Famous Architects

Santiago Calatrava Valls (1951 - ) is a Spanish neofuturistic architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter. He is widely known for his sculptural bridges and buildings. Among his most remarkable projects are Olympic Athletic Center of Athens, Tenerife Auditorium, Alamillo Bridge, Turning Torso, Principe Felipe Science Museum, Agora in Valencia, Milwaukee Art Museum, and the World Trade Center railway station.
A stamp portraying Tenerife Auditorium was issued by Correos on April 8, 2008, and a stamp bearing Turning Torso was issued by the Swedish Post on May 14, 2009.

Jean Nouvel (1945 - ) is a French architect. Nouvel was a founding member of Mars 1976 and Syndicat de l'Architecture. He has received a number of prestigious distinctions, including the Wolf Prize in Arts in 2005 and the Pritzker Prize in 2008. His most notable works include Agbar Tower Barcelona, Arab World Institute, Culture and Congress Centre in Lucern, Guthrie Theate, 100 Eleventh Avenue, and Philharmonie de Paris.
La Poste issued a stamp of the Arab World Institute on May 7, 1990; Correos issued a stamp of the Agbar Tower on April 8, 2008.

Philip Cortelyou Johnson (1906 – 2005) was an influential American architect. He is especially known for his postmodern work since the 1980s. Johnson was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1978 and the first Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979. Among his many notable work are The Glass House, The Seagram Building, Crystal Cathedral, Gate of Europe, The Sony Building, and One Detroit Center.
The Glass House appeared in the "Masterworks of Modern American Architecture" commemorative souvenir sheet issued by the U.S. Postal Service on May 19, 2005.

Bruce John Graham (1925 – 2010) was a Colombian-American architect. Graham designed some of the world's tallest, most iconic skyscrapers and was a dominant force behind Chicago's architectural prominence during the late 20th century. He adopted sleek, clean designs and used exterior braces on buildings to maximize strength and expand interior office space. Among his most notable works are the Inland Steel Building, the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), the John Hancock Center, and the U. S. Bank Center.
The John Hancock Center appeared in the "Masterworks of Modern American Architecture" commemorative stamp series issued by the U.S. Postal Service on May 19, 2005.

Richard Meier (1934 - ) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white. Meier won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984 as well as many awards from the American Institute of Architecture. Among his most well-known projects are Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, the High Museum of Art, the Frankfurt Museum for Decorative Arts, the Hartford Seminary, the Athenaeum in New Harmony, and the Bronx Developmental Center.
The High Museum of Art was included in the "Masterworks of Modern American Architecture" commemorative stamp series issued by the U.S. Postal Service on May 19, 2005.

Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid, DBE (1950 - ) is an Iraqi-British architect. In 2004 she became the first female recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She received the Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011. In 2014 her design of the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre won the Design Museum Design of the Year Award. In 2015 she became the first female to be awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in her own right.
Her buildings are distinctively neofuturistic, characterized by the bold and powerful curving forms of her elongated structures with multiple perspective points and fragmented geometry. Some of her notable work include Heydar Aliyev Center, Dubai Opera, Bridge Pavilion, Bergiselschanze, Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati, and Riverside Museum.
Azerbaijan Post issued a stamp featuring the Heydar Aliyev Center on May 14, 2012. Austria Post issued a stamp featuring Bergiselschanze on January 4, 2013.

Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (1907 – 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer, was a Brazilian architect who is considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was best known for his design of civic buildings for Brasília, a planned city that became Brazil's capital in 1960, as well as his collaboration with other architects on the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. He received the Pritzker Prize in 1988 as weell as a number of other awards throughout his career. His notable works include Cathedral of Brasilia, National Congress of Brazil, United Nations Headquarters, Niteroi Contemporary Art Museum, Latin America Memorial, and Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art.

Two of Niemeyer's projects were featured in a souvenir sheet issued by Brazil Correios on March 18, 2008.

