20th Century Architects

UFAQ - 2009 ALE Review

Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983)
• American inventor of the Geodesic Dome and the principle
of “Synergetics, ”who influenced High Tech leaders,
especially Norman Foster
• “MORE WITH LESS” – a philosophy concerned with the
efficient use of materials and technology for energy and
cost-efficient designs, for the benefit of humanity.

Eero Saarinen (1910-1961)

• Finnish architect
• noted for his highly expressionist work reflected in the
sculptural forms of his buildings using reinforced concrete
• studied architecture and sculpture
• influenced by Mies van der Rohe and Antonio Gaudi
Buck Fuller, DYMAXION HOUSE,
Wichita, Kansas, 1946
Buck Fuller,
U.S. PAVILION - 1967 Exposition,
Montreal, Canada
Eero Saarinen, M.I.T. AUDITORIUM,
Massachussets, 1962
 Eero Saarinen,
T.W.A. TERMINAL, J.F.K. INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,
New York, 1962
Eero Saarinen, DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,
Washington, 1962
Philip Cortelyou Johnson

(July 8, 1906– January 25, 2005) was an influential American

architect. With his thick, round-framed glasses, Johnson was
the most recognizable figure in American architecture for
decades.
In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and
Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and
later (1978), as a trustee, he was awarded an American
Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker
Architecture Prize, in 1979. He was a student at the Harvard
Graduate School of Design.
Philip Johnson (1906-2005 )

• controversial architect who worked in the modern

and, later, in the postmodern style
• together with Henry Russell-Hitchcock, curated an
exhibition entitled “Modern Architecture: An International
Exhibition” from which the “International Style” came from
• for his master’s thesis, built the Glass House
whose concept was borrowed from van der Rohe’s
Farnsworth House
• worked with Mies van der Rohe and together they
designed the Seagram Building
• designed the AT& T Headquarters, considered as the
first postmodern skyscraper

“ The only cardinal sin in building is boredom.”

- JOHNSON
Philip Johnson,
(above) THE GLASS HOUSE,
Connecticut, 1949
(left) THE SEAGRAM BUILDING,
New York, 1958
(with Mies van der Rohe)
 Philip Johnson,
AT&T HEADQUARTERS,
New York, 1979
Michael Graves (1934- )

• one of the New York Five or The Five Whites, together with
Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey and
John Hejduk, known for their white, modernist designs
• in the mid-70s, abandoned modernism and became a
famous figure in the postmodern camp
• successfully brought the postmodern style from the
academe to the public through the design of the
controversial Portland Building in 1983.
• diverted architecture from modernist abstraction to
restore literacy to readers and users of the building

“ I believe that people make natural associations with form,

color, and the composition of elements while decoration
and detailing help communicate a building’s purpose.”
-GRAVES
Michael Graves,
HANSELMANN HOUSE,
Indiana, 1967

Michael Graves,
SNYDERMAN HOUSE,
Indiana, 1972
 Michael Graves,
PLOCEK HOUSE, 1982
Michael Graves,
PORTLAND BUILDING,
Oregon, 1983
Michael Graves,
WORLD TRADE EXCHANGE BLDG.,
Binondo, Manila
Arquitectonica

• Miami-based firm composed of Bernardo Fort- Brescia

and Laurinda Spears
• works are influenced by both Modernism and
Postmodernism
• pursued the style of an unconventional modernism,
both abstract and romantic, playful as well as dramatic
and forceful
Arquitectonica,
THE PINK HOUSE,
Miami, Florida

Arquitectonica,
ATLANTIS CONDOMINIUM,
Miami, 1982
Arquitectonica,
ATLANTIS CONDOMINIUM,
Miami, 1982
 Arquitectonica,
BANCO DE CREDITO,
Peru, 1988
 Arquitectonica,
PACIFIC PLAZA TOWERS,
Fort Bonifacio Global City,
Philippines