An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that have human occupancy or use as their principal purpose. Etymologically, the term architect derives from the Latin architectus, which derives from the Greek, i.e., chief builder.
Ieoh Ming Pei was a Chinese-American architect. Born in Guangzhou into a Chinese family, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the garden villas at Suzhou, the traditional retreat of the scholar-gentry to which his family belonged. In 1935, he moved to the United States and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania's architecture school, but quickly transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Unhappy with the focus on Beaux-Arts architecture at both schools, he spent his free time researching emerging architects, especially Le Corbusier.
Frank Owen Gehry is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions.
Leslie Earl Robertson was an American engineer. He was the lead structural engineer of the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center in New York City, and served as structural engineer on numerous other projects, including the U.S. Steel Tower in Pittsburgh, Shanghai World Financial Center, and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.
The year 2003 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
Arup is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. It employs about 17,000 people in over 90 offices across 35 countries, and has participated in projects in over 160 countries.
Engineers Without Borders – USA (EWB–USA) is a non-profit humanitarian organization. It represents the United States within the larger international Engineers Without Borders in the U.S. It involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training engineers and engineering students.
Contemporary architecture is the architecture of the 21st century. No single style is dominant. Contemporary architects work in several different styles, from postmodernism, high-tech architecture and new references and interpretations of traditional architecture to highly conceptual forms and designs, resembling sculpture on an enormous scale. Some of these styles and approaches make use of very advanced technology and modern building materials, such as tube structures which allow construction of buildings that are taller, lighter and stronger than those in the 20th century, while others prioritize the use of natural and ecological materials like stone, wood and lime. One technology that is common to all forms of contemporary architecture is the use of new techniques of computer-aided design, which allow buildings to be designed and modeled on computers in three dimensions, and constructed with more precision and speed.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), founded in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation. USGBC is best known for its development of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating systems and its annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. USGBC was one of eight national councils that helped found the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC).
The Vincent Scully Prize was established in 1999 to recognize exemplary practice, scholarship or criticism in architecture, historic preservation and urban design. Created by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., the award first honored the distinguished Yale professor and namesake of the award, author and educator, Vincent Scully.
The Museum’s website states that the Prize is awarded annually, however no award was made in 2003, 2004, 2015 or 2016. These omissions are not explained on the website.
The 2014 Prize was presented to former talk show host Charlie Rose. The Museum website no longer lists Rose as a winner of the Prize.
The National Building Museum awards two other annual prizes: the Honor Award for individuals and organizations who have made important contributions to the U.S.'s building heritage, and the Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology.
Zahner or A. Zahner Company is an architectural metal & glass company located in Kansas City, Missouri.
The year 2011 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
The National Building Museum promotes excellence in architecture, engineering, construction, planning, and design. In furtherance of that mission, the Museum instituted an annual Honor Award in 1986 to recognize individuals and organizations that have made important contributions to the U.S.'s building heritage. Recipients are selected from a wide variety of backgrounds to call attention to the many factors that determine the form and quality of the built world.
Past recipients include ex-First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, who was honored in 1995 for her lifetime leadership in beautification and conservation campaigns. Michael Eisner and The Walt Disney Company were honored in 2001 in recognition of their commitment to architecture, commissioning postmodernist architects such as Michael Graves, Robert A.M. Stern, Frank Gehry, and Arata Isozaki. In 2010, Perkins and Will became the first architecture firm ever to receive the prize for "designing buildings that promote the health of occupants, conserve resources, and unify communities," in the words of Museum executive director Chase W. Rynd.
The National Building Museum also bestows two other major awards: the Vincent Scully Prize to recognize exemplary practice, scholarship, or criticism in architecture, historic preservation, and urban design and the Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology.
Dr Chau Chak Wing Building is a business school building of the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. It is the first building in Australia designed by Canadian American architect Frank Gehry.
The Louis Vuitton Foundation, previously Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, is a French art museum and cultural center sponsored by the group LVMH and its subsidiaries. It is run as a legally separate, nonprofit entity as part of LVMH's promotion of art and culture. The art museum opened on October 20, 2014, in the presence of President François Hollande. The Deconstructivist building was designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, with groundwork starting in 2006. It is adjacent to the Jardin d'Acclimatation in the Bois de Boulogne of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, bordering on Neuilly-sur-Seine. More than 1.4 million people visited the Louis Vuitton Foundation in 2017.
Cosentini Associates is an engineering firm that provides consulting engineering services for the building industry.
The year 2014 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
Charles (Chuck) M. Eastman was a professor and a pioneer in the areas of design cognition, building information modeling (BIM), solid and parametric modeling, engineering databases, product models, and interoperability. He is best known for his work on building description system, which later gave him a title as the 'father of BIM.'
Gordon Kipping is the founder and principal of G TECTS, a New York-based architectural firm. Kipping has taught at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and has assisted Frank Gehry in teaching design studios at the School of Architecture at Yale University. Kipping has been a studio professor at the School of Architecture at Columbia University, since 2000.
