April 6, 2020

Today, April 6, marks 500 years since the death of the Italian painter Raphael in 1520. Raphael was one of the greatest and most influential painters of the Italian Renaissance. His graceful figures and skillful compositions influenced artists up to the early 1900′s. The period of his activity is called the High Renaissance. Raphael painted altarpieces, frescoes (paintings on damp plaster) of historical and mythological scenes, and portraits. His most popular works include his gentle paintings of the Madonna and Child. Raphael was also an architect. From 1514 until his death, he directed the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Raphael’s School of Athens shows a gathering of ancient Greek philosophers and scientists in a Roman architectural setting. Standing in the center are Plato, left, and Aristotle, right. The harmony and balance of the composition are typical of the revival of classicism in the period called the High Renaissance. Credit: Fresco (1510-1511); The Vatican, Rome (The Art Archive)

To mark the quincentenary (500th anniversary) of Raphael’s death, the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is running an exhibition called “Raphael and His Circle” from February 16 through June 14. (Unfortunately, all museums at the Smithsonian Institution were closed temporarily beginning in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.) The exhibition includes 26 prints and drawings by Raphael’s contemporaries—his “circle”—as well as four drawings by the master himself. In Italy, the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche ran a Raphael exhibition in the artist’s hometown of Urbino from October 2019 to January 2020. Other Raphael tributes are taking place at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, and at the National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The Prophets Hosea and Jonah by Raphael. Credit: The Prophets Hosea and Jonah (1510), pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk, heightened with white and squared for transfer on laid paper by Raphael; National Gallery of Art

Raphael was born in Urbino on March 28 or April 6, 1483. His real name was Raffaello Sanzio. His father served as court painter to the Duke of Urbino. About 1494, Raphael went to Perugia to study with Perugino, an important painter. Perugino introduced Raphael to the latest ideas in Italian art and greatly influenced his student’s style.

Raphael settled in Florence in 1504. In Florence, Raphael studied the paintings of the great Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci’s balanced compositions and idealized figures had a strong influence on all Renaissance painters, including Raphael.

Late in 1508, Pope Julius II asked Raphael to work for him in Rome. Julius wanted to rebuild and redecorate Rome to reflect its ancient glory. He gathered together the most illustrious architects, painters, and sculptors from all parts of Italy. Raphael created his finest work while in the service of Julius and his successor, Pope Leo X. With the assistance of a large workshop, Raphael produced religious paintings, tapestry designs, palace decorations, and portraits. He died in Rome at age 37 on April 6, 1520, after a short illness.

April 1, 2019

Today, April 1, marks 100 years since the founding of the influential school of design called the Bauhaus. The school was started in Weimar, Germany, in 1919 by the architect Walter Gropius. Formally called the Staatliches Bauhaus (State School of Building), the school had tremendous influence on modern art and design. The Bauhaus had a relatively short existence, however. The Nazi German government forced the school to close in 1933.

The Bauhaus was an important school of design founded by the German architect Walter Gropius 100 years ago on April 1, 1919. Credit: © Claudio Divizia, iStockphoto

The Bauhaus connected creative design with modern industry and science. Despite its name, the school did not initially offer courses in building (architecture). The school’s main emphasis was on applied arts (design and decoration of ordinary objects intended for use), and students were also instructed on painting and sculpture. Architecture, graphic design, and other arts were later included in the curriculum. The Bauhaus often trained artists as craftworkers or industrial designers, and the school stressed the importance of simple but aesthetically pleasing designs in all fields. The school’s influence is still widely seen in many aspects of modern design. Bauhaus teachers included such famous artists as Josef Albers, Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky.

This chair, designed by the German architect and Bauhaus instructor Marcel Breuer in 1928, exemplifies the simple yet elegant applied arts taught at the school. Credit: Knoll International

The Bauhaus also pioneered in a new kind of art education. The students began their studies with a basic design course in which they learned principles of composition and color, and how to work with different materials. Similar courses have been adopted by art schools throughout the world. In 1925, the Bauhaus moved to Dessau because of government hostility in Weimar. The school was closed by the Nazis in 1932. It tried to reopen in Berlin, but was forced to close permanently in 1933.

In 1937, former Bauhaus teacher László Moholy-Nagy started a similar school of design in Chicago in the United States. This “New Bauhaus” continued the traditions of the original school. In 1944, the school was renamed the Institute of Design, and it became part of the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1949.

December 10, 2018

Last month, on November 20, an innovative school complex in Brazil called Children Village (Moradias Infantis in Portuguese) won the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) International Prize. The biennial International Prize goes to a new building that “exemplifies design excellence and architectural ambition and delivers meaningful social impact.” RIBA, a professional body for the advancement of architecture, was founded in London, England, in 1834.

