Top list of great architects of the 20th and 21st centuries, Building Designers Tips, Global Architecture

List of Great Architects of the 20th & 21st Centuries

23 Nov 2021

The city’s portrait is defined by its architecture. The images of thousands of similar residential buildings fade into the background, fade into the shadows under the guise of the most magnificent buildings. Paris is associated with the Eiffel Tower and the Pompidou Center, with London – the Tower and the Mary Ax skyscraper, with Barcelona – the Gaudí buildings and the Agbar Tower.

The portrait of the city is made up of historical buildings, but the XX-XXI centuries also made their own touches. The buildings created by modern architects are becoming no less significant visiting card of the city than the buildings of past centuries.

Great Architects of the 20th & 21st Centuries List

Here are 8 of the most popular architects from IdolWiki who “painted” modern images of cities. Their popularity in the world of architecture is comparable to the popularity of, for example, Kate McKinnon in the world of cinema.

Zaha Hadid
Critics and the public alike have expressed mixed opinions about the work of Zaha Hadid. But even those who dislike the eccentric buildings of Zaha Hadid Architects recognize the architect’s talent. The Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, the Opera House in Guangzhou, the National Museum of the 21st Century (MAXXI) in Rome – these and other buildings are the authorship of Zaha Hadid. This list of architectural structures that have defined the modern look of megacities can be continued for a long time.

The sudden death of Zaha Hadid in 2016 did not stop the development of projects. Work continues on projects in Astana, USA, Taiwan and other countries.

Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier is one of the reformer architects who completely turned the outdated ideas about architecture. His work determined what the building of the new era should be like. Le Corbusier used the visual illusion of the building hovering above the ground, placing the bulk of the building on columns. He also owns the idea of transparent, visible through the facades. Roof gardens, open-plan layouts, and rough finishes are the hallmarks of Le Corbusier’s work.

The ZHLC exhibition hall has become a place of pilgrimage for architects and designers traveling across Switzerland. The Tsentrosoyuz building on Sakharov Avenue in Moscow is one of the symbols of the Soviet era. The Assembly Palace in Chandigarh is a building symbolizing the new India.

Norman Foster
Norman Foster’s work is recognizable by the characteristic mesh facades. According to the architect, Shukhov, the author of the famous tower in Moscow, has always been his idol.

According to Foster’s designs, the Mary-Ax skyscraper in London, the Khan Shatyr shopping and entertainment center in Kazakhstan, and the Collserola TV tower in Barcelona were erected. Foster gracefully combined the eras, taking part in the reconstruction of the Reichstag and the central station in Dresden. It retained its historical appearance, but brought modern features to the buildings.

Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry is the most eccentric figure in 20th-21st century architecture. Gehry’s architecture has repeatedly become the subject of controversy and even litigation, but his projects always set the main accents in the portrait of the city.

Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Building, Dancing House in Prague – must-see buildings for travelers.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is a modernist architect who, along with Le Corbusier and other contemporaries, defined the architectural style of modernity.

The German architect, having left Nazi Germany, settled in the United States. His Seagram Building (New York) skyscraper project has become the prototype of office buildings around the world. Mees himself has built a number of other Offices in Toronto, Chicago and other cities.

In addition to office buildings, the architect is known for a number of other projects. When designing the German exhibition pavilion in Barcelona, Mies used the environment: travertine plinth, water surface of the pools and black glass. This project brought him worldwide fame. Private houses and villas designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe are also famous all over the world.

Jean Nouvel
The opening of each new project by French architect Jean Nouvel always becomes the center of worldwide attention. The Agbar Tower in Barcelona, the Lyon Opera, the Golden Angel in Prague are majestic structures that you cannot pass by.

Visitors to the city, who have not even heard the name of the architect, always pay attention to the amazing buildings that remain in their memory forever.

Renzo Piano
Despite the huge number of projects, the name of the Italian architect Renzo Piano is always primarily associated with the Center Pompidou in Paris. The high-tech building, so atypical for the city, drew sharp criticism. But it is simply impossible not to recognize the importance of the building for the modern appearance of Paris.

The Paul Klee Center in Bern, the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center in New Caledonia, the California Academy of Sciences and many other projects have become equally striking business cards.

Daniel Libeskind
Contemporary deconstructivist architect Daniel Libeskind is not afraid of criticism or experimentation. The works of Studio Daniel Libeskind, like any projects that run counter to the established ideas of society, each time evoke a storm of emotions (both positive and negative). But it is impossible to overestimate Libeskind’s influence on city portraits.

The World Trade Center (Freedom Tower), erected on the site of the destroyed twin towers in New York, residential complexes in Warsaw and Covington, the Modern Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Libeskind’s projects seem to open the door to another dimension.

Comments on this Top Architects in the 20th and 21st Centuries article are welcome.