Who is the Greatest Architect of Modern Times?

[Andre Noble]

In your opinion, who is the most talented architect in modern history - as judged by his/her buildings?

(Alternatively, you just hit a huge Powerball lottery and are building a real nice house for yourself somewhere. Which architect (alive or deceased) would you commision to design it?

[Yong-ran Zhu]

Mr. I.M. Pei
Please check http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/I._M._Pei.html (http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/I._M._Pei.html)

[Jim_3565]

Eero Saarinen (http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Eero_Saarinen.html)

[Tom Westbrook]

Frank Gehry: http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/gehry/ (http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/gehry/)

[John Kasaian]

Imelda Golik, of course!

[Ellis Vener]

Renzo Piano for big structures. Otherwise it would depend on where the house was to be located.

[Frank Petronio]

Funny that all the "moderns" are ancient.

Not Michael, Mies, Philip, Rem, or I.M.

I'd choose a younger, lesser-known architect who has some hands-on, practice building experience, as well as an appreciation of light, landscape, and human scale. Someone who studied Christopher Alexander and Palladio more than French deconstructivists. I liked the guy who designed our house for a few thousand dollars - he really listened and I wouldn't change much three years later (his name is David Strabel, of Brockport, NY).

Or a naval architect. Shipbuilders build wonderful houses!

I do admit to liking Gehry though. And I photographed Michael Graves - a very nice guy - but the Portland Building? - fuggidaboutit! Stick to housewares... (he's retired/sick anyway.)

[Scott Fleming]

It's really a matter of taste. Even with the man I have in mind ... I would have to have several long talks with him before I signed a contract because some of his stuff was just too .... 'wierd'. If you are not interested in architecture you would not realize what a huge influence Frank Lloyd Wright was on almost every architect who came after him. Most do not know he was the originator of the 'open' concept or idea that almost dominates all home design today. Prior to him houses were always cut up into very distinct use areas. His ideas were so radical that most of his own generation and even that following can not accept them. My parents and my in-law parents (I'm 55) still prefer to hide away in small rooms.

It is also not commonly known that Wright would often design not only the house but the furniture and even the china for a client. Of course he designed stained glass windows for most of his projects as well. Not only was he a design genius but he was an engineer with few peers. His hotel in Tokyo was one of the few building left standing after a great earthquake in the early part of the 20th century.

BUT ... if you are inquiring because you really are searching for an architect ... AND we are talking homes ... AND you are not made out of money ... then you need to stay local and you need to forget all about names. Search your city for the style of home you like ... find a talented young architect who is known for that style. Or you could even search out the talented student ready willing and able to copy ANYones style.

Just beware. We builders call architectural drawings 'funny-papers'. Always consult a good engineer as regards your architect's designs .. unless you hire a Frank Lloyd Wright level architect.

[matthew blais]

FLW, no doubt. Some of his stuff that never realized construction, drawn in the 30's, is still futuristic IMO.
Way ahead of his time.

[Frank Petronio]

Scott, you do keep things lively. That Wright-designed Tokyo Hotel which survived the great earthquake was later razed because it proved to expensive to maintain. Leaky roofs, high upkeep, etc.

Falling Water IS falling.

And having toured Buffalo's Darwin Martin House (one of his best Praire style houses) I found the low ceiling and open floor plan claustrophobic and dank. I've also "sat" in his high backed chairs.

The "famous" Japanese architect hired to design the Martin House visitor center did FLW one better. While Wright was known for his leaky roofs, at least they had pitch. The modern architect is trying to echo Wright by using the same roofline as his Martin House - only inverted - an upside down roof. Considering Buffalo gets ~ 150 inches of snow per season, I see that many architects still don't "get it" ;-)

Frank Lloyd Wright also designed a gas station in the 1920s. He put the gas storage tanks on the roof. Needless to say, no community ever let one be built out of safety concerns.

(I just finished designing a book on Wright. I admire Wright. But I sure as hell wouldn't ever want to LIVE in a FLW house!)

[Tim Chakravorty]

William H. Gates III

He is the CSA (Chief Software Architect ) at Microsoft.

