Frank Gehry assembles A Team for architectural excellence

Frank Gehry is trying to save architecture, and it’s about time. His company Gehry Technologies, which provides technology and related services to design and construction firms, on Tuesday announced a plan to bring together “the world’s most distinguished architects” in a “strategic alliance” intended to transform the building and design industries through technology.

In other words they’ve put together a really impressive advisory board. The list of architects, designers, and business leaders includes: David Childs, Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, Laurie Olin, Wolf Prix, David Rockwell, Moshe Safdie, Patrik Schumacher, and Ben van Berkel. That’s no joke. Among other things, the group will strive to promote higher quality projects, greater efficiency, and more cost effective techniques.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to be better and more efficient,” said Gehry Technologies CEO Dayne Myers. He and Gehry Technologies’ Chief Technology Officer Dennis Shelden suggested that the group, which will meet in person once a year and via conference call quarterly, could address the industry’s crippling wastes in time, money, and materials by promoting better work flow and communication, among other things.

“When this group speaks it’s going to carry a bigger weight than any of them individually, or just Gehry Technologies,” added Shelden. Kicking things off the company just announced a partnership with Autodesk to improve the capabilities of Building Information Management (BIM). In an unprompted statement from the AIA, which offered its support as well, AIA President Clark Manus pointed out that “as much as 30% to 50% of all time, money, materials, and resources that go into a construction project do not add value to the final product.” That’s impressive too, just not in a good way.

UNstudio at leading edge of 21st Century Architecture

UNStudio, with offices in Amsterdam and Shangjai, was founded in 1988 by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos.



A leading Dutch architectural design firm, UNstudio specializes in architecture, urban development and infrastructural projects. The name, UNStudio, stands for United Network Studio, referring to the collaborative nature of the practice. In 2009 UNStudio Asia was established, with its first office located in Shanghai, China. UNStudio Asia is a full daughter of UNStudio and is intricately connected to UNStudio Amsterdam. Initially serving to facilitate the design process for the Raffles City project in Hangzhou, it is envisioned that UNStudio Asia will expand to a stable multinational team of all-round and specialist architects.

WOW Factor: Amphibious 1000 project in Qatar

$500 million shoreline development a biomorphic feast

Giancarlo Zema Design Group is the Italian architectural firm behind the outstanding Amphibious 1000 project, one of the most amazing architectural developments in the world. I believe it will be best to let some pictures tell this story...

Architects influencing 21st Century design, M-Z

Samuel Mockbee, Rural Studio

Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio is a documentary film on the late architect Samuel Mockbee and the radical educational design/build program known as the Rural Studio.



Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer

Pier Luigi Nervi (June 21, 1891 – January 9, 1979) studied at the University of Bologna and qualified in 1913. Dr. Nervi taught as a professor of engineering at Rome University from 1946-61. He is widely known as a structural engineer and an architect, and for his innovative use of reinforced concrete. Archeological excavation suggests he may have broken the law building the Via Flamiania stadium by laying foundations through ancient Roman tombs.



Oscar Niemeyer - Brazilian Modernist

During a career that spanned seventy-five years, architect Oscar Niemeyer defined modern architecture in Brazil. futuristic, elegant, flowing, iconic buildings




Ryue Nishizawa, SANAA

Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa is best known for his collaborative works with architect Kazuyo Sejima. Their firm, Sejima + Nishizawa and Associates (SANAA), is praised for designing powerful, minimalist buildings using common, everyday materials.


Jean Nouvel, Architect of Light and Shadow

French architect Jean Nouvel designs flamboyant and colorful buildings that defy classification. Other-worldly luminosity, classy elegance.







Frederick Law Olmsted, Father of American Landscape Design

Frederick Law Olmsted was a landscape architect before the profession was founded. He was a visionary who foresaw the need for national parks, devised one of America's first regional plans, and designed America's first large suburban community.


Ieoh Ming Pei, Pritzker Prize Laureate

I.M. Pei is known for using large, abstract forms and sharp, geometric designs. His glass-clad structures seem to spring from the high tech modernist movement. However, Pei is more concerned with function than theory. His works often incorporate traditional Chinese symbols and building traditions. Classic, timeless and yet still iconic and futuristic, beautiful geometry-inspired buildings.


Cesar Pelli, Creator of the Petronas Towers

Cesar Pelli is often praised for using a wide variety of materials and designs, seeking new solutions for each location. Believing that buildings should be "responsible citizens," Cesar Pelli strives to design buildings that work within the surrounding city.




Renzo Piano, Pritzker Prize-Winning Architect

Renzo Piano was born into a family of builders. His grandfather, father, four uncles, and brother were contractors. Renzo Piano payed honor to this tradition when he named his architecture firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop.




Richard Rogers, Modern “High Tech” Architect

British architect Richard Rogers has designed some of the most important buildings of the modern era.

Born July 23rd, 1933 in Florence, Italy, Richard Rogers' father studied medicine and hoped that Richard would pursue a career in dentistry. Richard's mother was interested in modern design and encouraged her son's interest in the visual arts. A cousin, Ernesto Rogers, was one of Italy's prominent architects. As war broke out in Europe, the Rogers family moved back to England where Richard Rogers attended public schools. He was dyslexic and did not do well. Rogers had a run in with the law, entered the National Service, became inspired by the work of his relative, Ernesto Rogers, and ultimately decided to enter London's Architectural Association school.







Eero Saarinen, Finnish-American Architect

Whether designing furniture, airports, or grand monuments, Eero Saarinen was famous for innovative, sculptural forms. Born in 1910, were it not for Eero's untimely death during surgery in 1961, it is likely that he would have had an even bigger impact on architecture had he lived longer and worked more.

Eero Saarinen's father, Eliel Saarinen, was a prominent architect also. In 1923, when Eero was 13, the family moved to the United States. Eliel Saarinen became the first president of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, where he also taught. Eero Saarinen studied under his father and befriended fellow students Charles and Ray Eames.









Rudolf Schindler, Pioneering Modern Architect

Rudolph Michael Schindler (born Rudolf Michael Schindler, 1887–1953) was an Austrian who emigrated to the United States. His most important works, mostly private houses, were built in or near Los Angeles during the early to mid-twentieth century. Although he worked and trained with some of its foremost practitioners, he often is associated with the fringes of the modern movement in architecture. His inventive use of complex three-dimensional forms, warm materials, and striking colors, as well as his ability to work successfully within tight budgets, however, have placed him as one of the true mavericks of early twentieth century architecture. Mostly, his work escaped widespread publication during his lifetime, but has developed a critical resurgence since the 1980s.


Kazuyo Sejima, SANAA

Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima is best known for her collaborative projects with architect Ryue Nishizawa. Their firm, Sejima + Nishizawa and Associates (SANAA), is praised for designing powerful, minimalist buildings using common, everyday materials. Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa share the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Sejima and Nishizawa also maintain separate practices, which usually focus on smaller commissions.



Robert Siegel, Modern Architect

With Charles Gwathmey, Robert Siegel is a partner in the New York firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates. The partnership was formed in 1968.



Snohetta Architects

Craig Dykers and Kjetil T. Thorsen







Louis Sullivan, early American Modernism





Jørn Utzon Architect of Sydney Opera House




Donald Wexler, Palm Springs, low-rise Modernist



Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, Architect and Environmentalist

Designer of Portmeirion



Paul Revere Williams, Hollywood Architect

Paul Williams became famous for his role in designing the Los Angeles International Airportand over 2000 homes in Southern California. Many of the most beautiful houses in Hollywood were designed by Paul Williams.



Frank Lloyd Wright, America's Legendary Architect

20th Century architectural trailblazer defined his era with his inspiring, leading-edge buildings.






Source: About.com Architecture Guide by Jackie Craven

Architects (A-K) who inspire 21st Century buildings

Here are many of the brilliant architects who contributed to the emerging 21st Century styles in architecture. Credit to Jackie Craven, About.com Guide to Architecture, for much of the research presented here.


Alvar Aalto - Father of Modern Scandinavian Architecture

Creator of truly gorgeous buildings!!!

J. Max Bond Jr, pioneering African-American architect

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, in Alabama, is one of Bond’s many notable projects.



Daniel H. Burnham, Chicago Planner

Daniel Burnham designed some of the world's earliest skyscrapers and helped create the first complete plan for controlling urban growth. Drawing upon the City Beautiful movement, Daniel Burnham proposed a plan for Chicago that included extensive parkland and laid the foundation for modern theories of urban design. A predecessor of Jane Jacobs in being an advocate for livable cities



Santiago Calatrava, Architect, Artist and Engineer

Famous for his bridges and train stations, Spanish modernist Santiago Calatrava combines artistry with engineering. His graceful, organic structures have been compared to the works of Antonio Gaudí. In my mind he is the first true 21st century Architect, an artist whose forms are not limited by materials or imagination.




Le Corbusier

Leader of the International Style - Born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, Le Corbusier adopted his mother's maiden name in 1922 when he set up a partnership with his cousin, engineer Pierre Jeanneret.




Peter Eisenman, Bold, visionary architect

Peter Eisenman currently teaches at Yale University, offering studio courses and courses in design, visual analysis, and architecture theory. Eisenman has also taught at Cambridge University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Ohio State University, and The Cooper Union.

Peter Eisenman headed an informal group of five New York architects who wanted to establish a rigorous theory of architecture independent of context. Called the New York Five, they were featured in a controversial 1967 exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art and in a later book titled Five Architects (compare prices). In addition to Peter Eisenman, the New York Five included:

Charles Gwathmey
Michael Graves
John Hejduk
Richard Meier



Sverre Fehn, Norwegian Architect

1958: Norwegian Pavilion at the Brussels World Exhibition
1962: Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
1963: Schreiner House in Oslo, Norway
1967–1979: Hedmark Museum in Hamar, Norway
1990: Busk House at Bamble, Norway
1991: Glacier Museum in Fjaerland, Norway
1991: Aukrust Museum



Sir Norman Foster and High-Tech Architecture

Pritzker Prize-winning British architect Norman Foster is famous for "High Tech" design that explores technological shapes and ideas. In addition to winning the world's most prestigious awards for architecture, he has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Born in a working class family, Norman Foster did not seem likely to become a famous architect. Although he was a good student in high school and showed an early interest in architecture, he did not enroll in college until he was 21 years old. Foster won numerous scholarships during his years at Manchester University, including one to attend Yale University in the United States.



