Álvaro Siza
Born in 25th June 1933, Álvaro Siza is a Portuguese architect and tutor known by his full names as Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira. He studied architecture at the University of Porto in the old School of Fine Arts and graduated in 1955.
From his strong zeal for his professional career, he began his private practice in Porto in 1954, even before completing his studies. In the same year, he fully designed and finished his first housing project, including four housing units in Matosinhos. In 1992, he was recognized and awarded the Pritzker Prize for his leading role in renovating a historic commercial building in Chiado, Lisbon, destroyed by fire in August 1988.
According to Álvaro Siza himself, architects do not invent anything new; they transform reality. This professional attitude was well captured by jurists when they awarded him the 1992 Pritzker Prize. In their ruling, they said, “As the early Modernists, Álvaro Siza’s shapes are honest and moulded by light, they is also a deceptive simplicity about them.”
Antoine Predock
Born in 1936 in Lebanon, Missouri, Antoine Predock, an American, is an architect working in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He undertook his studies at the University of New Mexico and Columbia University and received his Bachelor of Architecture. He is the founder and head of Antoine Predock Architect P.C., a studio he set up in 1967.
Antoine Predock became known countrywide first with the Albuquerque’s La Luz community in New Mexico, later winning his first national design competition at the Nelson Fine Arts Centre at the Arizona State University.
Predock’s most famous work as an architect includes the Turtle Creek House designed and built in 1993 for bird lovers at the prehistoric trail in Texas. Others have an Art Gallery at Skidmore College, the Tang Teaching Museum, and a newly-constructed ballpark for San Diego Padres. Some of his notable awards are the 2006 A.I.A. Gold Medal and the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
Ben Van Berkel
Ben van Berkel is a Dutch architect born in 1957 and is one of the founding partners of the hailed UNStudio, which has gained plenty of international recognition. He took his studies at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam before joining the Architectural Association in London for his A.A. Diploma with Honours in 1987.
Together with his wife, Caroline Bos, he established the Van Berkel & Bos Architectuurbureau in 1988, which later became Amsterdam’s highly acclaimed architectural practice. Some of its renowned projects are the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam and the Karbouw office building. Later in 1988, van Berkel and Bos propelled their architectural practice through UNStudio (U.N. for United Net) to support sharing ideas in the architectural design process.
Ben van Berkel has worked as a lecturer in many institutions around the globe. Notably, he served at the Städelschule in Frankfurt in 2001 as Professor Conceptual Design and a Visiting Professor at Harvard University, Princeton University, and Columbia University. He was appointed at Harvard Graduate School of Design as the Kenzo Tange Chair in 2011.
Some of van Berkel’s best works earned him international accolades include Mercedes-Benz Museum, Theatre Agora, and the W.I.N.D. House. His drive to mentor students and young professionals is based on an inclusive architectural approach that combines virtual and material works and engineering projects.
If you are in Farnham or the surrounding area then search ‘architectural services in Farnham‘.
Bernard Tschumi
Born on 25th January 1944, Bernard Tschumi is an architect and educator well-known for deconstructivism. He was born of renowned architect Jean Tschumi and from both French and Swiss lineage. He undertook studies in Paris and Zurich at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and graduated with a degree in architecture in 1969. He works in New York City and Paris, living in both cities.