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Santiago_Calatrava photo By Wilson Center

15 Most Famous Modern Architects

Modern architects are designers who have been in the field of architecture from the 20^th century to date. They rejected traditional styles of architecture and embraced modern architects due to technological changes. They aimed to satisfy modern society with innovative and functional designs of the time.

They have as well used modern materials such as glass, concrete, and steel to design their buildings making them more flexible and efficient. Modern architects believe the designing of the building should be done with a particular purpose in mind.

In this article, we have looked at the most famous modern architects and their amazing works. They include the following:

1. Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry photo by Forgemind ArchiMedia

Frank Gehry was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on February 28, 1929. He is a Canadian – American architect and designer. His style in architecture is known as Deconstructivist. He won a Pritzker Prize, an international architecture award presented annually.

His amazing work includes his private residence in Santa Monica, California, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (1981), and the California Aerospace Museum (1984) among others.

Find the 10 Famous Chicago Architects.

2. Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank_Lloyd_Wright photo By New York World

Frank Lloyd Wright is an American architect, designer and educator. In the twentieth century, Frank played a main role in the architectural movements by influencing architects globally through his works.

He designed several structures throughout his career, it is estimated to be more than 1000 structures. He received several awards such as the RIBA Gold Medal, Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, AIA Gold Medal, and Twenty-Five Year Award.

3. Renzo Piano

Renzo_Piano photo By Columbia GSAPP

Renzo Piano was on September 14, 1937, in Genoa, Italy. He is an Italian famous modern architect. He has worked with international firms such as the Polish engineer Zygmunt Stanisław Makowski in London and modernist architect Louis Kahn in Philadelphia.

His first building was the IPE factory in Genoa which he completed in 1968. Some of his other notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Ä°stanbul Modern in Istanbul (2022), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (2015), The Shard in London (2012), and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens (2016).

Here are the 15 Most Famous French Architects.

4. Leoh Ming Pei

Leoh Ming Pei is a Chinese- American architect born in 1917 in Canton, China famously known for his unique use of geometric forms and using Chinese influences in his work. He has been involved in several famous works such as the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, the Dallas City Hall, the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, the glass-and-steel pyramid for the Musée du Louvre in Paris and the John F. Kennedy Library in Massachusetts.

He has won several awards such as the AIA Gold Medal in 1979, the Pritzker Prize in 1983, and the first Praemium Imperiale for Architecture in 1989.

5. César Pelli

César_Pelli photo by Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires

César Pelli is famously known for designing the tallest World buildings and major urban landmarks. He won several awards the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the Doctor of Arts CTBUH Skyscraper Award, the Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award and the Foundation Distinguished Leadership Award.

Most of his popular known buildings are Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the World Financial Center in New York City, the Pacific Design Center, the National Museum of Art, in Osaka, the Bank of America Corporate Center, and Gran Torre Santiago among others.

6. Santiago Calatrava

Santiago_Calatrava photo By Wilson Center

Santiago is Modern Architect popularly known for his railways, bridges, stadiums and museums, which shape forms mostly resemble living organisms. He has accomplished several projects such as the Museum of Tomorrow, the World Trade Center station, the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, Dubai Creek Tower, and Chords Bridge among others.

Calatrava has won several awards such as the European Prize for Architecture, the AIA Gold Medal, the Prince of Asturias Award, the Eugene McDermott Award, the IStructE Gold Medal and the Auguste Perret Prize among others.

Read also 10 Famous Japanese Architects.

7. Le Corbusier

Le_Corbusier photo by Joop van Bilsen / Anefo

Le Corbusier is one of the pioneers of modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and in 1930 he became a French citizen. He has designed building in different countries such as India, North and South America, Europe, and Japan among others.

Some of the buildings he has designed include the Villa Savoye, Poissy, Buildings in Chandigarh, India, Villa La Roche, Paris, Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, and Unité d’habitation, Marseille among others.

8. Moshe Safdie

Moshe Safdie photo by Sa-rp-2021

Moshe Safdie is an architect with three citizenship, Israeli, American and Canadian. He is known for designing Habitat 67, Jewel Changi Airport, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Marina Bay Sands, and Virasat-e-Khalsa.

He has won several awards such as the Gold Medal, the American Institute of Architects, Gold Medal, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Champion of the Order of Canada, Lifetime Achievement, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and Wolf Prize.

9. Walter Gropius

Walter Gropius photo By Louis Held

Walter Gropius is a German-American architect. He is one of the modernist architecture pioneers. He founded the Bauhaus School (a German school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts).

Gropius was also a leading architect of the International Style, a major architectural style developed between the 1920s and 1930s. He has won several awards throughout his architectural careers such as the AIA Gold Medal in 1959, Albert Medal (1961) and Goethe Prize (1961).

10. Louis Sullivan

Louis Sullivan photo by Unknown Author

Louis Sullivan was a modern Architect and left a positive legacy behind. He was given the name ‘father of skyscrapers’ and ‘father of modernism.’ He was an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects, a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright and an influential architect of the Chicago School.

11. Alvaro Siza

Alvaro Siza is a Portuguese architect and architectural educator. He went to the school of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and graduated in architecture in 1955. He completed his first built work in 1954 before he even finished his studies.

He has won several awards for his good works such as the Pritzker Prize (1992), UIA Gold Medal (2011), Royal Gold Medal (2009), Golden Lion for lifetime achievement (2012), and the National Architecture Award of Spain (2019) among others.

Read also 15 Famous Spanish Architects.

12. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is mostly known as Mies by many. He was a modern architect from German- America. He was one of the modernist architecture pioneers. He achieved a lot before dying and was the director of the Bauhaus, a ground-breaking school of modernist art, design and architecture.

Some of his notable buildings include Barcelona Pavilion, Farnsworth House, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Westmount Square, Highfield House, Toronto-Dominion Centre, One Charles Center, New National Gallery and 860–880 Lake Shore Drive among others.

13. Jan Kaplicky

Jan Kaplicky was born on April 18, 1937, in Prague, Czechoslovakia and died on January 14, 2009, in Prague, Czech Republic. For most of his lifetime, he spent in the United Kingdom. The neo-futuristic Selfridges Building in Birmingham and the Media Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London made Jan popular.

He was among the best famous Modern architects and has been awarded several awards such as the Architects Award for Architecture (2004), Stirling Prize (1999), World Architecture Awards (2001), and Architects Award for Architecture (2004) among others.

14. Ben van Berkel

Ben van Berkel photo by luxlumina

Ben van Berkel is a Dutch architect who has designed several buildings such as his studio UNStudio, the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, the Moebius House in the Netherlands and Arnhem Central Station, the Singapore University of Architecture among others.

He has won several awards such as the A&W Architect of the Year 2017, KUBUS Award 2016, RIBA International Fellowship 2009, Charles Jencks Award 2007, Honorary Fellowship AIA 2013 and Eileen Gray Award 1983 among others.

15. David Childs

David Childs is a modern architect of the new One World Trade Center in New York City. He attained his master’s degree in 1967 in the field of architecture at Yale School of Architecture.

Some of his notable work includes the Four Seasons Hotel, the U.S. News & World Report headquarters, Worldwide Plaza, 450 Lexington Avenue, One World Trade Center and Bertelsmann Tower among others.