Who is your favorite architect, living or dead?
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“ Robert A.M. Stern is my favorite architect. I first discovered his work through your magazine and have since acquainted myself with many of his buildings. His work is beautiful, classic and simultaneously forward thinking. He proves that progressive design can be based upon classic architectural structures.”
Elizabeth Pilcher
San Diego, California
The architect took the dilapidated shack atop his 34th Street Manhattan office and turned it into a private aerie for reading, writing and relaxation. The 1,575-square-foot structure’s south-facing side has folding glass doors, from NanaWall, that open wide to an observation deck. (July 2007)
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“My favorite architect is AD100 architect Bernard Wharton . His structures always respect history and stay true to classicism, without being a direct reproduction of the past. This is most evident in my favorite AD article featuring Shope Reno Wharton—“A Seamless Whole”—from the January 2006 issue.”
Arthur Beckel
Dallas, Texas
Architectural firm Shope Reno Wharton built a Shingle Style weekend house for a family in Southampton. The rear elevation reveals a wing that culminates in a screen porch, at right. Edmund D. Hollander, the New York-based landscape architect, paved the pool terrace in sandstone and surrounded it with flowering trees and shrubs. (January 2006)
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“ Bart Prince , in my opinion, is the most innovative architect today. He rethinks the concept of a building—that is what makes a great architect.”
Sally Enzinger
Portland, Maine
Architect Bart Prince conceived an elevated structure for a client outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. The living spaces cantilever from 11 steel-and-glass towers and are joined by a gallery walkway that runs the length of the house. (May 2004)
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“ Howard J. Backen is my absolute favorite architect today. He has an uncanny ability to blend nature and architecture. His work truly speaks to the future.”
Hank Roberts
Seattle, Washington
Backen designed a house for a couple’s 140-acre property in California’s Napa Valley. (January 2004)
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“My favorite architect is Richard Meier . Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, I was pretty jaded in terms of architecture. When Meier was commissioned to build the new High Museum of Art, Georgians became acquainted with a whole new perspective on design. Now, whenever I travel, I always research to see what Meier buildings are in the area. I just went to Los Angeles where I was able to get a peek at the Malibu beach house he built—how spectacular it was at sunset!”
Tim Monroe
Roswell, Ga
Meier and partner Michael Palladino designed a four-bedroom beachfront house on the coast of Southern California for modern-art collectors. The walkway leads to the study, right, and the guest rooms and the master bedroom, left. (December 2002)
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“When I think of architectural masters, Frank Lloyd Wright comes to mind first and foremost. Wright’s famous quote, “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature; it will never fail you,” was an unbelievably modern approach to design during his time. Perhaps he sought to elaborate on what the East Asia was already doing; nevertheless, he brought American design to where it is today.”
Henry Stuart
Houston, Texas
The Storer House was the second of Wright’s Los Angeles-area residences to employ his “textile” concrete block construction. Movie producer Joel Silver painstakingly restored the Hollywood Hills Landmark, aided by architect Eric Lloyd Wright. (April 1998)