[Tim Chakravorty]

In fact, I will go further to say its Karl C. Rove. He was the Chief Architect of Bush's ' 04 victory.

Like him or not, he has won Bush two completely unwinnable elections.

[tim atherton]

Hmmm - who was/is the greatest architect of modern times - that's a bit like trying to figure who is the greatest photogorpaher (actually, thats easy, Atget B&W, Eggleston colour... ;-) )

In terms of the infuence they had, inthat they changed things for those that came afterwards, that people had to consider new ways of designing as a result of their work/theories - probably Corbusier, Wright, Mies, maybe Gehry

Whose do I like? Some of the above and certainly Piano and also Calatrava

Who would I want to design my house? probably Carlo Scarpa - or at least my mausoleum...

or maybe Zumthor

[Jeff Moore]

Howard Roark. :-)

[David E. Rose]

Louis I. Kahn

[Scott Fleming]

Frank,

Yes, well, ....... to each his own.

Personally I think *I* have designed the perfect house. Probably never get built. But I have to give FLW credit for my love of the open floor plan. I don't think I would have gotten there on my own.

I became acquainted with FLW when I visited his Taliesen West outside of Phoenix. In those days one of his tired old mistresses was still flogging the legend. (The old girl had class though and flanked by all those young wannabees in tux {they had a formal dinner every Friday night} she looked really good). All I saw were those fabulous walls resurrected right up from the desert with a little concrete, rocks and some ingenuity. The man was born to create. Yes his ego got ahead of his intellect on many occasions but the two go hand in hand.

I am unfamiliar with leaking roofs and his designs. I would think that was a mechanical problem assignable to a contractor rather than the architect or attributable to his being a bit ahead of his time. They have the most wonderful new materials for composite roofing these days. Hot tar is a thing of the past.

[Chad Jarvis]

J. Robert Oppenheimer.

[Andrew O'Neill]

Arthur Erickson

[william_3670]

I.M.Pei , Allen Buchsbaum , Jamie Vasquez

[Richard Boulware]

Eero Saarinen....no contest. St. Louis Arch, TWA Terminal JFK, etc.

[Kirk Gittings]

My favourites? Luis Barragan, Mies van der Rohe and maybe The Ant Farm.

[Hector Pena]

Kirk is absolutelly right.
Luis Barragan.

[Ole Tjugen]

Snøhetta group.

They designed the new Library in Alexandria, among other things.

Besides they are still very much active, so COULD draw you a nice house.


http://www.snoarc.no/ (http://www.snoarc.no/)

[Armin Seeholzer]

Hi

It can be just one there are many: Santiago Calatrava, Norman Foster, Wright, Mario Botta, Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto, Pian0 Renzo, Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Eero Saarinen, Zaha Hadid, Oscar Niemeyer and many more!
But thies is my favorite list!

[Rainer]

Richard Neutra, Raimund Abraham.

Both are Austrian (i need to mention this, because this country was and still is full of fantastic architects) and I really, really like their work.

But of course there are lots of others, many already listed above.

[robert_4927]

Not one mention of Daniel Burnham and John Root. The were only the architechs of the first American skyscrapers. Burnham, after the Chicago fire , greatly influenced how the Chicago skyline looks today.

[robert_4927]

I was fortunate enough to work on I.M. Pei's Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame here in Cleveland, Ohio. And so many people who visit the rock hall don't realize that the building is designed like a turntable ( record player). the mall area leading to the entrance is the actual turntable. from there you'll begin to notice the turntable arm and counter weight. Very cutting edge design .( but what a pain in the ass to build)

[Michael Chmilar]

Gates? Windows has a leaky roof and high upkeep costs. It is also dank and claustrophobic. Not to mention the security problems.

Avie Tevanian has him beat hands-down as a software architect.

[Philip Hutson]

I wouldn't even consider Gates a software architect. A smart/ruthless business man. I don't think there were any original ideas from microsoft.

