Lana Hawkins
Since ancient times, architectural development has followed the development of a society. You will remember a place by the looks it has, and great works of architecture will influence the look of a city in great amounts. This is the list of the ten greatest award-winning people standing behind great buildings.
Zaha Hadid
(born October 31, 1950)
Hadid is an Iraqui-British architect of neofuturistic buildings characterised by ‘multiple perspective points and fragmented geometry to evoke the chaos of modern life’. Her greatest works include the Bridge Pavilion and the Third Millennium Bridge in Zaragoza, Spain; the Bergisel Ski Jump in Innsbruck, Austria; and the Central Building of the BMW Plant in Leipzig, Germany.
Frank Gehry (born February 28, 1929)
A number of this Canadian-American deconstructivist architect’s buildings, including his private residence, have become world-famous tourist attractions, such as the titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles; and Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, France. It was the aforementioned Gehry’s private residence that lift him from the status of ‘paper architecture’.
Renzo Piano (born September 14, 1937)
The architest of the Nemo Science Centre in Amsterdam and the Living Roof of the California Academy of Sciences, this Italian architect was selected by TIME as ‘one of the 100 most influential people of the world’. However, his world-famous building is the Shard London Bridge, an 87-storey skyscraper in London, standing approximately 309 metres, and currently being the tallest building in the European Union, and the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom.
Leogh Ming Pei (born April 26, 1917)
L.M. Pei, a Chinese-born American architect, is often referred to as ‘the master if modern architecture’. His most famous buildings include the Louvre Pyramid in Paris; John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, USA; and the National Gallery of Art East Building in Washington DC, USA. His most recent jewel is the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.
Santiago Calatrava (born July 28, 1951)
Calatrava is a Spanish neofuturistic architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter. His greatest architectural achievements include the Liege Guillemins railway station, Belgium; the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Greece; and the Bridge of Strings (or the Chords Bridge) in Jerusalem.
Tom Wright (born 1957)
This British architect is the designer of the Burj Al Arab hotel, the synonym of Dubai. The yacht-sail-shaped hotel, causing the ‘wow effect’ in any viewer, reflects the seafaring heritage of Dubai in a combination with ‘a modern aspect moving forwards into the future’. On its rooftop is a helipad and the world’s highest tennis court.
Jean Nouvel (born August 12, 1945)
This French architect is the designer of the future Louvre Abu Dhabi art museum. His famous buildings include the Arab World Institute in Paris, France and the Culture and Congress Centre in Lucerne, Switzerland; and the Philharmonie de Paris, France.
Moshe Safdie (born July 14, 1938)
Safdie is an Israeli/Canadian/American architect, urban designer, educator and author, most famous for Habitat 67, a model community and housing complex in Montreal, Canada; as well as the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem and the Khalsa Heritage Memorial Complex in Anandpur Sahib, India.
Adrian Smith (born August 19, 1944)
This American neofuturistic architect’s best works include the Burj Khalifa, – the world’s tallest skyscraper in the world, in Dubai, UAE, and the Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai, China.
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (both born 1950)
These two Swiss architects are world famous for the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, and the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, China, also known as the Beijing National Stadium built for the 2008 Olympic and Paraolympics Games.
