NEO-MORDEN ARCHITECTURE

Richard George Rogers, (born 23 July 1933) is an Italian-British architect noted for
his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture.
Rogers is perhaps best known for his work on the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Lloyd's
building and Millennium Dome both in London, the Senedd in Cardiff, and the European
Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg. He is a winner of the RIBA Gold Medal,
the Thomas Jefferson Medal, the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Minerva Medal and Pritzker Prize.
He is a Senior Partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, previously known as the Richard
Rogers Partnership.
Norman Foster
Norman Foster is a British architect who has played an important role in shaping the High-
Tech and environmental design movements. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards,
including the Pritzker Prize in 1999. Foster was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990; he is
also known as the Baron Foster of Thames Bank.

Norman Foster

However, Foster's career in architecture was so unlikely. He was born in a suburb of

Manchester in 1935. He was the only child of his working-class family. Foster once said, ''In
fact, the idea that anyone in the neighbourhood where I grew up would go to a university was
like saying I'd be the next Pope.''
In his teens, Foster had an interest in architecture, particularly of Le Corbusier. But, he had to
leave school to work when he was 16. At age 21, Foster enrolled in the Manchester
University School of Architecture. He earned several scholarships there, including one from
Yale University.
In 1962, Foster got his master's degree from the Yale School of Architecture. The following
year, he toured the country to see architectural destinations. In 1963, Foster began his
practice in Team 4, which he established with his former wife Wendy Cheesman and Richard
Rogers from Yale. In 1968, Foster met architect Buckminster Fuller, who would deeply
influence Foster's design philosophy.
At the age of 32, Foster founded Foster+Partners in London. Today, Foster+Partners has 25
offices around the world with more than 1,000 employees. Foster's portfolio includes more
than 250 civic, cultural, office, and residential buildings in 40 countries.

Foster's Philosophy
Foster describes architecture as the expression of values. He says, it is ''a balancing act of
integrating and somehow responding to all the needs of a project: material and measurable; as
well as the spiritual and intangible, the subjective; it is somehow about making all those value
judgments.''
For Foster, ''Great architecture should wear its message lightly.'' He believes a good architect
should have ''An open mind, energy, an appetite for hard work, a willingness to explore new
solutions and push boundaries.'' Foster's design philosophy involves integration,
regeneration, adaptability, flexibility, technology, and ecology. His architecture is a
combination of these principles.

Social Responsiveness
''Architecture is about the social agenda,'' Foster says. For him, how we build reflects how we
live, and architecture is ''the embodiment of our civic values.'' The London City Hall, for
example, shows how Foster responds to societal values, like democracy. Foster designed the
hall as a transparent, open, and accessible space. He used glass to express the uncensored
dialogue of democracy.

The City Hall, London

Public spaces play a fundamental role in Foster's socially-responsive architecture. He says,

''Public spaces are more important than buildings. They make a city alive.'' The Willis Faber
and Dumas Building, for example, integrates such social dimension. Here, Foster created an
office building where, at lunch time, employees could sunbathe or swim in the swimming
pool. On weekends, the building served as a social facility and public space for the town.
This was a revolutionary social design in the 1970s.

Adaptive Reuse
Foster has redesigned several buildings with historical background. For him, ''Architecture is
a connection with the past.''' Foster takes this connection as the revitalization and repurposing
of historic buildings for new generations, which is called adaptive reuse. He says, ''As an
architect, you design for the present, with an awareness of the past, for a future which is
essentially unknown.''

The Reichstag, Berlin

The Reichstag Building in Berlin, for example, is a full reconstruction through a deep respect
of history. The new building is characterized with a glass dome addition, which symbolizes
rebirth and political transparency.
New York's Hearst Tower is another example of Foster's preservation and adaptive reuse
projects. Foster redesigned the historic building with new materials and a new emphasis on
sustainability. The Hearst Tower was the first building in New York that achieved the LEED
Gold standard.
 Hearst Tower, NYC

Advanced Technology
For Foster, ''The history of architecture is the history of technology… And you can't separate
technology from the humanistic and spiritual content of a building.'' Foster adopts the
most cutting-edge technology available to architecture. He explores the science of materials
and the aesthetic relationship between science, industry, and art. Yet, Foster takes technology
as a means, not an end. For him, ''The ends are social and always have been.''

