Your Favorite Architect?

I greatly admire Renzo Piano, because he has grasped the spirit of his time. Another reason is his particular attention to materials and construction details. In my view, the twenty-first century belongs to interdisciplinary architects, and Renzo Piano is an architect who has been able to draw on all fields of expertise in his architecture.

Since I have always been interested in the relationship between past and present architecture, I admire architects like Hassan Fathi and Kenzo Tange. Hassan Fathi used tradition, vernacular architecture, and local materials, and his designs are remarkably simple, refined, and in harmony with their environment. Kenzo Tange, who is considered a pioneer of modern architecture, drew inspiration from traditional Japanese architecture for thoroughly modern works published in magazines.

In my opinion, any architect's work can be interesting from one perspective or another. The attention Piano pays to building details is very interesting — perhaps because, owing to his father's profession, he grew up around construction from early childhood. His use of the latest technology in his modern works is also very appealing. On the other hand, I also greatly admire Tadao Ando's work, which remains faithful to Japanese architectural traditions while being thoroughly modern. His work is like that of a classic filmmaker using a new medium — it has a timeless quality.

On one hand, I love everyone who loves architecture and whose life is intertwined with it. But on the other hand, I cannot single out anyone from among them. Based on my personal inclinations, it seems to me I could have loved an architect who, like Salvador Dali in painting, is a surrealist — an architect unconstrained by logic, the kind the world lacks. Perhaps this architect's buildings will never be built, but the essence of architecture can still take the spirit to new heights.

My criterion for choosing a favorite architect is one who has been able to understand his own time with a glance toward the future, and to crystallize his ideas in his designs. An example of such architects is Le Corbusier — in his time and also in the present. In my opinion, Norman Foster and Frank Gehry also possess this quality. They strive to take into account all factors influencing architecture — technology, new aesthetic perspectives, and the lifestyles of people who will inhabit architectural spaces — as well as the function and other influential elements. The expectation from architecture differs in different eras. At one time, architecture could play the role of a monument; at another time, in Le Corbusier's era, it had to respond to the need for mass housing, and he, understanding this need, was able to arrive at new systems, new proportions, and a new aesthetic that even our developers today use as models. Today too, given the available technology and new needs, a different expectation is placed on architecture, which in my view Foster and Gehry are responding to.

I believe that any architect who can work creatively and innovatively within the historical, cultural, and social context of his time, and solve society's problems in original ways, is a good architect. Personally, I admire Hassan Fathi and Tadao Ando because they were able to express the culture of their homeland in a new, modern language. I also admire Frank Lloyd Wright for his attention to nature and his effort to place human constructions seamlessly within the natural environment. Kurokawa, with his bold composition of volumes and fresh perspective on such compositions, is interesting to me. And also Daniel Libeskind and Peter Eisenman, because they introduced a new philosophy into architecture. And Louis Kahn, because he introduced pure and simple volumes in modern architecture. Among Iranian architects, I appreciate the work of Bahram Shirdel, which is original and contains a distinctive philosophy and thought.

My favorite architect is Le Corbusier, who brought about great transformations in his time and essentially set the wheel of modern architecture in motion. Among today's architects, I am interested in five architects: Eisenman, Hadid, Meier, Gwathmey, and Graves. What characterizes their work is the use of science and attention to new spatial concepts and new space — the most important issue in today's architecture. Their vision of today's world is manifested in their architecture. Among them, Eisenman's work is most interesting to me because he strives to give tangible form to mental images about today's world. New spatial and aesthetic concepts based on today's science and philosophy — he expresses a unique methodology and personal approach. The process of transforming initial ideas into final form and shape can be seen in his works. Above all, he is without style, and his architecture is comprehensible solely within the framework of today's time.

I am also somewhat interested in the members of the Five Architects group, especially Meier, who is masterful in volumetric composition and spatial visualization. And finally, another architect — James Stirling — who is perhaps very different from these, but has overall presented interesting works.

In architecture, I love a kind of restlessness and stylelessness. Among the older architects, I admire the Australian-born Utzon, in whose every work a creativity shines like poetry. None of his works follows a particular style, and each has its own distinct statement and its own beauty. His works, before introducing a style, convey his emotions. In other words, his architectural language is poetic.

I also somewhat admire Tadao Ando for similar reasons. It seems that if you strip away his building materials and tools, he would recite poetry. In my view, he has reached the soul of architecture. Another quality in his work that I love is the presence of words — a point Mr. Mirmiran has repeatedly noted. In the Church on the Water, Tadao Ando, by placing everything behind a glass curtain beside water and nature, has made his architecture speak. A third aspect of Ando is that it seems as though Japanese traditions are invisibly present in his modern thinking.

