Famous Architects

Famous Architects

Architecture has been important to people since the ancient times and

still is very important today. Here are a few well-known architects from the

middle-ages, recent history, and today.

Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren was an English architect who is famous for designing the Saint Paul's Cathedral. He also designed many more important buildings in England, such as the Kensington Palace, the Hampton Court, and the Wren Library at Trinity College. He was born in 1632 and died in 1723, at the age of 91. Wren was knighted on November 14, 1673 for helping rebuild London after the Great Fire.

Saint Paul's Cathedral

Saint Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral that is at the top of the Ludgate Hill in London. This cathedral is probably Christopher Wren's greatest accomplishments. Wren was going to repair the old cathedral, and had just developed a design when the Great Fire of London occurred and left the cathedral in ruins. He came up with many models and designs of the future cathedral, and finally chose one that he called the "Warrant Design." The cathedral is not exactly like Wren's design, and at the first service held there was still no dome. Eventually, in 1711, the cathedral was complete, and it attracts many tourists today.

Hampton Court

The Hampton Court Palace is a palace in London for the kings and queens of England. William of Orange and Queen Mary II wanted to rebuild the Hampton Court in a more modern Baroque style. They hired Wren to design the new palace, and the plan was to have a huge palace built around two courtyards. The pink brick and Portland stone added dimension and the courtyards were beautiful. The palace is still a tourist attraction today. 

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect from Wisconsin. He designed many houses, apartment buildings, museums, commercial buildings, and more. He lived from 1867 to 1959, dying at the age of 91. Wright was named greatest American architect of all time by the American Institute of Architects in 1991.


Fallingwater

Fallingwater is a house in the mountains south of Pittsburgh. Wright designed it for his clients, the Kaufmann family as a mountain vacation home. What is special about this house is that it was built over a thirty-foot waterfall! Construction took place between 1936 and 1939. It became a National Historic Landmark and was featured on the front of the Times magazine in 1938. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has preserved Fallingwater, and it has attracted more than 4 million people over the years.

Taliesin

Taliesin is a house Wright built for himself in Spring Green, Wisconsin, his home state. The word "Taliesin" means "shining brow" in Welsh. On the Taliesin estate there are other buildings, such as the Romeo and Juliet Windmill and Midway Farms. Wright was constantly adding to his home as his style and skill developed over seventy years, and it has become another large attraction for tourists.

I. M. Pei

Ieoh Ming Pei was born in 1917 in China, but he moved to the United States when he was just 17 to study architecture. He has been awarded many professional honors, including the Medal of Freedom, the Medal of Arts, and the Lifetime Achievement  Award. He designed many buildings, such as the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library, the Grand Louvre, and the Bank of China Tower, and is alive today.

Grand Louvre

The Grand Louvre is a museum in Paris, France that used to be a royal palace. In order to make it into a museum, it needed to be redesigned. Pei made the museum into a compact U-shape and added a beautiful glass pyramid as the main entrance, which also serves as a skylight. The project was completed in 1993, aong with the help of Leonard Jacobson, Yann Weymouth, and C.C. Pei. The Grand Louvre has won many awards and attracted many tourists.

Bank of China Tower

The Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong is one if the many skyscrapers Pei has designed. This amazing tower is covered in triangular pieces of reflective glass  and inside has offices, apartment suites, and an underground garage!  Outside of the tower at ground level there are water fountains that muffle the busy noises of Hong Kong. The structural system supports the tower and helps it stand against strong winds. The Bank of China Tower has also won many awards and is a huge accomplishment of I. M. Pei's.

These are just a few of many famous architects from the 
past and the present, and hopefully there will be many 
more to come in the future.

Citations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Wren

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Court_Palace

http://www.franklloydwright.org/about/FLLWBio.html

http://www.fallingwater.org/37/what-is-fallingwaterhttp://www.wrightinwisconsin.org/wrightsites/taliesinspringgreen.aspx 
http://www.pcf-p.com/a/p/8315/s.html
http://www.pcf-p.com/a/p/8220/s.html
http://www.pcf-p.com/a/f/fme/imp/b/b.html