Alvar Aalto Alvar Aalto was born in Kuortane, Finland in 1898, the son of a surveyor.

He graduated with honors from Helsinki Polytechnic in 1921 after which he opened his own practice. He held the position of Professor of Architecture at MIT 1946 to 1948, and was President of the Academy of Finland 1963-68. Although his early work borrowed from the neoclassic movement, he eventually adapted the symbolism and functionalism of the Modern Movement to generate his plans and forms. Aalto's mature work embodies a unique functionalist/expressionist and humane style, successfully applied to libraries, civic centers, churches, housing, etc. A synthesis of rational with intuitive design principles allowed Aalto to create a long series of functional yet non-reductionist buildings. Alvar Aalto generated a style of functionalism which avoided romantic excess and neoclassical monotony. Although Aalto borrowed from the International Style, he utilized texture, color, and structure in creative new ways. He refined the generic examples of modern architecture that existed in most of Europe and recreated them into a new Finnish architecture. Aalto's designs were particularly significant because of their response to site, material and form. Aalto generated a large body of work in Germany, America, and Sweden. Often at work on multiple projects, he tended to intermingle ideas and details within his work. The spectrum of Aalto's work exhibits a sensual detailing that separates him from most of his contemporaries. Aalto was a master of form and planning, as well as of details that relate a building successfully to its users. His buildings have provided renewed inspiration in the face of widespread disillusionment with high modernism on one hand, and post-modernism on the other. Aalto died in Helsinki in May 1976. Details Winner of the Sonning Prize, 1962

"God created paper for the purpose of drawing architecture on it. Everything else is at least for me an abuse of paper." Alvar Aalto, Sketches, 1978, 104. "We should work for simple, good, undecorated things" and he continues, "but things which are in harmony with the human being and organically suited

to the little man in the street." Alvar Aalto, speech in London 1957. Antonio Gaudi was a unique architectural talent, not easily compared with other architects in the terms used by architectural historians. Not only was his work strongly individualized, but Antonio Gaudi was fortunate to have loyal clients to support him. From early in his career, wide attention was given to his work, although Antonio Gaudi shunned publicity. Antonio Gaudi has been identified with the catalan Modernismo moevement of the late nineteenth century and, by extension with the international art nouveau style. His strong personality drew like-minded people of talent to him, and the collaboration of structural engineers, sculptors, and metalworkers was needed to carry out his ideas. It is often possible to identify the artists and engineers involved. The nationalist desires of Catalonians had been a problem of long standing for Spain. By the late nineteenth century, Barcelona had developed strong trade relationships with the UK and Western Europe. The wealth created contrasted with the difficult economic times in the rest of Spain and the loss of its last possessions in the war of 1898. the artistic activity in Barcelona was supported by business clients who by their travels were well acquainted with other countries, particulary with the arts and crafts movement in the United Kingdom. The development of illustrated periodicals further spread the art news to Barcelona. The cafe Els Quatre Gats, where Picasso's early work was shown and for which Antonio Gaudi designed menus in 1899, was an example of the international influences of the time.

Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers"[2] and "father of modernism".He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects who have come to be known as the Prairie School. Along with Henry Hobson Richardson and Frank Lloyd Wright, Sullivan is one of "the recognized trinity of American architecture". He posthumously received the AIA Gold Medal in 1944. Forms follow Function

Antoni Gaud i Cornet (Catalan pronunciation: [ntni wi]; 25 June 1852 10 June 1926) was a Spanish architect born in Reus, in the Cataloniaregion of Spain and figurehead of Catalan Modernism. Gaud's works reflect his highly individual and distinctive style and are largely concentrated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, notably his magnum opus, the Sagrada Famlia. Much of Gaud's work was marked by his big passions in life: architecture, nature, religion.[3] Gaud studied every detail of his creations, integrating into his architecture a series of

crafts in which he was skilled: ceramics, stained glass, wrought ironwork forging and carpentry. He introduced new techniques in the treatment of materials, such as trencads, made of waste ceramic pieces. After a few years under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaud became part of the Catalan Modernista movement which was reaching its peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work transcended mainstream Modernisme, culminating in an organic style inspired by nature. Gaud rarely drew detailed plans of his works, instead preferring to create them as three-dimensional scale models and molding the details as he was conceiving them. Gauds work enjoys widespread international appeal and many studies are devoted to understanding his architecture. Today, his work finds admirers among architects and the general public alike. His masterpiece, the still-uncompleted Sagrada Famlia, is one of the most visited monuments in Spain.[4] Between 1984 and 2005, seven of his works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Gauds Roman Catholic faith intensified during his life and religious images permeate his work. This earned him the nickname "God's Architect" and led to calls for his beatification.

John Pawson (born 6 May 1949) is a British designer associated with the minimalist aesthetic. Pawson studied at Eton College and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. He is married to Catherine Pawson and has two children, Caius and Benedict.

William E. Parsons (1872-1939) was an architect and city planner known for his works in the Philippines during the early period of American colonization in the country. -Yale University and cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris Philippines During the early years of American reconstruction in the Philippines, at the height of the City Beautiful movement, the former Governor-General of the Philippines (and future U.S. president),Howard Taft, initiated a comprehensive building construction and city planning in the country. He was the United States Secretary of War when he instructed William Cameron Forbes, then a member of the Philippine Commission, to engage competent advice on this subject. He induced architect Daniel H. Burnham, the leading spirit in the architectural design and construction of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, to visit the islands, which he did together with his designer, Pierce Anderson, making general preliminary plans for the cities of Manila and Baguio. This was followed by the recommendation that an architect of suitable training and experience be appointed as consulting architect for the Government Parsons was recommended by Burnham and appointed for the job. At the time of his selection he was practicing architecture in New York City, having recently graduated from cole des Beaux-

Arts, Paris. With enthusiastic ambition, the best heritage of a thorough French training, he went to Manila in November, 1905. Under the terms of his appointment as a consulting architect created by the Philippine Commission Act No. 1495 (enacted May 26, 1906), he was given general architectural supervision over the design of all public buildings and parks throughout the islands, including provincial and municipal work as well as insular. Consequently, he was charged with interpretation of the preliminary plans prepared by Messrs. Burnham and Anderson for Manila and Baguio. It remained for the American architect to establish city plans and buildings of a permanent nature suited to the needs and requirements of a tropical country. He received a salary from the Government which paid the cost of plans, etc. Also, he was allowed to engage in private practice, and maintained a separate office during most of his years in Manila. He served until February, 1914, resigning because "there seemed to be no further progress to be made under the scuttle policy of the present administration." He was replaced by his assistant, George Corner Fernegan, as the Consulting Architect of the Philippine government. One of the features of local architecture he adopted generally on his design, even at the highend Manila Hotel, was the use of Capiz shells for window sash in place of glass. The Capiz shell is a flat sea shell about 4 inches (100 mm) in diameter. It is trimmed down to squares, which are set in thin strips of wood. They give a soft pearly light, where clear glass would be intolerable on account of the glare.

Customs Office, Cebu City Manila Army and Navy Club Building, Manila Manila Elks Club, Manila Manila Hotel, Manila Paco Train Station, Manila Philippine General Hospital Philippine Normal School Provincial Capitol (Old) of Laguna Province in Santa Cruz, Laguna Provincial Capitol (Old) of Nueva Ecija in Cabanatuan City University Hall of the University of the Philippines Manila The Mansion House, Baguio