Top 10 Leading Architects in the World

Frank Lloyd Wright was born in a rural town in Richland Center, Wisconsin, USA on June 8, 1867, and was named Frank Lincoln Wright. His father was a respected local preacher, a music teacher, a passive lawyer, and an itinerant minister. William Wright met and married Anna Lloyd Jones, a rural schoolteacher, a year before he was appointed inspector of schools in the county. Initially, his father was a Baptist minister but later joined his wife's family in the Unitarian faith. Anna came from a large, prestigious, and affluent Lloyd Jones lineage, who migrated from Wales to Spring Green, Wisconsin. One of her cousins was Jenkin Lloyd Jones, who became a prominent figure in spreading Unitarianism in the Western United States. Both of Wright's parents were strong personalities with diverse interests and hobbies, traits inherited by him.

Wright attended a high school in Madison but there is no evidence that he ever graduated. In 1886, he was admitted and began his academic journey at the University of Wisconsin as a special student, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He took part-time courses for 2 semesters and worked with civil engineering professor Allan D. Conover. Frank Lloyd Wright is always regarded as the greatest architect of all time. His thoughts on the harmony between the exterior and interior of each building always lead the way in terms of methods, construction forms, and have never been taught in universities around the world. His design ideas often carry timeless natural influences and are still commonly found in many contemporary works, despite over 150 years of history. He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal, AIA Gold Medal.

Zaha Hadid sinh ngày 31 tháng 10 năm 1950 tại Baghdad (Iraq) và mất ngày 31 tháng 3 năm 2016 tại Miami (Hoa Kỳ) 1 là một kiến trúc sư đô thị Iraq - Anh. Là vị nữ kiến trúc sư đầu tiên giành giải thưởng Pritzker, Zaha Hadid được biết đến là người có những sáng tạo hiện đại, táo bạo, độc đáo, đậm chất nghệ thuật và đi trước mọi thời đại. Đây là lý do khiến nhiều ý tưởng thiết kế của bà không bao giờ được xây dựng. Nữ kiến trúc sư người Anh này từng đứng thứ 69 trong bảng xếp hạng phụ nữ có tầm ảnh hưởng nhất trên thế giới do tạp chí Forbes bình chọn vào năm 2008. Những công trình nổi tiếng của Zara Hadid: Innsbruck, Trung tâm Khoa học Phaeno và nhà hát Opera House tại Quảng Châu - Trung Quốc, Bảo tàng quốc gia nghệ thuật thế kỷ 21 tại Bridge Pavilion tại Zaragoza, Bergisel Ski Jump tại Innsbruck.

Các công trình của bà mang nặng tính ý tưởng với những hình khối động và những giải pháp đặc biệt để để tiếp cận cũng như giải quyết công trình. Bà liên tục tham gia các cuộc thi thiết kế quốc tế. Mặc dù có rất nhiều đồ án thắng cuộc nhưng không được xây dựng. Trong số đó, nổi bật có The Peak Club ở Hồng Kông năm 1983, nhà hát Opera ở vịnh Cardiff, xứ Wales năm 1994. Năm 1988, bà tham dự triển lãm Kiến trúc giải tỏa kết cấu ở Bảo tàng nghệ thuật Hiện đại MoMA, Thành phố New York. Năm 2002, Hadid thắng trong cuộc thi quốc tế thiết kế tổng mặt bằng Trung tâm khoa học Singapore. Năm 2004, bà là nữ kiến trúc sư đầu tiên nhận giải thưởng Pritzker. Năm 2005, bà thắng trong cuộc thi thiết kế một sòng bạc mới ở Basel, Thụy Sĩ. Không chỉ là một kiến trúc sư nổi tiếng, bà còn nổi tiếng về với tác phẩm trong nghệ thuật sắp đặt, tranh vẽ và đồ nội thất. Bà cũng được trao tặng Huân chương Đế quốc Anh, tước sĩ quan (CBE).

Frank Owen Goldberg famously known as Frank Owen Gehry was born on February 28, 1929, in Toronto, a Canadian-American architect. Gehry's creations are unmistakable and draw hundreds of thousands of tourists every year to marvel at his contemporary architectural wonders. He crafts imaginative architectural spaces by combining various seemingly unrelated materials. Gehry's most famous works include: Der Neue Zollhof in Düsseldorf, Marques de Riscal Vineyard Hotel in Elciego, The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the IAC building in New York City. Whether clad in titanium or adorned with elegant glass, the theme of harmony is always prevalent. He says, 'I'm interested in the idea of movement in architectural forms. It's derived from the world around me, the society I'm attempting to encapsulate and connect.' Currently, Gehry has completed designs all over the globe, developing New World Symphony prototypes from Miami's waterfront to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where he's working on another Guggenheim project. He was awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 1989, received the Charlemagne Prize of the European Academy, and was honored with the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 2014.

Renowned worldwide, Robert Arthur Morton Stern was born on May 23, 1939, an esteemed American architect. His architectural style is termed as postmodern. He manages a successful 300-person firm in Manhattan, where he oversees workplace visits and sketches new ideas, serves as the dean of Yale University's School of Architecture, writes books, delivers lectures... Stern holds degrees from both Columbia and Yale universities and served as an advisor to the renowned Vincent Scully. Graduating in 1965, he worked as a design assistant in the office of the promising architect Richard Meier.

Since venturing into business, Stern has engaged in a wide array of creative endeavors in contemporary architecture. His firm's projects include the Federal Courthouse in Virginia, along with numerous other prestigious projects like the 10 Rittenhouse Square, Harvard Building, and the University of Virginia in Philadelphia. Stern's approach is straightforward; he says, 'I don't even know how to use a word processor or a laptop.' He understands the power of computers in today's architectural world, and his team employs the most advanced techniques. Offering advice to future architects, Stern suggests, 'Don't overlook what's in hand and what's seen in their eyes.' He has been honored with the AIA Award.

Born on September 14, 1937 in Genoa, Italy, Renzo Piano is one of the renowned architects who shaped the architectural landscape of the 20th century. He studied at the Polytechnic University of Milan. Renzo Piano represents a rare blend of architecture, painting, engineering, and Italian philosophical aesthetics. In 1998, he was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize, the highest honor in architecture. He is also regarded as an artist. Piano was born into a family where his grandfather, father, four uncles, and other relatives were all contractors, and they opposed when he decided to pursue architecture as a career. After graduating from the Milan Polytechnic, he married and worked in his father's construction company.

His first project was completed in 1969, the design of the Italian Industry Pavilion at Expo'70 in Osaka. The Expo attracted many people, including a British architect named Richard Rogers. With many brilliant ideas, they together won an international competition for the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris. His works include more than 40 famous designs, among which is The Menil Collection, an art museum in Houston, Texas. It is an architectural masterpiece characterized by flexibility, simplicity, open space, and natural light, portrayed through Piano's vision of the 'leaf-shaped roof.' He received the Pritzker Prize in 1998 and is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations. Currently, the headquarters of Renzo Piano's architectural design firm and collaborators are located in Genoa, Italy.

Moshe Safdie, born on July 14, 1938, is an architect and urban planner, as well as a law scholar. He was born in the town of Haifa, then under British Mandate, now Israel. Safdie and his family migrated to Montreal when he was young. He excelled as a student at McGill University and was a talented disciple of Louis Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania. His master's thesis was chosen to construct a part of the Expo '67 international exhibition. The Habitat 67 project, a residential complex consisting of stacked blocks resembling a puzzle, earned him global renown. This project showcased the megastructure trend of that era. In 1967, he returned to Israel, participating in the design team for the restoration of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Since 1976, Moshe Safdie has been a professor at Harvard University and founded the design firm Moshe Safdie and Associates in Somerville, Massachusetts. The firm also has offices in Toronto and Jerusalem. In 1986, he was awarded the Order of Canada. Moshe Safdie considers himself not aligned with any particular architectural movement. He criticizes the rigidity of Modernist architecture as well as the excesses of Postmodern architecture. Safdie has been honored with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Gold Medal for his contributions to the country's built environment. He also had the privilege of designing the National Library of Canada.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born on March 27, 1886, in Aachen, and passed away on August 17, 1969, in Chicago. He was a German architect, commonly known as Mies, who pioneered modern architecture alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius. Mies led the way in the minimalist 'less is more' style, using steel structural frames and glass panels to divide interior spaces. His concepts of architectural simplification influenced subsequent generations, including Philip Johnson. Notable projects include the Barcelona Pavilion in Barcelona, Spain, the Seagram Building in New York, and Crown Hall in Chicago, Illinois, as well as the new National Library in Berlin. He was awarded the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture.

Famous for the motto 'Less is More' and 'God is in the detail,' Mies sought clean, simple, and orderly spaces by revealing the intrinsic qualities of materials and expressing structural integrity. In the last twenty years of his life, Mies successfully shaped the 'skin and bone' ideology of iconic modern architecture. Although Mies's works had a significant impact and global recognition, the Modernist architectural movement he pioneered did not sustain its creative vigor after his death, overshadowed by the rise of Postmodern Architecture in the 1980s. Mies dreamed of a universal architectural style and beauty, but this aspiration remained unfulfilled. Instead, his successors gradually found themselves in a dead end, with repetitive and dull creativity as well as a rigid formality.

Norman Foster was born on June 1, 1935, in Manchester, he is a British architect. He is also the head of a major design firm, with a total value of over £500 million in London, specializing in designing high-rise buildings. His style is about creating a green belt in front, not about fashion but creating green spaces. Foster pioneered buildings like the HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong, buildings with abundant natural light. Therefore, employees in the 30 St Mary Axe building in London only use half the energy because most of the time during the day the building absorbs natural light. His most recent project that captured global attention is the largest airport terminal in the world designed for the Beijing Olympics. Foster said, “It's so big that standing at one end of the building you can't see the other end.” He is building the second tallest building for the World Trade Center. When completed, it will be the second tallest building after the Freedom Tower in New York.

Lord Norman Foster believes: “As an architect, you need to design for the present, always acknowledging the past, but the future cannot be known.” However, it is certain that in the future, the name Foster will always be an important part of the world of architecture. He received the Gold Medal from RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) in 1983, Gold Medals from the French Academy of Architecture in 1991 and the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects in 1994. Finally, in 1999, the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award, was bestowed upon him. Very involved in the world of architecture in London, Norman Foster is a member of the Royal College of Art, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Architectural Universities of London, and the vice president of the Architectural Association in London. In 1990, he was knighted and later adorned with the Order of Merit in 1997 and finally created a peerage of the United Kingdom, with the title Baron Foster of Thames Bank, of Reddish in the County of Greater Manchester in 1999. In 1994, he was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in Be.