Top 10 Greatest Architects in History

Antoni Gaudi's organic, nature-inspired buildings have made Barcelona one of the world's great architectural destinations. His use of catenary arches, trencadis mosaic work, and hyperboloid structures was mathematically revolutionary. Seven of his works are UNESCO World Heritage Sites — a concentration unmatched by any other architect.

Le Corbusier's functionalist principles — "a house is a machine for living in" — defined 20th-century urban architecture and public housing design globally. The Swiss-French modernist's Villa Savoye (1931) and Unite d'Habitation in Marseille (1952) established the International Style that shaped every city built in the postwar era.

Zaha Hadid became the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, recognising her revolutionary deconstructivist style characterised by sweeping curves and fragmented angles that seemed to defy gravity. Her MAXXI museum in Rome, the London Aquatics Centre, and the Guangzhou Opera House prove that architecture can be pure kinetic sculpture.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe coined "less is more" and defined the glass skyscraper as we know it. His Barcelona Pavilion (1929) and Seagram Building in New York (1958) established the minimalist steel-and-glass aesthetic that every modern office tower descends from. His influence on architecture is arguably the most pervasive of the 20th century.

Italian architect Renzo Piano is known for buildings that balance technical innovation with human warmth. His Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers) inverted the building, exposing all mechanical systems on the facade and creating an inside-out architectural landmark. His Shard in London and Whitney Museum in New York continue his legacy of light-filled, contextual design.

I.M. Pei's glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre (1989) caused enormous controversy and became one of the most beloved buildings in Paris. The Chinese-American architect won the Pritzker Prize in 1983 and left a global portfolio including the East Building of the National Gallery of Art and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.

Lord Norman Foster is the pre-eminent practitioner of high-tech architecture, combining advanced engineering with humanist design principles. His Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank headquarters (1985) was the most expensive building ever built at the time, and his Gherkin in London, Hearst Tower in New York, and Millau Viaduct in France each redefined what a building could look like.

Japanese architect Tadao Ando, a self-taught former boxer who won the 1995 Pritzker Prize, creates spare, meditative spaces from raw concrete that harness natural light as a primary material. His Church of the Light in Osaka (1989) — a simple concrete box with a cross-shaped slit in the wall flooding the altar with light — is among the most spiritually affecting buildings of the 20th century.

Filippo Brunelleschi's dome over Florence Cathedral (1436) was the largest masonry dome ever built at the time and remained the largest for 500 years. Built without scaffolding using herringbone brickwork of his own invention, it inaugurated the Renaissance and proved that the ancient Romans' technical achievements could be surpassed. He also invented linear perspective — one of art history's most consequential single innovations.

Antoni Gaudi's organic, nature-inspired buildings have made Barcelona one of the world's great architectural destinations. His use of catenary arches, trencadis mosaic work, and hyperboloid structures was mathematically revolutionary. Seven of his works are UNESCO World Heritage Sites — a concentration unmatched by any other architect.

Le Corbusier's functionalist principles — "a house is a machine for living in" — defined 20th-century urban architecture and public housing design globally. The Swiss-French modernist's Villa Savoye (1931) and Unite d'Habitation in Marseille (1952) established the International Style that shaped every city built in the postwar era.

Zaha Hadid became the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, recognising her revolutionary deconstructivist style characterised by sweeping curves and fragmented angles that seemed to defy gravity. Her MAXXI museum in Rome, the London Aquatics Centre, and the Guangzhou Opera House prove that architecture can be pure kinetic sculpture.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe coined "less is more" and defined the glass skyscraper as we know it. His Barcelona Pavilion (1929) and Seagram Building in New York (1958) established the minimalist steel-and-glass aesthetic that every modern office tower descends from. His influence on architecture is arguably the most pervasive of the 20th century.

Italian architect Renzo Piano is known for buildings that balance technical innovation with human warmth. His Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers) inverted the building, exposing all mechanical systems on the facade and creating an inside-out architectural landmark. His Shard in London and Whitney Museum in New York continue his legacy of light-filled, contextual design.

I.M. Pei's glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre (1989) caused enormous controversy and became one of the most beloved buildings in Paris. The Chinese-American architect won the Pritzker Prize in 1983 and left a global portfolio including the East Building of the National Gallery of Art and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.

Lord Norman Foster is the pre-eminent practitioner of high-tech architecture, combining advanced engineering with humanist design principles. His Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank headquarters (1985) was the most expensive building ever built at the time, and his Gherkin in London, Hearst Tower in New York, and Millau Viaduct in France each redefined what a building could look like.

Japanese architect Tadao Ando, a self-taught former boxer who won the 1995 Pritzker Prize, creates spare, meditative spaces from raw concrete that harness natural light as a primary material. His Church of the Light in Osaka (1989) — a simple concrete box with a cross-shaped slit in the wall flooding the altar with light — is among the most spiritually affecting buildings of the 20th century.

Filippo Brunelleschi's dome over Florence Cathedral (1436) was the largest masonry dome ever built at the time and remained the largest for 500 years. Built without scaffolding using herringbone brickwork of his own invention, it inaugurated the Renaissance and proved that the ancient Romans' technical achievements could be surpassed. He also invented linear perspective — one of art history's most consequential single innovations.