Famous Architects

Famous Architects

By: Rommel S. Reyes

While browsing the internet for my research proposal about Chavacano Architecture, I came across to glance through famous architects; these architects are famous in their respective country and gave their contribution in the changing landscape of their country particularly the City where they established. Like the legend Architect Antonio Gaudi of Spain who introduced curve design. His famous theory was, “Straight line belongs to man and curve lines belongs to God”. He has been identified with the catalan Modernismo movement of the late nineteenth century and, by extension with the international art nouveau style. His strong personality drew like-minded people of talent to him, and the collaboration of structural engineers, sculptors, and metalworkers who were his partner needed to carry out his ideas. It is often possible to identify the artists and engineers involved. His famous works concentrated in Barcelona, Spain, like the Casa Batllo built in 1905 and finished in 1907, Casa Mila 1905-1910, Colonia Guell 1908 – 1915, Park Guell Montana Pelada near Barcelona, 1900 – 1914, and his famous works the Sagrada Familia built in 1882 and finished in 1926. Antonio Gaudi died in 1926.

Another famous Architect is Oscar Niemeyer of Brazil born 1907 and, at the age of 38 he design the famous Pampulha Church in Brazil a whole complex his design concentrated on curves in that design he initially sketches a three arch curves combined then build, at the beginning the design was not accepted but when a new bishop took place, the design became an art. Then his next work was the Alvarada Palace, here again the roof curved, the column curved at that time curved column does not exist. The different forms of these palaces brought some significance to Architecture. In 1956, the President of Brazil commissions him to design Brazil new capital City-Brasilia. In order to appreciate more on his design, one has to move from a distance to view the object entirely. In 2008, one of the Broadcasting Network in Brazil interviewed Oscar Niemeyer his age was 101. Last December 15, 2009 he celebrated his birthday at age at 102 a living legend Architect, he still practice Architecture. In that interview he said and I quote, “when I talk about architecture, I feels like changing the subject, I instead talk about the big question in life and the society’s problem”. At first, I was not able to catch up what he meant by that but on the later part of the interview it was then clear, he refers to the politics and the society.

As the interview goes on, the topic goes about women. He said, “If you talk about women, that’s fine, women are essential, and a beautiful women is amazing”. He further said, “Nothing is prettier than a women’s’ perfect body”. He continues, “We look for the most beautiful shape and sometimes it can be like a women’s body, but, that is not our goal”. And the unbelievable part was shown, a sketch women lying, with her body shape curve taken, translating to the roofing shape of the building. He said, “We want pure form, something different, that fits our calculation, and that gives the architectural project a different feeling”. Oscar Niemeyer works for a museum in Spain; he said referring to the museum, “the dome is the one that he told about, that can built in one day, tell us what it was like, and it was built using an inflatable system. It goes up in a matter of hours. A person could walk by the site when it was empty, and the next day they would see a 40 meters dome”.

As the interview ended, he said, “So, an Architect has to be interested in political issues as well, just like any citizen. Life lasts only a minute”. Then he paused, he continued by saying, “Compare to the universe, we are so small, man is not that important. We have to be simpler; don’t think you are important, because no one is. You just have to be useful”. Then the interview ended.