things we can learn from the careers of other architects
The history of modern architecture in Japan is short and relatively well documented even though major protagonists such as Antonin Raymond and Bruno Taut neglected to mention each other in their respective histories. Kunio Maekawa, Junzō Yoshimura and Junzo Sakakura were, along with Togō Murano, the first generation of modern Japanese architects. Togō Murano travelled […]
Antonin Raymond is important enough to be called “The father of Modern Architecture in Japan” but he’s not so well known. He’s not “taught”. At first I thought he might be a misfit but this is a career case study. I’ll explain why. First some facts I’ve pieced together from the sources at end. Raymond […]
In the 2011 book, Angelique Campens compiled a list of projects and buildings that Lampens acknowledged, suggesting the existence of others either forgotten or unmemorable. I’ve combined her list with one from a 2019 Bachelor’s thesis by Andrea Ligao of the Politecnico di Milano and that includes some of the more obscure projects and competition […]
The life of composer, cellist, and conductor Franz Ignaz Danzi (1763–1826) overlaps those of Wofgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. Mozart died in 1791 aged 35, Danzi in 1826 at 63, Beethoven in 1827 at 57 and Schubert in 1828 at 31. Danzi and Beethoven’s lives overlapped for all but seven years […]
There’s no point talking about the many reasons one might want to leave a company. They’ll all fall into one of the three groups of 1) Overworked, 2) Underpaid and 3) Underappreciated. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu Your Lao Tzu moment is the moment you realise […]
The name’s pronounced Yō Shimada [嶋田 優] despite “Yu” being more usual. Mr. Shimada also bucks convention by not having had a conventional architectural education. I don’t think we can hold this against him. Frank Lloyd Wright never had one. Wright’s thirty or so “bootleg” houses completed while moonlighting in Sullivan’s office prove he thought he could […]
I’ve always wondered about the value of working for famous architects for education and/or work experience. If it’s to be anything more than a CV builder, then what is the information actually transferred and what is the actual mechanism of information transferal? Frank Lloyd Wright was in no doubt as to the value of the […]
1921 Graduated with a degree in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano. 1923–1927 Worked in partnership with Mino Fiocchi and Emilio Lancia. Exhibited at the first Biennial Exhibition of the Decorative Arts in Monza. 1924 Ponti House in via Randaccio Gio Ponti, Emilio Lancia via Randaccio 9, Milano For many architects, their first built work is a house for […]
The life and career of Serge Chermayeff (1900-1996) were vastly different from those of Ivan Leonidov (1902-1959), subject of the previous Career Case Study. They were also much longer. Chermayeff made a series of good career moves, the first of which was being born into a rich Jewish family in 1900. True, it was in Chechnya in the then Russian Empire but he soon corrected that […]
Ivan Illich Leonidov 9 February, 1902 – 6 November 1959 Ivan Leonidov’s star shone brilliantly at the very beginning of his career, perhaps too brilliantly. His misfortune was to have been born in 1902. If he’d been born in 1952 we’d remember him today as one of those infernal starchitects and, if early photographs are anything to […]
1939: Born in Melbourne, Australia1963: Graduated from Sydney University1964–1966: Worked in the Sydney office of Jørn Utzon. In 1963, Utzon set up office in Sydney for one reason only, so Leplastrier did something related to the Sydney Opera House. As a 25 year-old graduate, it probably wasn’t any decision-making but the atmosphere at the time must have been […]
This is Sir Roy Grounds, “one of Australia’s leading architects of the modern movement”. Roy Grounds (1905 – 1981) For someone born in Australia and who’s spent a large amount of their life learning about buildings, I’ve never known his name until recently. His Wikipedia entry seems to say all there seems to be to […]
We’ll skip the early bits. Undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon. Stints with John Lautner in Los Angeles, Smith & Williams in Pasadena, Anshen & Allen in San Francisco and Charles Blessing at Detroit City Planning. 1969-72 Assistant Professor at California State Polytechnic University With Small’s CV, project dates span actual positions but the following project encompasses his time at California […]
It’s hard to get a handle on 1970s architecture. SOM were on a roll as their John Hancock Centre in Chicago had completed in 1969. Osaka’s Expo ’70 showed off a multiplicity of styles and approaches that, with the exception of inflatable structures, correctly predicted the riot of the following ten years. There were megastructures, the neo-historic, the nationalistic, […]