The HSBC Bank, Hong Kong

Richard Meier, in full Richard Alan Meier, (born October 12, 1934, Newark, New Jersey,
U.S.), American architect noted for his refinements of and variations on classic Modernist
principles: pure geometry, open space, and an emphasis on light.
Meier received numerous awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and other
architectural associations. In 1984 he won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, and in 1997 he
received the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale prize for architecture.
Meier graduated from Cornell University (B.A., 1957) in Ithaca, New York. His early
experience included work with the firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in New York City
and with Marcel Breuer, a noted exponent of the International style of architecture. In 1963
Meier formed his own firm. Early on he received critical acclaim for the Smith House (1965–
67) in Darien, Connecticut, the first of his so-called white buildings, which clearly built upon
the pristine Modernism of Le Corbusier’s work in the 1920s and ’30s. During this period he
formed a loose association with a group of young architects, known as the “New York Five,”
who advocated a return to Modernist, rational architecture. He received more attention for
his Douglas House (1971–73), an archetypal example of his work, located in Harbor Springs,
Michigan. Like much of his work, it features intersecting planes, and, in its crisp geometric
whiteness, it provides a sharp contrast to the natural setting that surrounds it.
Building upon the success of his series of spectacular private residences, starting in the mid-
1970s Meier began to receive large public commissions, including the Atheneum (1975–79)
in New Harmony, Indiana; the Museum of Decorative Arts (1979–85) in Frankfurt am Main,
Germany; the High Museum of Art (1980–83) in Atlanta, Georgia; the City Hall and Library
(1986–95) in The Hague, Netherlands; and the Museum of Contemporary Art (1987–95)
in Barcelona, Spain. These structures are characterized by geometric clarity and order, which
are often punctuated by curving ramps and railings, and by a contrast between the light-filled,
transparent surfaces of public spaces and the solid white surfaces of interior, private spaces.
Indeed, they all embody Meier’s description of his goals: “I am expanding and elaborating on
what I consider to be the formal base of the Modern movement.…I work with volume and
surface, I manipulate forms in light, changes in scale and view, movement and stasis.”
Although some critics have found these structures too austere and reminiscent of past
architectural achievement, others have applauded their formal beauty and welcomed their
purity in the midst of the often jumbled forms of postmodernist architecture.
From 1985 to 1997 Meier focused much of his attention on the Getty Center in Los
Angeles. Comprising six principal buildings that house the Getty collection and educational
facilities, the centre is built of honey-coloured travertine complemented by aluminum panels.
The multiple purposes of the complex—from public galleries to private study rooms—gave
Meier a chance to explore the contrast between public and private spaces as never before, and
its positioning in the hills of Los Angeles allowed Meier an optimum opportunity to explore
the effects of light. The structure has become a popular tourist destination. Another of
Meier’s Los Angeles projects is the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Center (2008), the home of
the visual arts program on the north campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty MuseumJ. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, Los
Angeles.
Richard Meier, “white buildings make you more aware of the colors of nature”

In a recent video interview from the Time Space Existence series (you can see it here thanks
to our media partner PLANE-SITE) great American architect Richard Meier talks about
some of the key points of his vision of architecture.
From the use of his beloved white color (though with some exceptions), to the quality of
good design to age well, to his preference for museums as places where people can, at the
same time, experience architecture, socialize, enjoy, and learn; in this interview (made by
PLANE_SITE, the GAA Foundation, and the European Culture Center) Meier reveals many
of the elements that make his buildings so unique.

About the relationship between architecture and context

How do we make a building in a context, in which that context can enliven the city that the
building has arms that reach out to the community and become part of the community?
Quality of architecture gives life to the city. It creates a space that belongs to the city,
buildings that relate at ground level to the pedestrians and people moving. Architecture is
about making space which is of human scale.

