Architecture

As one of the best surviving structures from ancient Rome, the influence of the Pantheon on modern architecture almost cannot be underestimated. Architects from all over Europe and America from the Renaissance through the 19th century studied it and incorporated what they learned into their own work. Echoes of the Pantheon can be found in numerous public structures: libraries, universities, Thomas Jefferson’s Rotunda, and more.

by Jorn Utzon,
2003 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate

Photo by Hans Munk Hansen

Original color sketch by Jorn Utzon

Photo by Carsten Bo Anderson

Jorn Utzon Photo Tour

The invitation to compete for Kuwait National Assembly reached Utzon in 1969 while he was teaching at the University of Hawaii. There were few constraints to the project. The site was along the ocean front, with "haze and white light and an untidy town behind," as Utzon described it.

As a result of his travels, Utzon had developed an affinity for Islamic architecture. The Kuwait National Assembly building contains four spaces: a covered square, a parliamentary chamber, a large conference hall, and a mosque. Each space forms a corner, with waving rooflines creating the effect of moving fabric.

In February of 1991, Iraqi troops, retreating before the international alliance, set fire to the Kuwait National Assembly building. Since then, a 70 million dollar restoration was undertaken. Many of the renovations departed from Utzon's original design.

~Commentary from the Pritzker Prize Committee

More about Jorn Utzon

Life and works of Jorn Utzon

20th Century Trends in Architecture
Modernism, Formalism, Bauhaus and more.

Jorn Utzon Photo Tour

If you've ever built, remodeled, or purchased a home, then you know that simple matters can stir strong emotion. The plumber installed the wrong faucets! The cabinet knobs don't match! Something foul is seeping through the basement floor! If mishaps like these aren't justification for murder, surely they rate a small nervous breakdown.

Our Readers Write About Their Houses

Our readers have been writing compelling stories about houses and house mishaps. Sometimes dream houses turned into nightmares, and sometimes nightmares transformed into happily-ever-afters. Sound familiar? Please do send us your own house horror tales.

The Thomsens' Tale
We didn’t exactly intend to remodel our whole kitchen, but we had a problem. You see we had a drop-in stove which my wife was tired of and it had a broken knob which was irreplaceable... A small project turns big

Carol Halsey's Tale
Well I finally made it. I bought my first home and closed on June 27, 1996. 12 hours after I closed, a semi-truck went down the street. This is not a truck route. The semi clipped my phone lines and ripped them out of my house. Also taking the siding with it... Trouble at Carol's house

Donna's Tale
Hello, I'm a single mom who bought the model home in our development three years ago. It has been a nightmare! Within the first six months the sewer backed up, the sump-pump quit, and the toilets did not flush... Plumbing disasters

Rafi's Tale
Three years ago, we bought a house in the Hollywood Hills area in Southern California. A year after we moved in, we started hearing these noises in the master bathroom... Strange sounds

Jean's Tale
Looking towards retirement in a few years, we were anxious to move to an acreage in the country. WE WERE BLIND - all we could see was open fields and a 'blank canvas' to paint our own picture. Being in a rural area, this house is heated with propane... Soaring costs

Famous House Tales
Every house has a story, and some of those stories find their way into best-selling books and gret literature. There are the ghastly ghost stories where passion to own a beautiful home turns to terror. There are the melodramatic stories where dream homes lead to heartbreak... and possibly even murder or suicide. And then there are the heart-wrenchingly true stories of real people struggling to build something special.

Next: Famous authors write about houses >

Opening December 31, 1999, the Millennium Dome was built to celebrate the new millennium. Important names in the construction of the Millennium Dome are:

• Richard Rogers Partnership, architects
• Buro Happold, consulting engineers
• Laing and Robert McAlpine, joint managing contractors
• Bernard Ede, landscape architect

The massive dome is over one kilometer round and 50 meters high at its center. It covers 20 acres of ground floor space. How big is that? Well, imagine the Eiffel Tower lying on its side. It could easily fit inside the Dome.

Seventy-two kilometers of high strength steel cable supports twelve 100 meter steel masts. The roof is translucent, self-cleaning PTFE-coated glass fiber. A two-layer fabric is used as insulation to prevent condensation.

Why Greenwich?

The Dome was built in Greenwich, England because that's where the millennium officially began on January 1, 2001. (The year 2000 was not considered the start of the millennium, because counting does not begin with a zero.)

Greenwich lies on the Meridian Line, and Greenwich Time serves as a global timekeeper. It provides a common 24 hour clock for airline communications and transactions on the Internet.

The Millennium Dome Today

The Millennium Dome was designed as a one-year, temporary structure. The Dome closed to visitors on December 31, 2000 - a few hours before the official start of the new millennium. Great Britain spent the next few years looking for ways to use the Dome and the surrounding land on the Greenwich Peninsula. The original exhibition complex was demolished, but the shell of the dome remains.

The Millennium Dome is now centerpiece of the The O₂ entertainment district with an indoor arena, exhibition space, a music club, a cinema, bars, and restaurants.

Also Known As: papyrus column

Common Misspellings: Egyptin, Egypian

Examples:

• Monuments of Egypt (painting)
• Temples of Karnak
• Luxor Temple
• Portico Column, Dendera
• Temple of Horus at Edfu

Pritzker-prize winning architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha is known for bold simplicity and an innovative use of concrete and steel.

Mendes da Rocha is developing a master plan for the Technological City, part of the University of Vigo in Spain. He is working to integrate new buildings designed by several different Spanish architects into an overall landscape scheme. The Technological City is designed to foster connections between various buildings: library, engineering departments, student residences, and administration offices.

^{~Pritzker Prize Committee}

The sculptures in the eastern pediment of the US Supreme Court Building were carved by Herman A. McNeil. At the center are three great lawmakers:

These figures are flanked by figures that symbolize ideas:

• Means of Enforcing the Law
• Tempering Justice with Mercy
• Carrying on Civilization
• Settlement of Disputes Between States

Herman A. MacNeil's pediment carvings stirred controversy because the central figures were drawn from religious traditions. However, in the 1930s, the Supreme Court Building Commission did not question the wisdom of placing Moses, Confucius, and Solon on a secular government building. Rather, they trusted in the architect, who deferred to the artistry of the sculptor, Herman A. MacNeil.

MacNeil didn't intend his sculptures to have religious connotations. Explaining his work, MacNeil wrote, "Law as an element of civilization was normally and naturally derived or inherited in this country from former civilizations. The 'Eastern Pediment' of the Supreme Court Building suggests therefore the treatment of such fundamental laws and precepts as are derived from the East."