Famous Architects like Zaha Hadid, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn, and many others have enriched humanity with their unusual works. But they also had unusual habits. Whether these habits were daily, yearly, or occasional, they give us some insight into the mind and character of those prominent designers as well as humanize them.
Louis Kahn and Frank Lloyd Wright were used to known as a people with short sleeping intervals, for a few hours, several times a day, compensating the lack of long night sleep. Kahn, in particular, used to spend his day teaching and sleeping for short intervals till 10.30 pm. Later at night, he would then start his actual productive work hours.
The modernist starchitects Ray and Charles Eames are known to have generated about 900 different designs. One of their designs was a xylophone tower of a height of 5 meters. If a new employee was to join the firm, they had to spend their first day at the musical tower. The Eameses regarded this first-day-ritual with care as they believed that the musical encounter gives them some perception of the mind and character of a new recruit.
Irish architect Eileen Gray got attached to or loved often shadowed her designs. To eternally be together, Gray commemorated her love for her man Jean Badovici in the naming of the E.1027 modernist villa. She hadn’t known, back then, that she would separate from him shortly after finishing the villa’s construction. “E” in E1027 stands for Eileen, while the numbers are relevant to the order of alphabetical letters of J, B, and G. The letters are the initials of her and her lover’s name, Jean Badovici, and Gray.
An annual unusual exercise practiced by Snohetta, to build up team spirit, is climbing a mountain in Norway. The goal of this annual sport in the past was just to exercise, but now it evolved to be more than just a sport. Staff members can discuss the current issues and the prospects of the company while climbing.
Denise Scott Brown had a habit of creeping on the people in her finished projects, like the Perelman Quadrangle at the University of Pennsylvania. She would stand there and smile at the students. Resembling bees in a hive is how she saw them, and an unknown smiling old lady in a skirt is how they saw her.
Zaha Hadid appears in most, if not all her photographs to be confident and full of life. Many of her poses are even similar to the way actresses and movie stars pose for the camera. Her close acquaintances confirmed her kindness and her big heart. Her strong personality always prevailed on her career-related decisions.
I. M. Pei has the hobby of lying in bed in the dark.
The Chinese American famous architect started using a more mindless-paper approach to design as he grew older. His most fruitful ideas, which were very similar to dreams, came to him at night in bed.
Ricardo Scofidio, taking his luxurious cars for a ride is Scofidio’s way to relax and clear his head. The co-founder of Diller Scofidio+Renfro is the proud owner of a white 1963 Porsche, Saab 96, Jaguar XK150 and Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV.
Luis Barragan eating meals composed only of a single color might seem weird! But who are we to judge? Barragan can order a meal consisting solely of pink colored components like melon halves with a splash of sherry.
Source: The “Weird” Habits of 9 Famous Architects
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| Louis Kahn in the Yale University Art Gallery, 1953. (Courtesy of Lionel Freedman Archives) |
Louis Kahn and Frank Lloyd Wright were used to known as a people with short sleeping intervals, for a few hours, several times a day, compensating the lack of long night sleep. Kahn, in particular, used to spend his day teaching and sleeping for short intervals till 10.30 pm. Later at night, he would then start his actual productive work hours.
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| Ray and Charles Eames |
The modernist starchitects Ray and Charles Eames are known to have generated about 900 different designs. One of their designs was a xylophone tower of a height of 5 meters. If a new employee was to join the firm, they had to spend their first day at the musical tower. The Eameses regarded this first-day-ritual with care as they believed that the musical encounter gives them some perception of the mind and character of a new recruit.
 |
| Irish architect Eileen Gray |
Irish architect Eileen Gray got attached to or loved often shadowed her designs. To eternally be together, Gray commemorated her love for her man Jean Badovici in the naming of the E.1027 modernist villa. She hadn’t known, back then, that she would separate from him shortly after finishing the villa’s construction. “E” in E1027 stands for Eileen, while the numbers are relevant to the order of alphabetical letters of J, B, and G. The letters are the initials of her and her lover’s name, Jean Badovici, and Gray.
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| New National Gallery and Ludwig Museum in Budapest proposal by Snohetta |
An annual unusual exercise practiced by Snohetta, to build up team spirit, is climbing a mountain in Norway. The goal of this annual sport in the past was just to exercise, but now it evolved to be more than just a sport. Staff members can discuss the current issues and the prospects of the company while climbing.
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| Denise Scott Brown, Berkeley, California, 1965 © Barcelona Roca Gallery |
Denise Scott Brown had a habit of creeping on the people in her finished projects, like the Perelman Quadrangle at the University of Pennsylvania. She would stand there and smile at the students. Resembling bees in a hive is how she saw them, and an unknown smiling old lady in a skirt is how they saw her.
 |
| Zaha Hadid |
Zaha Hadid appears in most, if not all her photographs to be confident and full of life. Many of her poses are even similar to the way actresses and movie stars pose for the camera. Her close acquaintances confirmed her kindness and her big heart. Her strong personality always prevailed on her career-related decisions.
 |
| Architect I.M. Pei, Pyramid at the Louvre Museum, Paris, 1993 |
I. M. Pei has the hobby of lying in bed in the dark.
The Chinese American famous architect started using a more mindless-paper approach to design as he grew older. His most fruitful ideas, which were very similar to dreams, came to him at night in bed.
 |
| Diller Scofidio + Renfro |
Ricardo Scofidio, taking his luxurious cars for a ride is Scofidio’s way to relax and clear his head. The co-founder of Diller Scofidio+Renfro is the proud owner of a white 1963 Porsche, Saab 96, Jaguar XK150 and Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV.
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| Luis Barragan, who died in 1988, is revered for his geometric, brightly colored buildings, all of them in Mexico |
Luis Barragan eating meals composed only of a single color might seem weird! But who are we to judge? Barragan can order a meal consisting solely of pink colored components like melon halves with a splash of sherry.
Source: The “Weird” Habits of 9 Famous Architects
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