independent architect, Saarinen found his own architectural style. He realized an organic architectural language in which dynamic forms predominate. In doing so, he created a subjective counterpoint to the existing constructivism. His two most famous buildings include the Trans World Airlines Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, which was built between 1956 and 1962, and the floating roof of Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C., which was built between 1958 and 1962 became. His other completed projects include the David S. Lngalls Ice Hockey Hall at Yale University in New Haven, which was completed between 1953 and 1959, and the John Deere and Company Administration Center in Moline, Illinois (1957-1963 ).

Eero Saarinen died on September 1, 1961 in Ann Arbor, USA.

Kenzo Tange was born on 4 September 1913 in Osaka, Japan. He died on 22 March 2005 in Tokyo, Japan.

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of America's most famous architects who introduced his concept of "Organic architecture" and designed such landmarks as the Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum of Art.

He was born Frank Lincoln Wright on June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin, USA, into a family of Welsh descent. (Wright changed his middle name when he became an adult.) His father, William Cary Wright, was a music teacher and a Baptist minister. His mother, Anna Lloyd-Jones Wright, was a teacher. His father played the music of Johann Sebastian Bach which Wright later credit as a source of his sense of harmony in music and architecture. His mother involved him in playing with Froebel's geometric blocks, which formed his 3D vision, and later helped him develop architectural style marked with geometrical clarity. Wright studied engineering at University of Wisconsin for two years, but dropped out without graduating. He moved to Chicago and worked for several architecture firms, including his six years working directly with the "father of modernism" and leader of the Chicago School, Louis Henry Sullivan, who was Wright's mentor from 1888-1893.

In 1889 he married his first of three wives, Catherine Lee Clark Tobin. He and Catherine raised six children together. He also borrowed $5,000 from his then employer, Louis Sullivan, to buy a lot in Oak Park, Illinois and build his first house. That same house he used also as an architectural laboratory by making many changes and additions while developing his original design for the Prarie style of architecture. In 1893 Wright was fired by Sullivan himself, amidst the dispute over Wright's acceptance of a growing number of independent commissions. Then he established his own office in Oak Parc. During the 1890s he originated the style of "Prarie Houses" and designed many private homes in the Prarie School style across the Midwestern United States. At the same time he was commissioned to design several corporate and public buildings in communities in and around Chicago and Buffalo. He had his offices established in the Steinway Piano Building, then later had his office in Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

In 1904 Wright fell in love with Martha(Mamah)Borthwick Cheney, the wife of one of his clients. However, neither of them could get divorced from their marriages, so they eloped to Europe in 1909. In 1910, in Berlin, Wright published his first collection of architectural designs, known as the "Wasmouth Portfolio" and created the first exposure of his work in Europe, which later had influenced such movements as Bauhaus and Constructivism. During his two years in Europe, Wright lived mainly in Italy and became influenced by the Mediterranean architecture. In 1911, back in the USA, he settled with Mamah and her two children in his new home named Taliesin, which means "shining brow" in Welsh, the language of his ancestors. He wanted to marry Mamah, but his first wife was still not giving him a divorce. In August 1914, one of his male servants set fire in the house and murdered Mamah and her two children, as well as several other servants. Wright, was on a business trip and survived the disaster, was devastated and buried himself in work. At that time he was approached by a self-proclaimed sculptor, named Miriam Noel, who offered her condolences and claimed that she could understand him. Soon Wright asked her to move into Taliesin with him, although he was still married to his first wife, Catherine. From 1916 - 1922 Wright worked in Tokyo, Japan where he completed Tokyo's Imperial Hotel, which survived the earthquake of 1923 and found praise after the majority of Tolyo was left in rubble. In 1922 his first wife gave him a divorce that he had been waiting for since 1909. In 1923 he married Miriam Noel, but they separated in less that a year because of her drug addiction, albeit she did not give him a divorce until their legal battle ended in 1927.

In 1924 he met Olga (Olgivanna) Milanoff Hinzenburg, a ballerina with Russian Ballet in Chicago. Olgivanna was a daughter of Montenegro's Chief Justice and a granddaughter of Duke Marko Milanoff. In 1925 Wright invited Olgivanna and Svetlana, her daughter from her previous marriage, to move into his home, Taliesin. In December of 1925, daughter Ivanna was born to Wright and Olgivanna. In 1926 Olgivanna's ex-husband, Valdemar Hinzenburg, sought custody of Olga's daughter, and tried to have them arrested, but the charges were dropped in 1926. Olgivanna and Wright married in 1928. As his personal life had finally came to harmony, Wright's creativity evolved to the new level. In 1932 he and his wife, Olgivanna, established the Taliesin Fellowship School for architects which became a great success with 30 students, and a waiting list of 27 more. In 1934 Wright and Olgivanna were visited by Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann Sr., the owner of Kaufmann Department Store, beginning one of history's great patron - artist relationships. For the Kaufmanns Wright created his masterpiece, the Fallingwater. It was organically designed above a waterfall to preserve a living harmony with nature, where house and a stream created an interplay through the confluence of falling water and geometrical clarity of architecture. Completed between 1935 and 1937, the Fallingwater became a landmark and one of the most famous private residences in the world. It was used as a family home from 1937 - 1963, then was restored and opened for the public as a museum.

Kaufmann also gave substantial financial backing to other projects by Wright, such as Broadacre City, which was later showcased in Kaufmann's store. Wright also created architectural design for middle class family homes known as Usonian Style, which was caused by the shift of society and answered to the growing demand. In 1937 he designed his third home, Taliesin West, which he completed after purchase of 800 acres of land in Scottsdale, Arizona. There he lived and worked for the rest of his life, he taught a Taliesin Fellowship School of architecture and designed many of his most famous buildings, such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and many other buildings. From 1943 until 1959 Wright worked on the design and construction of the Guggenheim Museum, "I want a temple of spirit, a monument!" requested Hilla Rebay, the art advisor to Solomon R. Guggenheim. Wright created an outstanding design in a shape of an inverted ziggurat, a winding pyramidal temple, or an ascending spiral alluding to such organic form as a nautilus shell. "It was to make the building and the painting an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World of Art before," wrote Wright. He created a temple of art, albeit he did not live to see the completion of the Guggenheim Museum, it stands today as a testimony to Wright's architectural genius.

Frank Lloyd Wright died five days after having an intestinal surgery, on April 9, 1959, in Phoenix, Arizona, and was laid to rest near his mother and Mamah Borthwick Cheney in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Then his Fellowship was managed by his widow, Olgivanna until her death in 1985. According to her dying wish in 1985, the ashes of her and her husband were laid to rest in memorial garden of their Taliesin West home in Scottsdale, Arizona.