Whether it’s The Shard, The Burj Khalifa, or La Sagrada Familia, the architects behind some of the world’s most iconic buildings have played a significant role in shaping our cities’ skylines - but who are the world’s most popular architects?
Cities can be shaped by many things, food culture, the music scene, plentiful shopping options, and even the nightlife, but nothing shapes a city quite like its architecture.
But despite having a hand in designing our homes, workplaces and tourist attractions, the architects behind these buildings are often unnamed and underappreciated.
However, every now and then someone designs something so eye-catching that people are forced to take notice - but who are the world’s most loved architects?
The most Googled architect by country
We analysed Google search volume data to find the most searched for architects around the world whose work puts even your best Sims build to shame.
Zaha Hadid
When you look at her list of achievements, it’s really not that hard to see why Dame Zaha Hadid is the most popular architect in the world.
Nicknamed the ‘queen of the curve’, Hadid’s futuristic designs and use of geometric shapes have made her one of the best-known names in architecture, and was once described as having “liberated architectural geometry, giving it a whole new expressive identity”.
Over the course of her career, Hadid won numerous awards for her work, including being the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, as well as the first woman to be individually awarded the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Other achievements include winning the UK's most prestigious architectural award, the Stirling Prize, in both 2010 and 2011. In 2012, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to architecture
Some of her most notable works include the MAXXI Museum of contemporary art and architecture in Rome, the Bridge Pavilion in Zaragoza, and the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku.
Le Corbusier
A pioneer of modernist architecture, Le Corbusier, also known as Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, was a pioneer of modernist architecture.
His designs are recognisable by their open floor plans with supporting pillars, the use of materials like concrete and steel, and they were often raised above the ground with the use of stilts.
Not content with being one of the world’s most renowned architects, Le Corbusier was also known for his work as a designer, painter, urban planner, and writer.
Some of Le Corbusier’s best known works include Esprit Nouveau Pavilion in Paris, the chapel of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, and Villa Savoye in Paris.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Probably one of the best known modern architects, Frank Lloyd Wright believed buildings should be in harmony with their environment and developed a philosophy he called organic architecture.
Nowhere is this philosophy more evident than in his most famous building, Fallingwater, which features large rectangular balconies floating over the waterfall that’s been incorporated into the house.
Other famous works include The Guggenheim Museum New York City, and the Imperial hotel in Japan.
Find the most popular architect in your country using the table below, or scroll down for a closer look at each continent.
Most Googled architectural designs in the world
Some buildings are so impressive that they become celebrities in their own right, and their notoriety can even overshadow the designers behind them.
We looked at the world’s most well-known architectural designs to find the skyscrapers and landmarks that we can’t get enough of and the architects responsible for bringing them to life.
- Burj Khalifa (Adrian Smith) - 71 Countries
- Eiffel Tower (Stephen Sauvestre) - 29 Countries
- Taj Mahal (Ustad Ahmad Lahouri) - 23 Countries
- Empire State Building (Shreve, Lamb and Harmon) - 5 Countries
- Musée Du Louvre (I. M. Pei) - 3 Countries
- La Sagrada Família (Antoni Gaudi) - 2 Countries
- The Shard (Renzo Piano) - 1 Country
- Gardens by the Bay (Grant Associates) - 1 Country
- Notre Dame Cathedral (N/A) - 1 Country
- Hallgrímskirkja (Guðjón Samúelsson) - 1 Country
*Designs with equal scores were ranked by average global search volume.
1. Burj Khalifa
Topping the list of most searched buildings as well as that of the world’s tallest buildings, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa stands at a staggering 2,717 ft (828 m) tall.
A marvel of modern engineering, the Burj actually broke a number of records on it’s completion including being the tallest free-standing structure, having the highest occupied floor, having the world’s longest elevator, as well as the highest outdoor public observation deck.
Currently sitting as TripAdvisor’s third best thing to do when visiting Dubai, the Burj Khalifa is searched more that 1.5 million times a month on average, with a good portion of those searches likely coming from people looking to book tickets to the observation decks for their next visit.
The 163-floor tower cost $1.5 billion to build, features more than 1,000 pieces of art, and even had a starring role alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol.
2. Eiffel Tower
Second on our list is the Eiffel Tower, and while you’d think that Gustave Eiffel, the fourth most popular architect in the world, was behind the mind behind the Eiffel Tower, the chief architect on the project was actually Stephen Sauvestre.
While Eiffel kept the naming rights, the initial design was drawn up by two men who worked at his company, who then teamed up with Sauvestre on the project.
3. Taj Mahal
Commissioned in 1632 by Emperor Shah Jahan, The Taj Mahal took some 20,000 workers almost 20 years to complete.
Now a major tourist attraction and one of the Seven Wonders of the modern world, it was initially designed as a mausoleum for the Emperor’s wife.
The most Googled architect by continent
The most Googled architects in Europe
The most Googled architects in North America
The most Googled architects in South America
The most Googled architects in the Middle East and Central Asia
The most Googled architects in the rest of Asia and Oceania
The most Googled architects in Africa
This article was republished from money.co.uk under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here.
