ADESPRN : My Three Architects

My personal philosophy as of now is mixing the balance of modern aesthetics and functionality with the consideration of sustainability. I would like my structures to be pleasing to the eyes – exhibiting sophisticated structures through the play of spaces, colors, and proportions in its facade. Alongside that, functionality is important as I strongly agree with the statement that a building should serve people and not the other way around. Since society today gives importance to staying ‘green’ when it comes to creating structures, I would like my designs to be as sustainable and flexible as possible.

3 notable architects I can emulate and whose works I admire the most are Daniel Libeskind, Santiago Calatrava and Norman Foster.

Daniel Libeskind is the world’s most respected virtual architect. It amazes me how he is able to tickle people’s emotions through his witty designs and play of spaces. His designs are compelling and are sure to make a mark on people who witness them. One of his famous works is the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Every space in there tells of a different story the Jews went through during the Holocaust. He made sure that walking through this structure would be an experience - not just an ordinary experience but an intense one.

Santiago Calatrava on the other hand, is an architect, an engineer, an urban planner and a gifted artist who claims that the practice of architecture combines all the arts into one. He used nature and everything that comprises it as his inspirations for his unique modern designs. One of his famous creations is the Milwaukee Art Museum which he designed to look like flapping wings. It’s remarkable how he treats his buildings as kinetic structures. 

Norman Foster is an architect who believes that    our surroundings have great influence on the quality of our lives. With the play of lines and curves he was able to create structures which are aesthetically modern with a concern for all the other aspects that could be affected by them. He considers not just the form of a structure but also its function. He respects the comfort of the people who will be involved in his structures and values sustainability in his intricate designs which I think is very important in our world today.

These three architects’ visions amplifies my idea of what architecture is. They took risks in creating such complex structures which defined them as architects making them among the elite designers in the world. What strikes me the most about these three is their dedication and love for architecture which I believe is the foundation of their success. All three are collaborating in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, the Memory Foundations by Daniel Libeskind.

“Architecture is not based on concrete and steel and the elements of the soil. It’s based on wonder. And that wonder is really what has created the greatest cities, the greatest spaces that we have had. And I think that is indeed what architecture is. It is a story.”

—	Daniel Libeskind