On museums

I love doing museums because every museum is different. The collection is different, the
context is different, but it’s a public space of coming together for enjoyment, but also for
learning.
People want to see architecture, they want to experience not just the interior spaces, but the
exterior spaces as well. The Getty Museum in Los Angeles is an example of a place where
people come from all over the world to look at the art, but also to experience everything
that’s around it, whether it’s gardens or the special spaces where people can enjoy and come
together.

On whiteness

Architecture is expressing a quality of light. It should also allow you to appreciate nature
that’s around you. White is all colors. It’s everywhere. Everywhere you look. Whiteness, in a
sense, reflects nature, it refracts light, it makes you more aware of the colors of nature
because of the whiteness of the buildings.
It wasn’t my choice to build a black building (Meier refers to his 685 First Avenue 42-story
tower in New York, currently under construction). Our client came to me, and he said,
“Richard, I really like your work, but I want a black building. Would you do a black
building?”. Well, I said, “Why not?” Why not try something new? This is a very sleek black
curtain wall. It’s almost wrapping of a skin, which it is, around a frame. It’s something very
different from a building that we would do that would be white.

About time and architecture

There is a relationship between time and what we are doing. When I talk with young
architects, I say it takes a certain amount of perseverance to stick with it because
architecture doesn’t happen quickly. Many projects take a number of years.
When I look back at the work we’ve done over the years and I see how the buildings have
aged, I’m actually gratified because I feel there’s a timeless quality. They have just
weathered the time of their existence, and continue to have the quality of the human-scale
experience. It’s the spatial experience that is what architecture is all about.
Richard Meier & Partners; Jubilee Church, Rome, 1996-2003; photo © Scott Frances

Smith House, Darien, Connecticut, 1965-1967; photo © Scott Frances

685 First Avenue tower, New York City, 2015-2019 image © Bloomimages
The Getty Center, Los Angeles, California, 1984-1997; photo © Scott Frances

MACBA – Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, 1987 – 1995; photo ©

Inexhibit

The Atheneum, New Harmony, Indiana, 1975 – 1979; photo © Scott Frances

Saltzman House, East Hampton, New York, 1967 – 1969; photo © Scott Frances

Aldo Rossi (3 May 1931 – 4 September 1997) was an Italian architect and designer who
achieved international recognition in four distinct areas: architectural theory, drawing and
design and also product design. He was one of the leading exponents of the postmodern
movement.
He was the first Italian to receive the Pritzker Prize for architecture.
He named modern materials, such as steel, metal and glass, as “light materials” and he
combined them with surface which is associated with masonry. In Section 4, it was shown
that he accepted changes of material plans. For example, he changed color plan of “Modena
cemetery”.

MARIO BOTTA
PHILOS OPHY

Importance of the site

Every work of architecture entails the construction of a site. It is not an

isolated object; on the contrary it is an entity that takes root in a
distinctive place. For this reason the territory is an integral part of the
project, and never an incidental e lement. From this point of view, it can
be said that architecture is the discipline that, instead of building on a
site, builds that site.

The city and the historical st ratification

The city (in particular the European one) is an extraordinary model of

aggregation; it is the highest expression of social life. Its millenary
stratification makes it a bulwark of quality compared with the anonymity
brought about by the globalization.

Light

Light generat es space. It gives em phasi s and rhythm, it m arks the spaces
and bestows balance to the structur e: neither space nor architecture could
be perceived wit hout light. Li ght completes the archit ect ural project, so
it is necessary to determine from the very first planning stages the
distinctive featur es that will make it the fundamental element for the
under standing and the use of the constructed work.

Gravity
Gravity is the force that binds the work of architecture to the ground, it
is the reason for existence of the building principle in the search for a
balance to transmit the loads to the gr ound.

Geometry, symmet ry, ord er

Preference for the simple and primary forms combined to achieve
symmetrical order. Geometry allows to control the balance of the spaces
thus making them recognizable and understandable.
Natural materials
Natur al materials are characterized by strength and durability. They also
have a gr eat ductility, i.e. the capacity to modify in time and space their
aspect, their structur e and, as a consequence, their appearance.

The territory of memor y, respect of the great past

To promote a different, more sustainable relationship with the
environment, it is necessary to emphasize the importance of the territory
of memory, whose value is proportional to the value we assign to the
past. To give importa nce to memory compels us to update, hence to get
possession of, the great ideas of the past.

Ethical meaning of archit ecture

Architectur e should have an ethical rather than an aesthetical meaning.
The aim of the architectural fact is that of offering goo d quality living
values opposed to merely aesthetical images. The search for a better
quality of life goes through the search for a better space for life.

Born in Mendrisio in 1943, Mario Botta attended the Liceo Artistico (High School) in Milan
and graduated in architecture from IUAV, Venice in 1969. During his time in Venice, Botta
met Luis Kahn and worked at Le Corbusier.
Strongly influenced by two great masters, his design style evolved into pure, geometric and
imposing forms. Brick is a key material in his body of work, used as cladding to accentuate
the severity of his designs.
All his work has a spiritual connotation, through which he demonstrates the importance of
architecture as a means of expression of human memory.

In 1969 he opened his own architectural practice in Mendrisio, beginning a career that would
lead to him creating significant, exemplary work, including several religious buildings.
The 1970s saw the beginning of his teaching career and research work, with conferences,
seminars and courses in Italy and overseas.
He is a visiting lecturer at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale EPFL, Lausanne and Yale
School of Architecture, New Haven, Connecticut, and a professor at the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne. When the University of Switzerland opened in
Italy in 1996, Botta designed the program for the new Mendrisio-Ticino Architecture
Academy, and lectured there prior to becoming Dean.

His openly asserted principles on which he bases his architectural designs include the
importance of the site, since “the territory is an integral part of the project and never an
incidental element”. Light, especially, should be taken into account in the individual
environment since it “generates space, provides emphasis and rhythm, defines the space and
creates balance in the structure”, but above all it makes the space and architecture
discernible and complete.
In addition, his preference is for natural materials and geometrical designs, simple, primary
forms that, when combined, lead to a precise, recognizable symmetrical order, immediately
perceived and understood. Last but not least, values linked to memory, in respect of the past
and finally ethics in architecture, whose objective is to “offer good quality living values as
opposed to merely aesthetic images. The search for a better quality of life is ongoing through
the search for a better space for life”.

His vast body of work includes the Library and restoration of the Cappuccini Monastery,
Lugano (1976-80), Freiburg State Bank (1982), Dortmund Municipal Library (1999),
extension to the Dürrenmatt Center, Neuchâtel (2000), Museum of Modern Art, San
Francisco (1995) and Museum of Art, Rovereto and Trento (MART) in Rovereto (2002),
Kyobo Tower, Seoul (2003), New Casino, Campione d’Italia (2006), "Cittadella delle
Istituzioni" in the Appiani area of Treviso (2010), Tsinghua University Library, Beijing
(2011) and the Fossil Museum, Monte San Giorgio di Meride, Mendrisio (2012).

Religious projects include Evry Cathedral (1995), Church of San Giovanni Battista, Mogno
(1998), Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center, Tel Aviv (1998), Papa Giovanni
XXIII Church, Seriate (2004) and Monastery of the Holy Apostles Saint Peter and Andrew.
Lviv, Ukraine (2014).

Recent projects include the imposing Theater of Architecture, Mendrisio (2017). The circular
floor plan, with 3 levels above ground and 2 below, features a large, empty central area for
exhibitions and a tent-style roof.
From the 1980s, Botta also worked as a designer, creating tables and chairs for Alias, and
lighting for Artemide. In addition, he designed scenery for the Opera House and Kunsthaus,
Zurich and Stadttheater, Basel.
He is an honorary member of numerous architecture institutions and academies, including:
BDA-Bund Deutscher Architekten, AIA-American Institute of Architects, Accademia di
Belle Arti di Brera, Milan, RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), London and the
International Academy of Architecture, Sofia. Several universities have awarded him
honorary degrees.

