architect

17Jul

By Web TeamNo Comments

India, Italy, Noteworthy, Profiles

Paolo Tommasi, architect

Paolo Tommasi, 92, an Italian architect who played a crucial role in designing the Matrimandir and the gardens surrounding it in the international township Auroville, died of Covid-19 on July 16, 2020, in Puducherry. He was a resident of Sri Aurobindo Ashram in the Union territory and was admitted to Jipmer after he tested positive in the last week of June. Born in Ancona, Italy, Paolo emerged as a leading architect in Europe in the 1950s. He had a true passion for architectural interiors, design, theatre and painting. Paolo visited India in his thirties and met Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual collaborator Mirra Alfassa, fondly revered as the Mother, just before the inauguration of Auroville in 1968. He played a crucial role in assisting French architect Roger Anger in...

Rifat Chadirji, architect, photographer, author & activist

11Apr

By Web TeamNo Comments

Noteworthy, Profiles, United Kingdom

Rifat Chadirji, architect, photographer, author & activist

Rifat Chadirji ‑ an Iraqi architect, photographer, author and activist – died on 10 April 2020 due to Covid-19. He was often referred to as the father of modern Iraqi architecture, having designed more than 100 buildings across the nation. Chadirji was born in Baghdad in 1926 into an influential family. His father, Kamil Chadirji, played a central role in Iraq's political life as the founder in 1946 and then president of the National Democratic Party. Chadirji trained as an architect. In 1952, after completing his graduate training, he returned to Baghdad and began working on what he called his "architectural experiments." Rifat Chadirji's architecture is inspired by the characteristics of regional Iraqi architectur...

28Mar

By Web TeamNo Comments

Noteworthy, Profiles, United Kingdom, United States

Michael McKinnell, architect

Noel Michael McKinnell –a British-born American architect and co-founder of the Kallmann McKinnell & Wood architectural design firm – succumbed to Covid-19 on March 27, 2020. In 1962, McKinnell, who was a Columbia University graduate student at the time, and Columbia professor Gerhard Kallmann submitted the winning design for Boston City Hall, which opened in 1968. McKinnell and Kallman moved to Boston shortly after winning the competition and founded their firm, now known as Kallmann McKinnell & Wood, in 1962. McKinnell was born on December 25, 1935, in Salford area of Manchester, England, His father was an accountant and war veteran. He graduated from the University of Manchester in 1958 with a first class degree in architecture. He stu...

27Mar

By Web TeamNo Comments

Noteworthy, United States

Michael Sorkin, architect & critic

Michael David Sorkin –an American architectural and urban critic, designer, and educator – died on March 26, 2020 from Covid-19. He was considered to be "one of architecture’s most outspoken public intellectuals," a polemical voice in contemporary culture and the design of urban places at the turn of the twenty-first century. Sorkin first rose to prominence as an architectural critic for the Village Voice in New York City, a post which he held for a decade throughout the 1980s. In the ensuing years, he taught at prominent universities around the world, practiced through his eponymous firm, established a nonprofit book press, and directed the urban design program at the City College of New York. He died at age 71 due to complicatio...

24Mar

By Web TeamNo Comments

Italy, Noteworthy, Profiles

Calogero Rizzuto, architect

Calogero Rizzuto –an Italian architect and historic preservationist – died from Covid-19 on 23 March 2020. Rizzuto graduated from University of Palermo with a degree in architecture in 1983 and worked as a resident architect in Rosolini until 1989. In the following years, he acquired great competence as a manager in the cultural and tourism sector through projects in Sicily. Since 2007, Rizzuto had been responsible for the cultural heritage of the Sicilian region on the Soprintendenzen in Ragusa and Syracuse. He also worked at the Museum of Kamarina. Since Summer 2019, he held the position of First Director of the Archaeological Parks of Syracuse (Parco Archeologico della Neapolis, Villa Romana del Tellaro, ancient Heloros) and devoted himself to...

16Mar

By Web TeamNo Comments

Italy, Noteworthy, Profiles

Vittorio Gregotti, architect

Vittorio Gregotti –an Italian architect, born in Novara – died due to coronavirus on 15 March 2020. He was seen as both a member of the Neo-Avant Garde and a key figure in 1970s Postmodernism. Gregotti was born in Novara, in the Italian Piedmont, and attended the Politecnico di Milano. He worked as a contributor to Casabella, an architectural magazine, and was its editor-in-chief from 1955 to 1963. Gregotti founded his own studio, Gregotti Associati International, in 1974 but also lectured on architectural theory and curated several exhibits in Italy. His studio has designed several important sports venues and cultural buildings, such as the Barcelona Olympic Stadium, the Belém Cultural Center in Lisbon, the Arcimboldi Opera T...