Great Architects

Thomas A. Heinz
Thomas A. Heinz, AIA
Chicago, USA

Thomas A. Heinz, AIA, of Libertyville, Illinois has worked on more than 40 Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, restorations, and reconstructions. As a renowned Wright devotee scholar and author of 30 books, Thomas A. Heinz brought the vision of Wright to life on the 11-acre Petre Island in Mahopac just 40 miles north of New York City.

Using ArchiCAD, Heinz was able to translate the original design into the very difficult rock terrain of the island, while preserving the original Frank Lloyd Wright design and addressing the realities of current building, energy and zoning requirements.

Vladimir I. Plotkin
TPO Reserve
Moscow, Russia

"The main thing is an attraction for shape."

Juli Capella from Capella-Garcia Arquitectes is known as one of the most important figures in contemporary architecture and design in Spain. Some of their outstanding projects are the Heron City or the OMM Hotel in Barcelona. They believe their style as a non-style.

Ivo Venkov and his wife Rossi Venkov are known as the "Coolest Architects" in the United States after winning a Merit Award for their Pacific Palisades Residence project in 2005. They call their architecture 'livable minimalism'.

David Sutherland is the Director of Planning of one of the foremost design firms in Australia. Fender Katsalidis’ international projects include Southeast Asia and the Middle East. They have designed the 90 story Eureka Tower, one of the highest residential towers in the world. Compared to earlier days, they enjoy work and the efficiency of it by using Information Technology that is translating their thoughts in to build reality.

China Design is the largest architectural firm in China with nearly 2,000 employees. Among the Group’s well-known masterpieces are Beijing Railway Station, China Art Gallery and many more completed projects in Beijing. Since 1986, the Group was awarded 289 design prizes, including 5 international prizes.

Dutch Architect Thomas Rau started his firm in 1993 and became best known for his ING-bank offices and Europe's first CO2-free building, the World Wildlife Fund headquarters in Zeist, Netherlands. Rau describes his guiding principle as "open-minded architecture", providing the client with what he/she really wants, and not necessarily with what he/she asked for.

Heralded in the press as changing the face of “Miami modernism”, Chad Oppenheim was awarded the AIA Outstanding Young Architect of the Year prize five years ago.

A virtuoso architect and equally famous sketch artist, he is famed for his large-scale projects in Europe and the Middle East. His Millennium Tower is a landmark building that can be seen across Vienna.

His Berlin-based practice boasts a host of embassies and Berlin’s tallest hotel building. With a long history of post-war reconstruction design, the firm has had a massive impact on the face of the city.

Last year Architectural Record voted this exuberant Mexican architect as at the vanguard of building design. A powerful exponent of ArchiCAD, he is an enthusiastic example to anyone who still doubts the power of virtual design.

His seminal works are in Berlin and include the Chancellery building and the much-acclaimed Crematorium, which brought him international recognition and inspired many other designers.

The practice was named the AIA Arizona 2004 Architectural Firm of the Year and 2005 Western Mountain Region Firm of the Year, having completed more than 1,800 projects worth billions in construction revenue. Absolutely devoted to ArchiCAD.

Nikken Sekkei Architects, Engineers and Planners is Japan’s largest design firm, and has worked on 20,000 projects across some 40 countries. It just won the Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA) architecture Gold Medal for the Laboratory for the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan.