Architecture, no doubt, is a tedious course. Five long years, with subjects on so many aspects, history, urban planning, construction technology and software, it is normal if someone decided to switch careers rather than practising. Here is a list of ten architects who have made a mark in other fields of their passion and became famous personalities, some working in mainstream architecture as well.
Gautam Bhatia | Famous personalities
A Delhi-based artist, writer and architect, Bhatia is a recipient of many awards. He fulfilled his master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Some of his most famous works include Laurie Baker: Life, Work and writings, The Wall, along with many satirical books. He has penned down articles for The New York Times, The Outlook and Indian Express. He has projects, mainly in the hospitality sector and adaptive reuse. Some examples include The Devigarh Palace, Monolith Resort in Bhimtal and Country Inn in Corbett Park.
Anshuman Prasad
An internationally renowned concept set designer and concept artist, Prasad has worked on various 3D environments, imbibing realistic and creative vision aesthetics simultaneously. He is an alumnus of the University of Illinois. His most notable works include Terminator Salvation (2009), Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014), Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) and the critically acclaimed TV shows Newsroom and Westworld. He also won the acclaimed Art Directors Guild award for excellence in production for the films, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Passengers.
Joseph Kosinski | Famous personalities
Kosinski is a feature film director, well known for his computer graphics and CGI work. He is an alumnus of Columbia Graduate School of Architecture. His most notable work includes Tron: Legacy and Oblivion, movies which have grossed more than 250 million dollars worldwide. He won the 2007 AICP Show – Best Visual Effects for the Gears of War commercial “Mad World”.
Tom Ford
An alumnus of Parsons School of Design, Ford inclined towards fashion during his final year. Equipped with experience from Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, he started his label in 2004. Ford has dressed A-listers from Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Anne Hathaway and Michelle Obama. He adorns many awards and nominations. He has also worked as a film director and has his own production house by the name, Fade to Black.
Dinara Kasko | Famous personalities
Kasko is a Ukrainian baker who uses biomimicry and 3D printing to make desserts. It allows her to make custom moulds. She is an alumnus of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. She employs mathematical principles such as the Voronoi diagram for her confectionary art, making it clean and minimalistic. She has an active presence on social media. She has also appeared in a movie titled “Ottolenghi and the cakes of Versailles” and on TED talks. She is a prominent part of a new school of pastry chefs who got their start in architecture.
Ratan Tata
Well-known industrialist and philanthropist, Tata got a degree from Cornell University in 1959. He went on to do the Advanced Management Program at Harvard. He took over the TATA enterprise and also invested in many technological startups across the country. He has received many awards including the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. He is also a juror of the Pritzker Prize.
Pink Floyd | Famous personalities
Three of the founding members of Pink Floyd were students of architecture from Polytechnic in London when they first started inclining towards music. While achieving critical acclaim for their geometric precision, they have even released an album called “Music for architectural students”. They gained popularity as a psychedelic pop group with characteristic sonic experimentation and live shows.
Rosa Van Parys
Based in Ecuador, Parys graduated from the University of Southern California School of Architecture. She opened her firm in 2012, focusing on projects from Malibu and Newport Beach. Her design firm had a library of valuable materials, which became a bridge towards jewellery design. She had no formal training in jewellery but became a problem -solver owing to her experience in architecture. Her attention is drawn to good materials, stones both precious and semi-precious. Some of her collections also include animal imagery.
Lorena Darquea
Responsible for putting Ecuadorian architecture on the map, Darquea is a well-travelled architectural photographer. Each of her photos projects the honest and pure portrayal of the structure. An alumnus of ITESM, Mexico, she went on to study in Helsinki and took a photography course in New York. She was invited to present her work at the Venice Biennale 2016 as part of the Time Space Existence exhibition.
Abhinav Goyal | Famous personalities
The founder of Formforge, Goyal worked as the lead designer for various firms in New Delhi before he decided to work on public installations. He adopted advanced design technologies blending art and science, leading him to become an expert in fabrication space and computation design. The designs spearheaded by him are both abstract and symbolic, speaking the language of architectural, conceptual and social impact.