He has received significant awards and acknowledgments over the years including the
Chicago Architecture Award (1986), CICA, International Committee of Architectural Critics,
International Biennial of Architecture, Buenos Aires (1989 and 1993), European Award for
Culture, Karlsruhe (1995), Swiss Award 2003 and "Urbanpromo" Award at the Milan
Triennale in 2015.

Mario Botta selected works and projects

- Teatro dell’architettura, Mendrisio (Svizzera), 2017

- Monastero dei Santi Apostoli Pietro e Andrea, Leopoli (Ucraina), 2014
- Cappella Granato, Penkenjoch, Zillertal (Austria), 2013
- Museo dei fossili del Monte San Giorgio di Meride, Mendrisio (Svizzera), 2012
- Hotel Twelve at Hengshan, Shanghai (Cina), 2012
- Biblioteca della Tsinghua University, Pechino (Cina), 2011
- Nuove terme, Baderquartier Baden (Svizzera), 2009 - in corso
- Società di assicurazione nazionale “Ethniki”, Atene (Grecia), 20

Cesar Pelli: Works, Architecture & Style

Entrapment
 The poster for the 1999 film Entrapment, in which Pelli

It takes a certain amount of confidence to design what would be the tallest building in the
world. Cesar Pelli had plenty when he designed the iconic Petronas Towers. The towers
played a starring role alongside Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the 1999
movie, Entrapment. The impressive career of Pelli has continued even though he's now in his
90s.

Education and Early Work

Cesar Pelli

Cesar Pelli was born in Argentina on October 12, 1926. He went to Argentina's national
university, the Universidad Nacional de Tucuman, before receiving his Master's degree from
the University of Illinois. After graduating, he worked for Eero Saarinen for ten years on
some very impressive projects including the iconic TWA Terminal at JFK Airport.
 The TWA Flight Center terminal at JFK Airport, which Pelli
helped work on

During this time he also became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Pelli then went to Los Angeles
and worked for a few firms there and taught at UCLA. At this point, his talents were widely
respected in the field and he was named the Dean of the Yale School of Architecture. At this
point he started his own firm and his first project was expanding and renovating the Museum
of Modern Art in New York.

The Build-Up to Petronas

When it comes to designing skyscrapers, clients rarely pick an untested architect. Pelli had a
number of projects including several skyscrapers that would convince the client, KLCC
Holdings, that he could get the job done. One of his first skyscrapers was the Wells Fargo
Center, formerly called Norwest Center. This office tower has over 1 million square feet of
office space spread over 57 floors. In 1991, he continued his work in London with
the Canary Wharf Tower, which was the tallest building in the United Kingdom for twenty
years. In Tokyo, he designed the NTT Shinjuku Headquarters which was completed in 1995.
These buildings among several others were testaments to the timeless quality of Pelli's
designs and proof he could deliver big projects.

Petronas Towers

Petronas Towers
Pelli's sleek design of the two glass, steel, and reinforced concrete towers connected by a
skybridge began in 1992. It was an instant success both in terms of showing the world the
progressive side of Kuala Lumpur and creating an iconic tourist destination. It was built using
a tube-in-tube structural system. The core of the building, which holds the elevators, is a
strong structural tube and the exterior of the building is also a strong tube. This allowed for
the interior floor plans to have minimal structural elements.
The plan of the building is based on the Rub el Hizb, an eight-pointed star that is found in
Arabic calligraphy. The two overlapping squares that make the symbol were abstracted
slightly to increase functionality. The buildings contain more than 4 million square feet of
office space over 88 above-ground floors. The finished height of the towers is 1,483', which,
when completed in 1997, made it the tallest building in the world. It held the title until Taipei
101 was built in 2004 and then when the Burj Khalifa was built in Dubai in 2008.
 Rub el Hizb

DECONSTRUCTION
Frank gehry