Children Village, a new school complex on the edge of the rain forest in northern Brazil, was awarded the RIBA International Prize in November 2018. Credit: © Cristobal Palma/Estudio Palma/RIBA

Brazil’s Aleph Zero and Rosenbaum architectural groups collaborated to create Children Village in the remote village of Canuanã on the edge of the Amazon rain forest in northern Tocantins state. While designing and building the school, the architects and designers had to consider the area’s steamy climate, and they worked closely with the students who would be living in the complex as well as with the children’s families and local trades workers. Children Village is one of 40 rural schools funded by the Bradesco Foundation, a charitable arm of Brazil’s Banco Bradesco.

Children Village boarding school serves 540 students aged 13 to 18 in a remote agricultural region near the municipality of Formoso do Araguaia. Opened in 2017, the school is made almost entirely from locally sourced brick and timber. A giant canopy shades the 251,000 square foot (23,300 square meter) complex’s two open-sided levels, each supported by wooden beams and perforated, breathable walls that allow for ample cross-ventilation. No air conditioning is needed, even in 113 °F (45 °C) heat. Central classrooms and activity spaces open onto balconies, courtyards, walkways, and two large dormitories.

In 2016, the inaugural RIBA International Prize was awarded to Ireland’s Grafton Architects for their outstanding university building, UTEC (Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología) in Lima, Peru.

January 17, 2018

Yesterday, January 16, a new United States Embassy opened in the Nine Elms area of Wandsworth, a borough of central London, England. The flashy, chunky, ice cube of a building is an architectural wonder, and a security-first but environmentally friendly construction. The decision to move the U.S. Embassy to a new London location was made in the waning months of the presidency of George W. Bush in 2008. Construction of the new embassy began in 2013, and tinkering continued right up to the morning it opened.

This artist’s rendering of the new U.S. Embassy shows the building under a somewhat-typical rainy London sky. Credit: KieranTimberlake, U.S. Embassy London

The new 12-story embassy, designed by Philadelphia-based architectural firm  KieranTimberlake, has nearly twice the floor space as the old one. The building is powered by renewable energy and maximizes the use of natural light as well as natural wind currents through cross ventilation. Solar panels line the embassy’s glass roof, absorbing both sunshine and rainwater for irrigation and flushing.

The building’s trademark façade uses laminated glazing with an outer layer of pressurized ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), a highly durable plastic. The transparent exterior ensures a uniform distribution of light while screening excessive solar glare and heat. The windows are clearly visible to birds, however, greatly reducing accidental flying collisions. The façade is also self-cleaning and limits downdrafts on the outside, effectively reducing wind in the adjacent plaza and sidewalks.

Like castles of old, the embassy has stone walls and is protected by a moat. Other security measures include bollards (posts to block vehicles) camouflaged by plants, blast-proof walls and ceilings, a 100-foot (30-meter) open perimeter, and a garrison of armed security personnel.

The new U.S. Embassy earned the highest platinum certification by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the most widely used green building rating system in the world. It was also rated outstanding by the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), the world’s longest established method of assessing, certifying, and rating building sustainability.

The building’s $1-billion dollar price tag was paid for by the sale of the previous embassy—located across the River Thames on Grosvenor Square in the Mayfair district—and other U.S. properties in London. The U.S. Embassy had been on Grosvenor Square (in more than one location) since future president John Adams became the first U.S. minister to the Court of St. James in 1785. Interestingly, four other future presidents—James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, and James Buchanan—all served as London ministers prior to occupying the White House. In 1893, Delaware Senator Thomas F. Bayard was the first to hold the rank of ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The Bureau of Overseas Building Operations (OBO)—did you know there was one?—directs the foreign building program for the Department of State and the U.S. government community serving abroad. Other recent OBO projects have included new embassies in N’Djamena, Chad; Nouakchott, Mauritania; and Oslo, Norway. New embassies will soon go up in Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Paraguay, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Uganda.

November 21, 2017

An innovative college campus building in Lima, Peru, is the inaugural winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) International Prize for the world’s best new building. Ireland’s Grafton Architects created the University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC) building, a vertical, concrete structure in the city’s lovely Barranco district overlooking the Pacific Ocean. RIBA, a professional body for the advancement of architecture, was founded in London, England, in 1834.

The UTEC building in Lima, Peru, won the inaugural RIBA International Prize for world’s best new building. Credit: © Christian Vinces, Shutterstock

The building’s stark reinforced concrete plates stand in line with the rolling green cliffs of Barranco, housing an all-in-one campus of classrooms, exhibition spaces, laboratories, offices, restaurants, theaters, and interior gardens that absorb the area’s temperate climate. Air circulates throughout the open spaces of the puzzle-piece building, which is flooded with natural light.

