QUESTION Romario Oliveira, Salvador, BA
10. Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012)
CONSTRUCTION Pampulha Church (Photograph)UN Headquarters (New York) and Alvorada Palace (Brasília)
He started as an intern for one of the great Brazilian architects, Lucio Costa, but ended up surpassing him in fame and influence. Known for his designs with curved lines (said to be inspired by the female body) and his passion for reinforced concrete.
9. Norman Foster (1935-)
CONSTRUCTION Wembley Stadium (London) and 30 St Mary Ax (Photograph)
His works are diverse: buildings, galleries, airports and even a space station! In common, they all use cutting-edge technology – the Briton became famous, in the 1970s, for leading the high-tech movement in architecture. He is currently planning settlements on Mars to be created with 3D printers.
8. Renzo Piano (1939-)
CONSTRUCTIONCenter Georges Pompidou (Paris) and The Shard (Photograph)
The son of a fish is not a fish: the Italian came from a family of builders with a very conservative streak. But he went to study in Milan and developed a broad style, known worldwide for the use of exclusive materials and surprising details.
7. Zaha Hadid (1950-2016)
CONSTRUCTION BMW Central Building (Leipzig), Bridge Pavillion (Zaragoza) and Heydar Aliyev Center (Photograph)
She was the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, the most important prize in architecture, in 2004. In recent years, the career of this British-born Iraqi has taken off, with more than 950 projects in 44 countries. She elaborated extraordinary “painting sketches” and appreciated gigantic and daring forms.
6. Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
CONSTRUCTION New York Guggenheim Museum and Fallingwater Residence (Photograph)
He is considered by many to be the greatest American architect of all time. He didn’t attend a school in that area, but he had an excellent teacher: the legendary Louis Sullivan, a central figure who defined the style of US skyscrapers. He liked to create “organic” buildings, with natural shapes that try to interact with the surrounding environment.
5. Frank Gehry (1929-)
CONSTRUCTION Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Dancing House (Prague) and UTB Building School (Photograph)
It is impossible not to be impressed by the daring and deconstructive ways of this Canadian naturalized American. One of the most important architects of our era, he has become a sought-after fashion house: he recently designed the Louis Vuitton Foundation and the new Facebook headquarters.
4. IM Pei (1917-2019)
CONSTRUCTION Louvre Pyramids (Photograph) and Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong)
He is known for his use of geometric shapes, but rejects the modernist label. He makes a point of adapting his style to the social context of each work. In 1983, he won the Pritzker and turned the $100,000 prize into scholarships for Chinese to learn architecture in the US.
3. Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe (1886-1969)
CONSTRUCTION Crown Hall (Photograph) and apartments Weissenhof (Stuttgart)
«Less is more.» It was with this premise that the German led the modern current of architecture, alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius (with whom he founded the influential Bauhaus school). This minimalism is visible in the lines and right angles of his projects, with lots of concrete, glass and steel.
2. Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926)
CONSTRUCTIONS Holy Family (Photograph)
Barcelona’s postcard church occupied Gaudí’s 40 years – and he died without seeing it finished. When completed in 2026, it will be the tallest in Europe at 172 m. The Catalan city has several other works by this genius, easily recognizable for their inspirations in nature. He was one of the pioneers, for example, in the use of natural light.
1. Le Corbusier (1887-1965)
CONSTRUCTION Villa Savoye (Paris) and Unitè d’Habitacion (Photograph)
The order of this top 10 can be questioned, but you will hardly see a ranking that does not place this Swiss at the top. Inspired by the golden ratio (a mathematical proportion considered harmonic), he devised a series of measures to guide his projects. He treated houses as “machines for living in”: the designs had to be usable and had to be functional. He also proposed a new urban planning, more suited to modern life.
CONSULTANCY Architects Guilherme Wisnik, Valentina Figueroa and Mauricio Del Nero
SOURCES Websites The Pritzker Prize, ArchDaily It is Architecture & Design