Norman Robert Foster (1935 - ) is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice famous for modern, high-tech architecture. Foster is one of Britain's most prolific architects of his generation. He was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1999, In 2009 Foster was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in the Arts category. In 1994 he received the AIA Gold Medal. Among his notable works are 30 St Mary Axe, London City Hall, Hearst Tower, Torre Bankia, Reichstag Dome, Wembley Stadium, Canary Wharf tube station, World Port Center, and Torre de Collserola.
His Canary Wharf tube station appeared in one of the London Underground stamps issued by the Royal Mail on January 9, 2013. His New Yacht Club House of Monaco appeared in a stamp issued by the Monaco Post on June 20, 2014.

Hans Hollein (1934 – 2014) was an Austrian architect and designer and key figure of postmodern architecture. He developed a trademark style of combining classical motifs with futuristic industrial materials. He received the Pritzker Prize in 1985. Some of his most notable works are the Haas House and the Albertina extension in the inner city of Vienna, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Vulcania, and Abteiberg Museum.
The Hass House in Vienna is featured in a stamp issued by the Austria Post on September 19, 2015.

Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira (1933 - ), internationally known as Alvaro Siza, is a Portuguese architect and architectural educator. He is known for his sculptural works that have been described as "poetic modernism." When he was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1992, Siza was credited as being a successor of early modernists. His notable works include Porto School of Architecture, Adega Mayor Winery, New Orleans in Rotterdam, Museu Julio Pomar, and Church of Macro de Canaveses.
A stamp honoring Alvaro Siza was issued by the Portugal Postal Services on April 7, 2014.

César Pelli (1926 - ) is an Argentine American architect known for designing some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. In 1991, the American Institute of Architects listed Pelli among the ten most influential living American architects. His many awards include the 1995 AIA Gold Medal which recognizes a body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. Perhaps his most famous work are the Petronas Twin Towers, which were for a time the world's tallest buildings. His other well-known works are the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, the expansion and renovation of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the World Financial Center and Winter Garden in New York City, The Landmark in Abu Dhabi, Repsol-YPF tower, and Iberdrola Tower.
Malaysia Post issued a set of stamps on August 30, 1999 to mark the completion of the Petronas Twin Tower in Kuala Lumpur. The souvenir sheet features the skyscraper printed in hologram.

Steven Holl (1947 - ) is a New York based American architect and watercolorist, His work draws on contemporary theories of phenomenology. He is best known for his designs for the Simmons Hall at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bloch Building addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum in Helsinki, Finland. and the Loisium Weinerlebniswelt in Langenlois, Austria.
Steven Hall's Loisium is featured in a stamp issued by Austria Post on October 7, 2011.

Sir Roy Burman Grounds (1905 – 1981) was one of Australia's leading architects of the modern movement. During his early career he spent some time working in the United States and England and after the war he was involved in setting up the curriculum for the School of Architecture at the University of Melbourne. His major projects were Hamer Hall, State Theater, the Victorian Arts Centre and National Gallery (all in Melbourne), and the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra.
Australian Academy of Science was featured in one of the four Landmark stamps issued by the Australia Post on July 10, 2007.

Claude Vasconi (1940 - 2009) was a French architect. He became one of the most sought-after architects in France. He has been credited as the pioneer proponent of the concept of "Angelina"-style cellular steel beams. Among his many notable projects were Forum des Halles (Paris), the Préfecture Building (Cergy-Pontoise), Congress Centre (Reims), 57 Métal (Boulogne-Billancourt), Grand-Bateau (Dusseldorf), and The Corum Complex (Montpellier).
La Poste issued a stamp on April 27, 1987 featuring the 57 Métal Industrial Building.

Ricardo Bofill Leví (1939 - ) is a Spanish (Catalan) architect, who, since 1963, continues to lead the international architectural and urban design practice Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura. The firm produced over 1000 projects to date in over 50 countries. Some of his notable work include Extension to Barcelona Airport (Spain), Miguel Delibes Cultural Center (Spain), The Sanctuary of Meritxell (Andorra), Lazona Kawasaki Plaza (Japan), Platinum Tower (Lebanon), and 77 West Wacker Drive (United States).
Santuari de Meritxell was featured in the Andorra EUROPA 1987 architecture stamps issued by both the Spanish and French postal administrations.