Gerrit Rietveld
The Dutch architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld began his career early: as a twelve year old he entered his father’s furniture workshop. At first his interest was in the applied arts, but it was not long before he was also fascinated by architecture… read more about Gerrit Rietveld
Le Corbusier
He wrote more than 30 books on art and architecture, paited and drew, and devoted himself to poetry and furniture making. But it was thanks to his buildings that he became famous: the Swiss-born architect made his name in three continents during… read more about Le Corbusier
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
One of the most influential architects of the 20th century, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe rejected an academic education. He learnt his craft in the office of Peter Behrens-one of his fellow-students there being Le Corbusier. Office buildings and exhibition pavilions, factories and museums… read more about Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Walter Gropius
It was on industrial buildings that Gropius, born in Berlin, founded his reputation. In more than five decades of his creative career he went on to extend his field of operations considerably, and devoted himself to social housing as much as to high-rise designs. Above all, his name… read more about Walter Gropius
Auguste Perret
In the early 20th century, Auguste Perret discovered a still recent building material, reinforced concrete. Delighting in its clear, elementary forms, he used it in hundreds of innovative designs over the following decades. Perret was barely 30 years old when he created a new building… read more about Auguste Perret
Frank Lloyd Wright
Of his almost 92 years of life, Frank Lloyd Wright spent 72 as an architect. Unlike many of his colleagues, this devoted family man built above all houses. This self-selected focus did not, however, prevent him from designing one of the best-known museum buildings… read more about Frank Lloyd Wright
Victor Horta
With his villa for the university professor Émile Tassel, the young architect Victor Horta set new standards: this house is one of the first residential buildings in Europe in the Art Nouveau style. Horta was soon in demand for his daring ideas, and in his chosen home, Brussels, Horta left behind… read more about Victor Horta
Louis Sullivan
With his plans for high-rise buildings in the Chicago of the 1890s, Louis Sullivan declared himself a revolutionary. His approach was very simple: a skyscraper, he announced, “must be tall every inch of it tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it.” read more about Louis Sullivan
Antoni Gaudí
With his rejection of straight lines and symetrical ground plans, Antoni Gaudí opened a new chapter in the architectural history of Barcelona. With their strong colors and glittering facades, it is his highly imaginative designs that still characterize this Spanish port. read more about Antoni Gaudí
Daniel Burnham
After some failed attempts at academic and political careers, Daniel Hudson Burnham started working in an architects’ office in Chicago. His professional future was sealed when he met his future businnes partner there, John Wellborn Root. Together, they were to play… read more about Daniel Burnham
Otto Wagner
“Nothing that is not useful can be beautiful”-this was the motto of the Viennese-born architect Otto Wagner. His pragmatism by no means stood in the way of his imagination, however, whether it was a question of a fine town house or stations on the Vienna urban railway system… read more about Otto Wagner
Gottfried Semper
Before he decided to study mathematics, Gottfried Semper chose a career as a professional army officer. Even when he finally attended the Munich academy of architecture, his enthusiasm for it was still muted. Yet he was to have a profound impact on German architecture. read more about Gottfried Semper
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
One of the most prolific German architects of the first half of the 19th century, Karl Friedrich Schinkel created more than 150 buildings in Germany and Poland, most of which are still to be seen today-churches and museums, palaces and monuments, bridges, schools, theaters and castles. read more about Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Thomas Jefferson
In Virginia in the east of the newly founded United States of America, architecture largely followed European styles. It was above all the buildings of classical Rome that inspired master builders, and so both private and public buildings displayed temple facades, columned entrance halls… read more about Thomas Jefferson
Nicolas Ledoux
When a barrel maker’s workshop is in the form of a barrel, or a river watchman sees a river flowing through bis house, we are dealing with “speaking architecture.” With his progressive social and architectural ideas Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, who appreciated classical literature and preferred to describe… read more about Nicolas Ledoux
Balthasar Neumann
Whether it was a question of a new church or a magnificent palace, during the first half of the 18th century many important German clients favored only one man—the Bohemian-born Balthasar Neumann. His name was heard everywhere, his trademark being magnificent staircases. read more about Balthasar Neumann
Christopher Wren
It was a self-taught man, of all people, who was to become one of the most famous British architects. Christopher Wren’s name is synonymous with London’s largest church, St Paul’s Cathedral, which kept its builder occupied for 35 years. At the age of 78, Wren had the great… read more about Christopher Wren
Gianlorenzo Bernini
As a seven-year-old, Gianlorenzo Bernini, born in Naples, accompanied his sculptor father to Rome and lade himself useful at the latter’s workplaces. His talent did not stay hidden for long: at first Bernini attracted ttention as a sculptor, but soon he was in demand as an architect. read more about Gianlorenzo Bernini
Andrea Palladio
Palladio’s career reads like a rags-to-riches story: a miller’s son from Padua, married, in accordance with his social status, to the daughter of a carpenter, he became one of the most sought-after architects of the wealth). More than 60 villas, churches, and city mansions were built to his designs. read more about Andrea Palladio
Michelangelo
By his mid-30s, Michelangelo was alredy used to illustrious clients lining up to secure his services for their projects. So it seems only logical that at the advanced age of 71 he was personally requested by the pope to take over the most important building project of the era, the completion… read more about Michelangelo
Donato Bramante
Bramante’s father had decided that his son should be a painter. Donato submitted, but met with a distinct lack of success, as recorded bj the biographer Vasari: “So he determined, in order to view an important building at least once, to go to Milan and look at the cathedral.” read more about Donato Bramante
Leon Battista Alberti
Archaeologist and painter, musician and scientist, and moreover fascinated by mathematics—to call Leon Battista Alberti multi-talented would be an understatement. Particularlj since the Genoese Alberti also found time to dedicate himself to architecture, and thus… read more about Leon Battista Alberti
Filippo Brunelleschi
A skilled goldsmith who was also active as a painter and sculptor, Brunelleschi became one of the great architects of the early Renaissance. He could not complain of a lack of commissions—in the wealthy city-state of Florence influential families and guilds were building an abundance of architectural works… read more about Filippo Brunelleschi
