Joseph Hoffmann was born in 1870 in Austria-Hungary. He died in 1956 in Vienna. He was an Austrian architect and designer. He was one of the founders of the Vienna Secession which was an art movement closely related to Art Nouveau. Members of that group also included Koloman Moser, Otto Wagner, and Gustav Klimt. Together they founded the Wiener Wekstätte, pioneers of modern design which influenced the Bauhaus and Art Deco styles. He studied at the Higher School of Arts and Crafts and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.
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Muzharul Islam was born in 1923 in Murshidabad, British India. He died in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2012 at the age of 88. As a Bangladeshi architect he is considered the father of Bengali modernism. He studied at the University of Oregon, AA School of Architecture in London, and at Yale. As you look at his work remember to set yourself back to the 50s and 60s. He is the recipient of many awards including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (I suspect another source of great architects has been found).
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Gae Aulenti was an Italian architect. Born in 1927 in Palazzolo dello Stella, Italy, she died in 2012. She studied architecture at the Milan School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University. Her assossication with Casabella and subsequently Olivetti broadened her scope to include much design.
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Greg Lynn was born in in Ohio in 1964. He studied architecture and philosophy at the Miami University of Ohio and at Princeton. In 2001 Time magazine named him one of the most innovative persons of the 21st century. In 2005 Forbes named him one of the 10 most influential living architectects (more on that another time). His specialty is computer-aided biomorphic design (more on that as well another time). Biomorphic designs are those inspired by nature. Featured here are existing buildings as well as studies.
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Today I thought we’d take a look at some movies which feature noteworthy architecture. Architectural Digest suggests 14 films to watch if you’re an architecture fan. To provide a glimpse of said architecture and give you a sense of the film I’ve included movie trailers. I’m surprised to find A Clockwork Orange in that list. Will I have to look at it again? Sigh! Breakfast at Tiffany’s – willing to watch that again. The Graduate – ha! A single Man. I was going to say Tom Ford’s one venture in the cinema but turns out there are more, must check that out. Enjoy!


The Fountainhead – 1949


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Wolf D. Prix was born in 1942 in Vienna. He studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology, the Architectural Association of London, as well as the Southern California Institute of Architecture. He is the co-founder of Coop Himmelb(l)au (meaning blue-sky cooperative in German). Coop Himmelb(l)au has been the recipient of many awards. Prix is one of the originators of the deconstructionist architecture movement.
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Joshua Prince-Ramus is an American architect. He was born in August 1969. Prince-Ramus is the founder and principal of REX an acronym meaning re-appraisal (RE) of architecture (X).
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William Pedersen founded Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF) with Eugene Kohn & Sheldon Fox in 1976. They are are one of New York’s leading architectural firm. The company includes almost 30 other partners. Oddly enough the Starchitect page I have been using names William Pedersen as a starchitect. More research would either reveal why Pedersen made the list of starchitects or that the list does not take well into consideration partnerships. That being said KPF as one of New York’s leading architectural firms – we may need to explore more some of their iconic work.
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