| 1 | Vitruvius | De Architectura (c. 30 BCE) | Firmitas (structural integrity), Utilitas (functional fitness), Venustas (aesthetic delight). Classical orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian) as proportional systems. Site orientation per wind/sun. Aqueduct and basilica typology. Exemplar: Basilica at Fano (described, not extant). | Foundational quality check on any project. Use the triad as a minimum completeness test: does the design satisfy structural soundness, programmatic fitness, and experiential beauty? |
| 2 | Leon Battista Alberti | De Re Aedificatoria (1452) | Architecture as civic art. Concinnitas (harmony of parts). Facade as independent compositional layer (Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, 1446-1451 -- pilaster orders applied to masonry wall). Typological thinking: church, palace, villa as distinct design problems. Town planning principles. | When designing facades as autonomous compositions, when working with classical proportion, when the building must address civic/institutional expression. |
| 3 | Andrea Palladio | I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura (1570) | Proportional room ratios (1:1, 1:sqrt2, 1:2, 2:3, 3:4). Bilateral symmetry along central axis. Villa typology: central hall flanked by hierarchical rooms (Villa Rotonda, Vicenza, 1567-1592). Loggia/portico as threshold. Temple front applied to domestic architecture. Harmonic proportions derived from musical intervals. | Residential design requiring formal order. Any project where room-to-room proportional relationships matter. Classical institutional buildings. Heritage/conservation contexts requiring Palladian literacy. |
| 4 | Le Corbusier | Towards a New Architecture (1923), Modulor (1948) | Five Points: pilotis (free ground), free plan, free facade, ribbon windows, roof garden. Dom-ino frame (1914): slab-column independence enabling plan freedom. Modulor: anthropometric proportional system (red/blue series from 1.83m standing figure). Promenade architecturale (Villa Savoye, Poissy, 1929-1931). Unite d'Habitation (Marseille, 1947-1952): vertical city, brise-soleil, rue interieure, duplex section. Chandigarh Capitol Complex (1952-1965): monumental concrete, parasol roofs, brise-soleil at urban scale. | Reinforced concrete frame buildings. When separating structure from enclosure. Multi-storey housing with communal services. Sun-control facade design. Proportional system for furniture-to-building scale coherence. |
| 5 | Mies van der Rohe | Barcelona Pavilion (1929), IIT Campus (1938-1958) | Universal space: column-free spans enabling programmatic flexibility. "Less is more." Steel-and-glass construction as tectonic expression. Corner detail as architecture (Farnsworth House, Plano IL, 1945-1951: 8 wide-flange columns, 1.5m cantilever, elevated floor plane). Seagram Building (NYC, 1954-1958): bronze I-beam mullions, set-back plaza, 8.4m structural bay. Crown Hall (IIT, 1950-1956): 36.6m clear span, exposed plate girders, translucent glass below/clear glass above. | Large-span structures. Corporate/institutional buildings seeking material honesty. When structural expression IS the architecture. Office buildings, museums, galleries requiring flexible open plans. |
| 6 | Frank Lloyd Wright | Organic Architecture (1890s-1959) | Building as extension of landscape. Prairie houses (Robie House, Chicago, 1910): horizontal datum, deep eaves, cruciform plan, central hearth. Usonian houses (Herbert Jacobs House, Madison WI, 1937): concrete slab on grade with radiant heat, sandwich walls, carport, L-plan. Fallingwater (Mill Run PA, 1935): cantilevered concrete trays over waterfall, integration of natural rock. Guggenheim Museum (NYC, 1943-1959): continuous spiral ramp, top-lit atrium. | Residential design with strong site integration. When topography drives form. When interior spatial flow takes priority over discrete rooms. Radiant floor heating. Open-plan living. |
| 7 | Louis Kahn | Salk Institute (1959-1965), Dhaka Assembly (1962-1983) | Served and servant spaces: main rooms (served) vs. mechanical/circulation zones (servant). Distinction between "what a building wants to be" and program. Silence and Light as design metaphor. Monumental concrete with deliberate formwork. Salk Institute: teak-infill servant towers, travertine court, Pacific axis. Kimbell Art Museum (Fort Worth, 1966-1972): cycloid vault shells, slit skylight with perforated aluminum reflector, 30.5m span, natural light in galleries. National Assembly Dhaka: geometric cutouts in massive walls, light as spatial activator. | Museums and cultural buildings where natural light is paramount. Institutional buildings requiring clear spatial hierarchy. When mechanical systems need their own spatial identity (hospitals, labs). Projects demanding material gravitas. |
| 8 | Alvar Aalto | Humanist Modernism (1930s-1976) | Fan plan (Aalto fan): radiating geometry creating acoustic or view-optimized forms. Material warmth: brick, timber, copper against white render. Viipuri Library (1927-1935): conical skylights, undulating ceiling in lecture hall. Paimio Sanatorium (1929-1933): patient room design driven by recumbent body (ceiling colour, angled washbasin, radiant heating, view orientation). Saynatsalo Town Hall (1949-1952): raised courtyard, brick mass, intimate civic scale. Baker House MIT (1947-1949): serpentine plan giving each room a river view. | Healthcare, educational, and civic buildings. When user comfort drives geometry. Acoustic design of auditoria. Northern/cold climates where material warmth matters. When irregular geometry serves functional purpose (views, acoustics) rather than formal expression. |
| 9 | Tadao Ando | Church of the Light (1989), Naoshima projects (1988-2004) | Smooth-cast in-situ concrete with 900mm tie-hole grid as ornament. Light as primary material. Geometric purity: circles, rectangles, intersecting walls. Church of the Light (Osaka): cruciform slot in end wall, no glass originally. Water Temple (Awaji, 1991): descent through lotus pond into underground elliptical space. Chichu Art Museum (Naoshima, 2004): entirely below grade, skylit galleries, no external presence. | Gallery/museum spaces. Meditation/religious buildings. When concrete is the primary expressive material. Sites where building must defer to landscape. Projects requiring extreme precision in light control. |
| 10 | Peter Zumthor | Atmospheres (2006), Thinking Architecture (1998) | Material presence: every material selection tested at full scale. Thermal qualities of space (temperature of a room as design parameter). Temporal craft: aging, weathering, patina as design intent. Therme Vals (1996): local Valser quartzite, 15cm layered slabs, slot skylights, water as spatial medium. Bruder Klaus Chapel (Kolumba, 2007): rammed concrete over timber wigwam formwork, charred interior, oculus. Kolumba Museum (Cologne, 2007): perforated brick screen over Gothic ruin, filtered light. | Museums, baths, sacred spaces. When material sourcing is site-specific. When atmosphere and sensory experience outrank visual spectacle. Renovation/adaptive reuse requiring archaeological sensitivity. Projects where slow construction craft is viable. |
| 11 | Glenn Murcutt | "Touch the earth lightly" (1969-present) | Climate-responsive sectional design for Australian conditions. Corrugated metal, steel frame, raised floor. Sectional thinking: ventilation stack, reflective underside, operable louvers. Marika-Alderton House (Yirrkala NT, 1991-1994): timber frame, plywood panels operable as walls/shutters, cross-ventilation for tropical monsoon climate. Simpson-Lee House (Mt Wilson NSW, 1988-1994): steel pavilion, bushfire-resistant, rainwater collection, north-facing (southern hemisphere). Single architect, hand-drawn, no employees. | Hot-arid and hot-humid climates. Lightweight steel/timber construction. Passive ventilation. Bushfire-prone sites. Rural and remote sites. When section design drives environmental performance more than plan. |
| 12 | Rem Koolhaas / OMA | Delirious New York (1978), S,M,L,XL (1995) | Bigness: beyond a certain scale, buildings can no longer be controlled by a single architectural gesture. Programmatic layering: stacking unrelated programs vertically (Seattle Central Library, 2004: 5 programmatic platforms with interstitial "in-between" floors). Generic City / Junkspace as critique. CCTV Building (Beijing, 2002-2012): continuous loop structure, 234m tall, 473,000 sqm, cantilevered 75m overhang. De Rotterdam (2013): vertical city, three interconnected towers, mixed-use stacking. | Large-scale mixed-use complexes. Urban masterplanning at metropolitan scale. When program exceeds simple typological classification. Competition projects requiring narrative. Projects where diagram precedes form. |
| 13 | Renzo Piano / RPBW | Centre Pompidou (1971-1977, with Rogers), Lightness + Craft | Layered facades with environmental/structural logic. Lightness through refined steel/glass/terracotta detailing. Centre Pompidou: inside-out services, gerberette brackets, polychrome ducts. Menil Collection (Houston, 1982-1987): ferro-cement "leaf" baffles for diffused daylight. The Shard (London, 2009-2012): 309.6m, tapering glass planes, open apex. California Academy of Sciences (SF, 2000-2008): living roof, 2.5-acre canopy, net-zero energy target. Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre (Noumea, 1991-1998): iroko timber "cases" inspired by Kanak huts, passive stack ventilation. | Museum/gallery daylighting. Tall buildings requiring environmental performance. Cultural buildings in sensitive contexts. When the facade is the primary design problem. High-craft construction with large budgets. |
| 14 | Kengo Kuma | Anti-Object (2008), Material Dissolution | Material dissolution: breaking mass into particles (wood slats, stone chips, aluminum louvers). Transparency through layering. Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum (2010): cantilevered laminated timber. V&A Dundee (2018): precast concrete fins creating cliff-like facade. Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo (2019): 2000 Yoshino cedar tubes. GC Prostho Museum (2010): cidori timber joint system, no nails. Japan National Stadium (2019): timber-and-steel hybrid lattice, 5 stories of overhanging eaves, natural ventilation ring. | Timber and natural material construction. When mass needs to be dematerialized. Japanese-influenced detailing. Pavilion and museum projects. Screen/filter facade strategies. |
