Famous Architects Who Do Not Possess An Architecture Degree

22 Apr 2023
By Deshal Shah

Architecture is a fancy profession of turning dreams into reality. It is interconnected to many other disciplines like various art forms that include painting, carpentry, etc. and also different types of engineering like civil and structural. Architecture does not stand alone. So it is necessary that the architectural education covers all these aspects at different lengths.

Even though architecture is a complicated discipline, we know many famous architects, who do not possess an architectural degree.

7 famous architects you didn’t know had no formal architectural training

1. Louis Sullivan (1856-1924)

He is often regarded as ‘father of modernism’ and ‘father of skyscrapers’. He is also an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects who have come to be known as the Prairie School. The phrase ‘form follows function’ was given by him. Entering MIT at the age of sixteen, Sullivan studied architecture there briefly. After one year of study, he moved to Philadelphia and took a job with architect Frank Furness. In 1879 Dankmar Adler hired Sullivan. A year later, Sullivan became a partner in Adler's firm.

2. Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)

He is considered as the founder of organic architecture and his work- Falling Water, is beyond parallel. In 1886, he was admitted to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he took classes part-time for two semesters, and worked with Allan D. Conover, a professor of civil engineering. Wright left the school without taking a degree, although he was granted an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the university in 1955.

3. Mies Van der Rohe(1886-1969)
Along with others, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture. He is associated with phrases like, ‘less is more.’ He was the last director of Bauhaus. He worked in his father's stone carving shop and at several local design firms. He began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the current design theories and to progressive German culture. Some of his famous works include, Farnsworth House, Seagram Building, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, etc.

4. Le Corbusier(1887-1965)

Le Corbusier lacked formal training as an architect, like his contemporaries. He was attracted to the visual arts; so, entered the municipal art school in La-Chaux-de-Fonds which taught the applied arts connected with watchmaking. Later he attended the higher course of decoration, founded by the painter Charles L'Eplattenier. "I had a horror of architecture and architects," he wrote. "...I was sixteen, I accepted the verdict and I obeyed. I moved into architecture." His notable works are Villa Savoye, Chapel of Notre dame du Haut and planning of Chandigagh city.

5. Luis Barragan(1902-1988)

Luis Barragan graduated with a civil engineering degree in 1923 from Free School of Engineers, Guadalajara. Casa Gilardi and Jardines Del Pedregal are his few works other than the dozens of private houses in Mexico. Barragán won the Pritzker Prize, in 1980, and his personal home, the Luis Barragán House and Studio, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.

6. Tadao Ando(1941)

Pritzker winner of 1995, Tadao Ando, worked as a boxer before settling on the profession of architect, despite never having formal training in the field. He attended night classes to learn drawing and took correspondence courses on interior design. He undertook informal apprenticeships and studied local buildings. In 1968, he established his own design studio, Tadao Ando Architects and Associates. The church of the light, Pulitzer arts foundation and Langen foundation are a few of his works that even a layman can appreciate without knowing much about architecture.

7. Peter Zumthor(1943)

2009 Pritzker prize winner, Peter Zumthor studied design at Basel Arts & Crafts School and industrial design at New York’s Pratt institute. He started his own practice in 1979 and gave the world uncompromising and minimalist architecture. A few of his works include the Kunsthaus Bregenz, the Swiss Pavilion for Expo 2000 and Therme Vals, his literature works include Thinking Architecture, Seeing Zumthor, Atmospheres and Peter Zumthor Therme Vals.

Many other architects like Eileen Gray and Buckminster Fuller, also did not have any formal training in architecture. We are sure you’ll know many more people practicing architecture without its academic backing in your vicinity, yet making a wonderful neighborhood for you to live in. Help us lengthen the thread by adding new names!