Beyond these two, I also greatly admire Spreckelsen, creator of the Grand Arch of La Defense. He says the secret of every great idea is simplicity. This very simplicity has allowed everyone to have their own unique feeling about it. I also admire Utzon because he has a flexible architecture that defies cliches. His Opera House is like a timeless being — so flexible and so very beautiful.

Among avant-garde architects, I greatly admire Libeskind because he creates pure forms, and alongside him stands Eisenman, who like Libeskind is a mold-breaker. And finally, I also admire Zaha Hadid for seeing conventional spaces in unconventional ways.

I greatly admire Renzo Piano and like all his works. Great tranquility is visible in his works. At the same time, the overall volume of his works — an important subject in aesthetics — captivates the viewer at first glance and makes it possible to comprehend the whole ensemble. He is simultaneously meticulous and refined in important details. Apart from Piano, I also greatly admire the work of Mies van der Rohe, especially those built in green settings, which within the embrace of nature display transparency and a clear, manifest resolution. I also greatly admire Le Corbusier for the new modular system he introduced. In any case, all these architects possess a special creativity.

But in Piano's work, there is another very important characteristic: the fact that he believes architecture is not an individual endeavor. A masterpiece may be created in solitude, but the system and the team in architecture today — where many factors and disciplines exert influence — are of great importance. It is apparently due to this belief that fifty people of fifteen different nationalities work in his office. Beyond all this, I find Piano's personality itself interesting — he speaks about his works without arrogance and acknowledges their shortcomings.

I am also interested in Walter Gropius, who designed the Bauhaus school himself, lived there, and taught there, training forty to fifty good architects who transformed the world of architecture.

Among modern architects, I admire Mies van der Rohe for the eloquence and purity of his works. Le Corbusier interests me for the forms he created and the boldness he showed. And Wright, for his organic architecture. But I have a particular interest in Emilio Ambasz from Spain. He designed a prayer hall in a wheat field that is very beautiful — by excavating earth and creating a few steps, a pool, and a cross, he produced a space in which simplicity, eloquence, and a poetic sensibility can be felt. In some of Ando's works — for instance, the famous church he built — these same qualities are present: qualities also found in the Taj Mahal and the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque.

I admire Tadao Ando. He has no academic education, yet through a deep understanding of space, material, form, and human needs, he has created a magnificent architecture that is at the same time tranquil. In my view, he is a filmmaker who subtly draws the viewer's attention to his work. The spectator, with a special excitement, yearns to follow his work to the end and gradually discover it. In this gradual discovery, a special attraction emerges in his works that tells the viewer: come and discover me.

I admire the works of modern architects. With the volumes they create — simple, clear, and without complication — they make their statement. I also admire some of Mario Botta's works, whose pure, overall volumes are very impressive and seem to tell the viewer: come and discover me.

Answering this question is difficult, because we know architects' works through magazines and cannot tell how much the images are real and how much they are graphic renderings. Unfortunately, we do not have the opportunity to see famous buildings in person. But generally speaking, I can say that I admire Portzamparc and Richard Meier — for the stable spatial sensibility evident in their works and their attention to human needs and the people who must live in these spaces. Of course, I accept that ambition is good for an architect. It is very good for an architect to want to say new things, but all of this must be aligned with the fundamental purpose of architecture and be in harmony with its essence. One cannot accept every innovation without regard for architectural logic.

Beyond Meier and Portzamparc, I am also interested in Japanese architects who have a good and strong relationship with their own culture and have been able to establish a link between this culture and the rapid progress of their country.

Given my limited familiarity with architects and architectural styles, and the short duration of my studies, I can only say that I am drawn to simple architectures — those that with receding and advancing surfaces and volumes create extraordinary spaces and beautiful perspectives, making use of light. For this reason, architects like Michael Graves and Richard Meier are interesting to me, as well as Louis Kahn and Mario Botta, whose works are appealing because of their distinctive use of light and the way light is distributed in interior architectural spaces.

I do not particularly like the works of just one architect. I admire the works of several different architects and respond to them quite emotionally. More important than the names of individuals and their works are the images I recall, because I have a photographic memory and remember images precisely. From different architects' works I recall different images, and I admire each for a different reason. Although I cannot say exactly which works I like and why, I can generally say that I like Renzo Piano's works — because of their exterior appearance and their integration with their surroundings, and the care and precision with which they are designed. Every detail is considered, and each has a special quality. In his works, simplicity, sincerity, and an almost musical sensibility are visible.

I am also drawn to some of Calatrava's works, because they carry within them a structural beauty that tells the viewer: come and discover me.