An exceptional example of civil architecture, UTEC’s 10 floors form a “modern-day Machu Picchu” with a large A-shaped section leaning toward the busy Quebrada de Armendáriz avenue. (Machu Picchu is an Inca archaeological site in Peru.) The backside staggers above nearby ravines and terraces. The building, also dubbed a “man-made cliff,” is built at an angle on fast-sloping ground, reflecting Lima’s unique geography and existing architecture. The city is a bustling mix of old and new, filling a dramatic space between the gray expanse of sea and the green foothills of the Andes Mountains.

Grafton Architects, based in Dublin, worked with Lima’s Shell Arquitectos on the $100 million project, which was completed in 2015.

June 8, 2017

Today, June 8, marks the 150^th birthday of United States architect Frank Lloyd Wright. One of the world’s most influential and imaginative architects, Wright’s long career spanned almost 70 years. His great creative works ranged from buildings typical of the late 1800′s to ultramodern designs. Wright was born on June 8, 1867. He died on April 9, 1959.

American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was born 150 years ago on June 8, 1867. Credit: Library of Congress

To mark the anniversary of Wright’s birth, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust is hosting a variety of special programs in and around Chicago, Wright’s longtime home and the site of many of his creations. In Washington, D.C., the National Building Museum will celebrate Frank Lloyd Wright Day on June 10. In New York City, the Museum of Modern Art is hosting “Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archives,” a four-month exhibition of drawings, films, letters, models, photographs, and other objects from Wright’s life and career.

Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin. He studied engineering briefly at the University of Wisconsin in the mid-1880′s. In 1887, Wright moved to Chicago, where he became a draftsman for Joseph Lyman Silsbee, a noted Midwestern architect. Wright designed his first building while working for Silsbee.

The prairie style created by Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized American domestic architecture. The houses he designed in the prairie style emphasized horizontal lines and natural materials that harmonized with the landscape. Wright designed this prairie house in 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois. Credit: Hedrich-Blessing

Wright’s first distinctive buildings were homes designed in his famous  prairie style. In a typical prairie house, spaces inside the home expand into the outdoors through porches and terraces. Because of their low, horizontal form, the homes seem to grow out of the ground. This effect was emphasized by Wright’s use of wood and other materials as they appear in nature.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York City displays works of art in an unusual circular building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Credit: © Shutterstock

Wright’s buildings as well as books featuring his drawings and plans strongly influenced the development of architecture throughout the United States and Europe. Wright’s most famous creations include the Kaufmann “Fallingwater” house at Bear Run near Uniontown, Pennsylvania; the Johnson Wax Company building in Racine, Wisconsin; the Guggenheim Museum in New York City; and the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California.

April 26, 2017

Looking ahead to May’s celebration of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), today World Book wishes a happy 100^th birthday to renowned Chinese American architect I.M. Pei. One of the world’s greatest architects, Pei is noted for his creative urban designs of skyscrapers, housing projects, museums, and academic and government buildings. Pei’s creations are characterized by broad irregular geometric shapes and large open interiors. Pei, who lives in the Manhattan borough of New York City, was born on April 26, 1917, in Guangzhou (also called Canton), China.

Chinese American architect I.M. Pei was only 61 years old in this photograph taken in his New York City office in 1978. Credit: © Jack Mitchell, Getty Images

Ieoh Ming Pei came to the United States in 1935 to study architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. Unable to return to China because of World War II (1939-1945), Pei remained in the United States and furthered his education by entering the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. There he worked with the famed architects Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius. Pei earned a master’s degree in 1946 and became a U.S. citizen in 1954. His early works include the Mile High Center (1955) in Denver, Colorado, and the Society Hill housing project (1964) in Philadelphia.

Chinese American architect I. M. Pei designed the glass pyramid, seen here, at the entrance to the Louvre museum in Paris, France. Credit: © SuperStock

In the late 1960′s, Pei began to develop a more personal style using prism shapes. His later projects include the National Center for Atmospheric Research (1967) in Boulder, Colorado; the Everson Museum of Art (1968) in Syracuse, New York; the John Hancock Building (1973) in Boston; the East Building (1978) of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; and the John F. Kennedy Library (1979) in Boston. In 1989, Pei completed the glass pyramid that serves as the entrance to the Louvre museum in Paris, France. Pei’s Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas also opened in 1989. His Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland opened in 1995. Pei also designed the Miho Museum (1997) near Kyoto, Japan; the German Historical Museum (2003) in Berlin; and the Museum of Islamic Art (2008) in Doha, Qatar.

