Portrait: James of Saint George, master of works and architect

22 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  8 minutes

Master James statue at Beaumaris Castle © AJ Marshall/cc-by-sa-4.0

Master James statue at Beaumaris Castle © AJ Marshall/cc-by-sa-4.0

Master James of Saint George (French: Maître Jacques de Saint-Georges) was a master of works/architect from Savoy, described by historian Marc Morris as “one of the greatest architects of the European Middle Ages”. He was largely responsible for designing King Edward I‘s castles in North Wales, including Conwy, Harlech and Caernarfon (all begun in 1283) and Beaumaris on Anglesey (begun 1295).   read more…

Portrait: Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect

24 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  7 minutes

Leonardo da Vinci by Francesco Melzi

Leonardo da Vinci by Francesco Melzi

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on his achievements as a painter, he also became known for his notebooks, in which he made drawings and notes on a variety of subjects, including anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and paleontology. Leonardo is widely regarded to have been a genius who epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal, and his collective works compose a contribution to later generations of artists matched only by that of his younger contemporary, Michelangelo.   read more…

Portrait: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German-American architect and last director of Bauhaus

22 June 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Portrait Reading Time:  23 minutes

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1934) by Hugo Erfurt

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1934) by Hugo Erfurt

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture. The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award was created in 1987.   read more…

Portrait: Architect, city planner, painter, furniture and stage designer Karl Friedrich Schinkel

25 December 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Berlin, Portrait Reading Time:  16 minutes

Schinkel in 1836 © Carl Joseph Begas

Schinkel in 1836 © Carl Joseph Begas

Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a Prussian architect, city planner, and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassical and neogothic buildings. His most famous buildings are found in and around Berlin.   read more…

Portrait: The sculptor, painter, architect and poet Michelangelo

28 August 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Portrait Reading Time:  9 minutes

Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra © Metropolitan Museum of Art - online collection

Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra © Metropolitan Museum of Art – online collection

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni or more commonly known by his first name Michelangelo was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet of the High Renaissance born in the Republic of Florence, who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Considered by many the greatest artist of his lifetime, and by some the greatest artist of all time, his artistic versatility was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival, the fellow Florentine and client of the Medici, Leonardo da Vinci.   read more…

Portrait: The architect and founder of the Bauhaus School Walter Gropius

24 July 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Portrait, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  17 minutes

Walter Gropius in Ulm, 1955 © Hans G. Conrad - René Spitz/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

Walter Gropius in Ulm, 1955 © Hans G. Conrad – René Spitz/cc-by-sa-3.0-de

Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. Gropius was also a leading architect of the International Style.   read more…

Portrait: Le Corbusier, one of the most important and influential architects of the 20th century

27 June 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Portrait, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  10 minutes

Centre Le Corbusier Zürich © Roland zh/cc-by-sa-3.0

Centre Le Corbusier Zürich © Roland zh/cc-by-sa-3.0

Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, who was better known as Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five decades, with his buildings constructed throughout Europe, India, and America. Since 2016, The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement is a World Heritage Site consisting of a selection of 17 building projects by Le Corbusier.   read more…

Return to TopReturn to Top