| 15 | Bjarke Ingels / BIG | Yes is More (2009), Hedonistic Sustainability | Worldcraft: architecture as world-building. Programmatic diagrams as generative form (8 House, Copenhagen, 2010: figure-eight loop, 476 units, ground-to-penthouse cycling path). CopenHill (2019): waste-to-energy plant with ski slope/climbing wall on facade. VIA 57 West (NYC, 2016): courtyard + skyscraper hybrid, tetrahedral form. The Spiral (NYC, 2025): cascading terraces. Sustainability as hedonism: green features that are also pleasurable. | Mixed-use housing at urban scale. Public infrastructure requiring public amenity. Competition design with strong narrative/diagram. Projects where sustainability must be experiential, not just metric-driven. |
| 16 | Francis Kere | Community-Built Architecture, Pritzker 2022 | Local materials + community labor as design strategy. Primary School Gando (Burkina Faso, 2001): compressed laterite blocks, rebar-reinforced, raised roof for stack ventilation, 30cm gap between ceiling and corrugated roof. Lycee Schorge (Koudougou, 2016): eucalyptus lattice screens. Serpentine Pavilion (2017): indigo timber canopy. National Assembly of Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou, 2025): stepped pyramid, tree-shaded gathering, local stone. Tropical ventilation through double roofs and thermal chimneys. | Low-resource contexts. Hot-dry/hot-humid tropical climates. Community-participatory design processes. When local material sourcing is a design imperative. Educational buildings in developing regions. Stack ventilation strategies. |
| 17 | Lacaton & Vassal | Pritzker 2021, "Never Demolish" | Economy of means: maximum space per euro. Greenhouse/polycarbonate technology as inhabited space. Transformation of Bois-le-Pretre Tower (Paris, 2005-2011, with Druot): wrap-around winter gardens added to existing social housing, no tenant displacement. Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2001/2012): raw industrial space, minimal intervention, maximum flexibility. FRAC Dunkirk (2013): double building -- exhibition box + translucent twin using greenhouse structure at 1/10 the cost. Generous space > expensive finishes. | Social housing renovation/extension. Tight budgets requiring spatial generosity. When existing structures must be retained. Climate-buffer (winter garden) strategies. Adaptive reuse. Projects where cost/sqm is the critical constraint. |
| 18 | Carlo Scarpa | Castelvecchio Museum (1956-1973), Detail as Architecture | Joint as architecture: every connection between materials is a design opportunity. Layered reveals, shadow gaps, material juxtapositions. Castelvecchio (Verona): Cangrande statue pivot, steel-concrete-stone layered thresholds, water channels. Brion Cemetery (San Vito d'Altivole, 1968-1978): interlocking concrete geometry, ziggurat chapel, water-filled reflecting basin. Olivetti Showroom (Venice, 1957-1958): Aurisina marble, teak, brass, mosaic -- each material precisely bounded. Fondazione Querini Stampalia (Venice, 1961-1963): controlled flooding detail, brass/stone/water thresholds. | Heritage renovation and museum design. When material junctions are the primary design expression. High-craft detailing with multiple material interfaces. Waterside/flood-prone sites. Projects with archaeological layering. |
| 19 | Robert Venturi | Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture (1966), Learning from Las Vegas (1972) | Decorated Shed vs Duck: buildings that apply ornament to conventional form vs. buildings where form IS the symbol. "Less is a bore." Vanna Venturi House (Philadelphia, 1962-1964): split gable, oversized chimney void, compressed entry. Guild House (1960-1963): brick, applied ornament (gold TV antenna), contextual scale. Complexity and contradiction: both/and instead of either/or. Mannerism as valid design strategy. | When a building must communicate symbolically in a commercial/suburban context. When pure abstraction fails to engage users. Contextual infill in existing neighborhoods. Critique and alternative to minimalist dogma. |
| 20 | Aldo Rossi | The Architecture of the City (1966), A Scientific Autobiography (1981) | Urban artifacts: buildings as permanent elements giving identity to cities. Typology as collective memory (courtyard, tower, colonnade as archetypes). Analogical city: design through recombination of remembered forms. San Cataldo Cemetery (Modena, 1971-1984): cubic ossuary, colonnaded streets of the dead, exposed steel frame as ruin. Teatro del Mondo (Venice, 1979): floating timber theater, temporary monument. Bonnefanten Museum (Maastricht, 1990-1995): brick, zinc cupola, axial stair. | Urban design where collective typological memory matters. Cemetery/memorial design. When the city's existing morphology should generate the building's form. Competition narratives grounded in urban history. Housing blocks that must contribute to urban identity. |
