Alden B. Dow
1.) Was an American architect
2.) Started designing structures with leaves when he was eight.
3.) Studied engineering in order to prepare to take over his fathers company (Herbert Henry Dow founder of the Dow Chemical Company) but instead transfered to Columbia and became a student of architecture.
4.) Was an apprentice under Frank Lloyd Wright
5.) Known for his blending of surrounding nature into his architecture.
6.) Follwed the guidelines of designed with "honesty, humility and enthusiasm", three concepts he incorporated into all of his work.
7.) Designed a work camp/ town called Lake Jackson for 5,000 employees of the Dow Chemical Company. The town had no strait streets or walkways.
8.) Designed the Fleming Administration Building at The University of Michigan. The building was rumored to be designed as riot proof based on a rise in student activism.
9.) The home he designed in Midland, Michigan has been designated a national landmark
10.) He developed and ran his own architecture firm, Alden B. Dow Associates Inc.
Works Cited:
Dwell Magazine
Alden B. Dow House and Studio". State of Michigan History, Arts and Libraries. Archived from the original
Zaha Hadid
1.) Was born in Baghdad, Iraq
2.) Earned her degree in mathematics before entering grad school at The Architectural Associaion School of Architecture in London
3.) "Some criticize her work as insensitive to context and function--sculpture at the scale of architecture" (Dwell)
4.) She is the first female Pritzker Prize Winner.
5.) She works in the deconstructivist style.
6.) Many of her designs have never actually been built.
7.) The first building she built was a fire station that was quickly repurposed into an art gallery.
8.) She has taught at prestigious institutions around the world, including The Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University.
9.) She runs the firm Zaha Hadid Architects, based in London.
10.) Her most celebrated work is the Maxxi in Rome, a National Museum of 21st Century Arts.
Works Cited:
Forbes: The World's 100 Most Powerful Women
Dwell Magazine
Robert Venturi
1.) American Architect
2.) A major figure in architecture of the 20th century.
3.) Founded the firm, Venturi Scott Brown and Associates with his wife, Denise Scott Brown
4.) "Helped to shape the way that architects, planners and students experience and think about architecture and the American built environment."
5.) Was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1991.
6.) "Less is a bore" vs. "Less is more".
7.) Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Princeton and recieved a Masters Degree in Fine Arts. "The educational program at Princeton in these years was a key factor in Venturi's development of an approach to architectural theory and design that drew from architectural history in analytical, as opposed to stylistic, terms."
8.) Worked under Eero Saarinen and Loius Kahn.
9.) Has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale School of Architecture, and Harvard University's Graduate School of Design.
10.) Considered a counterrevolutionary of corporate modernism.
11.) Published the manifesto Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. "The book demonstrated, through countless examples, an approach to understanding architectural composition and complexity, and the resulting richness and interest. Drawing from both vernacular and high-style sources, Venturi introduced new lessons from the buildings of architects both familiar and then forgotten. He made a case for "the difficult whole" rather than the diagrammatic forms popular at the time, and included examples-both built and unrealized-of his own work to demonstrate the possible application of the techniques illustrated within."
12.) Led a research assignment at Yale documenting the Vegas Strip.
13.) Him and his team published a pholio Learning from Las Vegas: the Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form based on their studies. The pholio was another attack on commercial modern architecture, mocking ornamentation of buildings that were essentially "decorated sheds".
14.) His work helped "redirect American architecture away from away from a widely practiced, often banal, modernism in the 1960's to a more exploratory, and ultimately eclectic, design approach that openly drew lessons from historic architecture and responded to the everyday context of the American city."
15.) His approach to design was "inclusive".
16.) His buildings were more centered on function rather than unity and simplicity, unlike other modernist architects.
17.) He has been commissioned to build for several academic institutions.
18.) His work is obviously influential to many other architects, including Michael Graves.
Robert Venturi is an inspiration to me because, while I love the application of design, his ideas about design theory itself influenced so many young designers perception of what kind of design works. His theories were revolutionary and even more inspirational because he didn't just regurgitate concepts developed by post modernist designers in his generation. His bold denunciation of elements of their work that didn't make sense displayed his ingenuity (because he didn't just bad mouth their work, he also came up with practical solutions) and his courage to blaze his own trail. Venturi is more concerned with practicality in design. You can design a beautiful building that is still highly functional. This belief was not so closely followed by some of his peers, who were sacrificing function for "meaning". Venturi was also an explorer. He elevated design from a rigid and systematic system to an inquiry of what works in design and what is just a highly ornamented box standing in as "sophisticated" architecture. I also love that Venturi was a teacher. He taught his students to consider the whole, instead of focusing them on the glamorization of previous buildings that were trendy, but not entirely sensible.
IMAGES OF VENTURI'S WORK
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Allen_Art_Museum_Addition.html
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Vanna_Venturi_House.html
Works Cited:
Goldberger, Paul (14 April 1991). "ARCHITECTURE VIEW; Robert Venturi, Gentle Subverter of Modernism". The New York Times.
Thomas, George E. (2000). William L. Price, Arts and Crafts to Modern Design. Princton Architectural Press
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