Richard Buckminster Fuller (Bucky): Architect, Philosopher, and Poet

Famous for his design of the geodesic dome, Buckminster Fuller spent his life exploring "what the little, penniless, unknown individual might be able to do effectively on behalf of all humanity."



Antoni Gaudí, Spanish Modernist Architect

Leading the Spanish Modernist movement, Antoni Gaudí has been classified with Gothicism (sometimes called warped Gothicism), Art Nouveau, and Surrealism. He was also influenced by Oriental styles, nature, sculpture, and a desire to go beyond anything that had ever been done before. Defying labels, Antoni Gaudí's work might be simple called, Gaudí-ism. One of the most crucial architects of the 20th century, together with Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry.



Frank Gehry, "Deconstructivist" Architect

Inventive and irreverent, Frank Gehry has been surrounded by controversy for most of his career. Using unorthodox materials like corrugated metal and chain link, Gehry creates unexpected, twisted forms that break conventions of building design. His work has been called radical, playful, organic, and sensual.








Bruce Goff, 20th Century Catalytic Architect

Bruce Goff designed expressive buildings from throw-away materials such as cake pans, steel pipe, rope, cellophane, and ash trays. Amazingly creative and ultra-original residences!!!



Michael Graves, Architect and Product Designer

Borrowing heavily from the past, architect Michael Graves combines whimsy and sophistication. His buildings often incorporate columns, pediments, arches, and other historic details. Innovative, “outside the box” structures!



Charles Gwathmey, Modern Architect

With Robert Siegel, Charles Gwathmey is a partner in the New York firm Gwathmey Siegel & Associates. The partnership was formed in 1968. FANTASTIC imagery!!!





In addition to Gwathmey, the "New York Five" included:

Peter Eisenman
Michael Graves
John Hejduk
Richard Meier



Zaha Hadid, First Woman to Win a Pritzker

Born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1950, Zaha Hadid was the first woman to win a Pritzker Architecture Prize. Her work experiments with new spatial concepts and encompasses all fields of design, ranging from urban spaces to products and furniture. brilliant, spaceship-like building designs







Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, Modern Architects

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are two important Swiss architects known for innovative construction using new materials and techniques. The two architects have nearly parallel careers. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron were born the same year, attended the same school, and in 1978 they formed the architectural partnership, Herzog & de Meuron. In 2001, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron were chosen to share the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. Worked with Ai Wei Wei on Olymic “Bird's Nest” Stadium in Beijing







Arata Isozaki, Japanese Architect

Japanese architect Arata Isozaki is known for using bold, exaggerated forms and inventive detailing. He often integrates Eastern ideas into his designs. brilliant, innovative, flowing buildings




Philip Johnson, Glass House Architect

Philip Johnson was a museum director, writer, and, most notably, an architect known for his unconventional designs. His work incorporated diverse influences such as the neoclassicism of Karl Friedrich Schinkel and the modernism of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Iconic buildings, gorgeous innovative lines in idyllic settings. he was one of the Harvard Five. (John M. Johansen, Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, Philip Johnson and Eliot Noyes) who worked out of New Canaan, CT.

"Lipstick" building by Philip Johnson and John Burgee (photo by Arnd Otto Dewald)


Louis Kahn, Modernist Architect

Louis I. Kahn competed only a few buildings, yet he is widely considered one of the great architects of the twentieth century. Incredibly beautiful, inspiring buildings, a true artist!




Rem Koolhaas, Modern Dutch Architect

Ultra-creative and innovative, a true master!

Shanghai; 19th Century to Sun Valley Pavillion

Please enjoy this pictorial essay showing changes in Shanghai over time, culminating in the 21st Century architectural wonder, the Shanghai Sun Valley Pavillion.


Shanghai 19th Century and 20th Century architecture










Shanghai China 21st Century Architecture












Shanghai Sun Valley Pavillion

Trey Ratcliff's inspired Fine Art Architectural Photography

National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing



Acclaimed travel photographer Ratcliff excels with Fine Art Architectural imagery

We came across Trey Ratcliff's work today for the very first time today, and what an inspiration he is!!! Any young landscape photographer, travel photog or architectural shooter may want to spend some time lingering on his imagery, for the artistry is clear in each and every photograph.



Ratcliff - Gateway to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing


Trey is a huge supporter of the micro-loan NGO Kiva.org, and you can learn a lot more about Trey and Kiva via his website StuckInCustoms.com.

This generous gent also offers an online HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography tutorial on his website!!!


Here's a sampling of Trey's wickedly divine (is that oxymoronic or what?) photography!





Eiffel Tower, Paris




Chicago Skyline, aerial view at dusk





Bangkok Skyline





Apollo rocket in NASA' Kennedy Space Centre, Florida





Orsay Museum, Paris




Basilica in Montmartre, France