Chinese American architect I. M. Pei designed the East Building, seen here, of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Credit: © Lee Snider, Corbis

Pei has won numerous awards for his work, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize for lifetime achievement in 1983. The award notation credited Pei with giving “this century some of its most beautiful interior spaces and exterior forms.” In 2010, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) awarded Pei its annual Royal Gold Medal. As a famous architect turning 100 years old, Pei is not alone in his longevity: Frank Lloyd Wright lived to be 91; Philip Johnson died at 98; and Oscar Niemeyer lived to 104.

APAHM celebrates the culture, traditions, and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. It began as a two-week celebration in 1978 and expanded to the full month of May in 1990. May was chosen to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in the United States—noted as May 7, 1843—and for the May 10, 1869, completion of the American transcontinental railroad. The railroad companies laying the tracks relied heavily on Chinese immigrant workers.

April 1, 2016

Zaha Hadid, an internationally famous Iraqi-born British architect, died unexpectedly on Thursday, March 31, at age 65. Hadid contracted bronchitis shortly before her death and suffered a fatal heart attack while being treated in a Miami, Florida, hospital.

Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid designed the Heydar Aliyev Center, seen here, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Credit: © Elnur, Shutterstock

In 2004, Hadid became the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The prize is the most prestigious international award in architecture. Hadid gained recognition for her visionary designs that reflected major art movements of the 1900’s, especially the Russian movement called Suprematism. Hadid’s designs show the Suprematist influence in their fragmented geometric forms that define the surrounding space in highly imaginative ways.

Many of Hadid’s projects were so daring they were never built. Some projects exist only as paintings and drawings, which have been praised as distinctive works of art themselves. However, many Hadid designs were built, including the Vitra fire station (1993) in Weil am Rhein, Germany; the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art (2003) in Cincinnati; the Phaeno Science Center (2005) in Wolfsburg, Germany; the “Spittelau viaduct” housing project (2005) in Vienna, Austria; an opera house (2010) in Guangzhou, China; the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum (2012) at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan; and the Heydar Aliyev cultural center (2012) in Baku, Azerbaijan. Hadid also designed the Aquatics Center for the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the stadium for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. In addition, she designed exhibitions and interiors, such as the “Mind Zone” interior for the Millennium Dome in London in 1999.

Hadid was born on Oct. 31, 1950, in Baghdad, Iraq. From 1972 to 1977, she studied at the Architectural Association in London. She then worked in the office of noted architects Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis until she established her own London office in 1979. Hadid taught at the Architectural Association from 1980 to 1987 and had been a visiting professor at Harvard University. Hadid also designed furniture and theater sets. In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II made Hadid a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her services to architecture.

March 13, 2015

The roof structure designed by Frei Otto in Olympiapark, Munich, for the 1972 Summer Olympic Games. Structures such as these roofs are engineered using tension, much like tents use. Credit: Dmitry V. Petrenko, Shutterstock

German architect Frei Otto won the 2015 Pritzker Architecture Prize, becoming the first architect to win the prize after his death. Otto died on March 9, 2015, at the age of 89. The prize was scheduled to be officially announced on March 23. However, Otto was informally notified of the honor earlier in 2015. The prize ceremony will be held as previously scheduled on May 15 in Miami. But in place of Otto accepting the award in person, past Pritzker winners will speak about Otto’s life and work.

In its award citation, the Pritzker jury said Otto “has embraced a definition of an architect to include researcher, inventor, form-finder, engineer, builder, teacher, collaborator, environmentalist, humanist, and creator of remarkable buildings and spaces.” The British architect Sir Richard Rogers, a past Pritzker Prize-winner, praised Otto as “one of the great architects and engineers of the 20^th century. His work has inspired and influenced modern architecture, as we all learn to do more with less, and to trade monumental structures for economy, light and air.”

Otto was born on May 31, 1925, in Siegmar, outside Chemnitz in eastern Germany. He grew up in Berlin, serving as a pilot in the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) during World War II (1939-1945). He was captured near Nuremberg and spent two years as a prisoner of war in France, where he worked as a camp architect. After the war ended in 1945, Otto studied architecture at the Technical Institute of Berlin, earning a doctorate in civil engineering in 1954.

In 1952, Otto became a free-lance architect designing buildings that were lightweight, low-cost, and sometimes temporary. He first attracted attention for tent structures used as temporary pavilions at the Federal Garden Show in Germany as well as other events during the 1950’s. From that point, his signature buildings were lightweight structures created out of such materials as fabric, wire, and paper.

Other World Book article:

• Winners of the Pritzker Architecture Prize (table)