[Brian Ellis]

I'd use the architect who designed my remodeled kitchen. When he specified the sizes of the various spaces for the built-in appliances he forgot that he also was replacing the floor. The new floor was an inch higher than the old floor from which he made his measurements. So when the appliances were delivered none of them fit and most of the cabinet work had to be redone. Made me feel good that a trained architect made the same dumb mistake I would have made if I did it myself, plus he was good about bearing a large part of the extra cost.

[Paul Ewins]

My personal favourite is Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Apart from the fact that he routinely overan the budget by a large amount he would be the one to build me a house. If you let him he would design the house and everything in it, right down to the cutlery.

Along with his wife Margaret Macdonald, an accomplished artist and craftsperson, he is almost as well known for the interiors and furnishings as for the buildings themselves. It say a lot about him that our state gallery, half the world away in Australia, has one of his chairs on display in its furniture exhibit and reproductions are still being manufactured 90 -100 years on.

[David Brubaker]

My current favorite is Glen Murcutt. An Australian architect who works alone, and is as creative as Mies van der Rohe. he is just recently becoming well known.

[Jay DeFehr]

I thought that I had replied to this thread, but I don't see my post, so here I go again. Since no one else has mentioned him, I'll say Hassan Fathy, the Egyptian architect, and Charles and Henry Greene, http://www.gamblehouse.org/ (http://www.gamblehouse.org/) masters of the Craftsman style. These choices are both contingent upon the "house" specification.

Jay

[ronald lamarsh]

All right I'll have to answer Frank Lloyd Wright on both issues. Architecture as in art is a very personal thing some love Dali others Van Gogh and some even think that Maplethorpe is an artist. I can say though that I have personally toured and photographed many of Wright's creations: the Johnson Wax building in Racine Wis I found particularly moving. Standing in the entrance archway one is overwhelmed with the feeling of being a part of the building. That is probably my unique response which will be different for everyone.

[Vamsi M]

I would rather have von Erlach design me a house than any 'famous' modern architect. And the unnamed genius who designed Chartres still outshines all the celebrity architects of more recent times..

[guillaume p]

A great architect (living) : Rem Koolhaas.
A great architect (dead this week) : Philip Johnson.
There are many other 'great architects'…
To design a house ? Glen Murcutt.

[Kevin Kemner]

Andre,

I don't know if you're searching for an architect or maybe buildings to photograph but, here's my list. For living architects first would be Tod Williams & Billie Tsien, next Renzo Piano, sometimes Steve Holl and Rem Koolhaas, and Thom Mayne/Morphosis. I go out of my way to see their works and am rarely disappointed. If I had all the money in the world I would hire Williams Tsien in a heart beat. Frank Gehry gets tons of press and deservedly so for a couple projects but he also has some real clunkers. If you're asking for the GOAT of modern architects this is a good list: (somewhat in order) Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto, Louis Kahn (didn't build enough), Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Guisseppe Terragni (career cut short by war), and Carlo Scarpa. There are many many more great architects for whom I have a good deal of respect but those would be the real stars. FWIW if you're looking to photograph some works feel free to email me and I would be happy to offer suggestions.

Kevin

[kevin seiler]

Frank Lloyd Wright was nowhere near as good an architect as he thought he was. He took credit for a lot of work of his employees and colleagues such as Irving Gill, Louis Sullivan, Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and his own son, Lloyd Wright. In fact, his son actually invented knit block construction and used it to much better effect than his dad. Very few FL Wright houses don't leak, and very few were delivered at cost. The man was a charlatan, a megalomaniac, and the fact that so many are still under his spell baffles me. It was once said that a useless thing can never truly be beautiful, and I think a lot of architects forget that- FLW among them. If a structure is not useful to live in, work in, and doesn't last, it is merely a monument to ego.

That being said, Wright did recognize genius in others. One such architect was Rudolph Michael Schindler. Of all the architects working in the early modern period, Schindler was the most talented, original, and underappreciated. I've talked with several people who knew him and commissioned houses from him, and all speak very fondly of him. Can't say the same about Wright. Schindler built wonderful houses, often with his own hands. He delivered value to his clients, consistently on budget. He was more interested in providing a service than fame to his reputation. His buildings stand the test of time structurally and artistically.