Architects' Inspirations
Greg Penoyre's inspiration: The Golden Lane Estate, London
As the Golden Lane Estate marks 50 years since its completion, Greg Penoyre reveals its humane charms
Peter St John's inspiration: Housing at the Gallaratese Quarter by Aldo Rossi
Aldo Rossi’s Gallaratese housing in Milan showed Peter St John that modern architecture could incorporate classical themes
Quinlan and Francis Terry's inspiration: Somerset House, London
The father and son team revel in the glory of William Chambers’ classical building on the Strand
Julian Lewis’s inspiration: the 1960 Olympic Village, Rome
Julian Lewis of East looks to the outskirts of Rome for an example of rich urban placemaking
Stephen Hodder’s inspiration: Sainsbury Centre, Norwich
Stephen Hodder recalls how he was set to be a champion of vernacular architecture until he visited Foster Associates’ Sainsbury Centre
Cany Ash’s Inspiration: Unité d’Habitation, France
The co-founder of Ash Sakula Architects reveals the enduring impact of Le Corbusier’s town in the sky on her work
Jonathan Woolf’s inspiration: Mies van der Rohe's Krefeld villas, Germany
For architect Jonathan Woolf, Mies van der Rohe’s Krefeld villas offered a masterclass in how to approach the design of his own Brick Leaf House
Hans van der Heijden's inspiration: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The co-founder of BIQ on how his relationship with Rotterdam’s Boijmans museum has shadowed his own evolution as an architect
Jon Buck and Dominic Cullinan’s inspiration: Leicester Engineering Building
Jon Buck and Dominic Cullinan of Scabal Architects explain how Stirling & Gowan’s Engineering Building at Leicester University has been a point of influence for them and their work
Eric Parry's inspiration: Chilehaus, Hamburg
Eric Parry revisits Fritz Höger’s Chilehaus 1920s office building in Hamburg and applauds its urban rationalism and expressionist use of brick and ceramic
Takero Shimazaki's inspiration: Hexenhaus, Germany
Takero Shimazaki explains how the Smithsons’ collaboration with a German furniture manufacturer gave him a new approach to design.
Paul Monaghan’s inspiration: Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool
Paul Monaghan of AHMM tells how the boldness of Frederick Gibberd’s Catholic cathedral made a far-reaching impression
Tony Fretton's inspiration: Woodland Cemetery
Tony Fretton explains why the calm beauty and powerful symbolism of Stockholm Woodland Cemetery, designed by Asplund and Lewerentz, makes it a place to which he repeatedly returns.
Rab and Denise Bennetts' inspiration: St Catherine’s College
Rab and Denise Bennetts explain how a visit to Oxford’s St Catherine’s College as students led them to set up their own achitecture course
Roger Hawkins and Russell Brown’s inspiration: Koolhaas’s Kunsthal in Rotterdam
Russell Brown and Roger Hawkins explain how Koolhaas’s Kunsthal cultural building has been a starting point to much of their work
Sergison Bates’ inspiration: Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire
Stephen Bates and Jonathan Sergison explain how studying Hardwick Hall has helped them broaden their architectural education.
Tom de Paor’s inspiration: St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, Ireland
Tom de Paor admires William Burges’s all-encompassing approach to the design of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral
Stephen Witherford and William Mann’s inspiration: Utrecht City Hall
The eclectic collision of old and new in Miralles Tagliabue Architects’ Utrecht City Hall creates a unique spirit that has made a strong impression on Witherford Watson Mann
Tom Holbrook’s inspiration: The Adelphi, London
The Adam brothers’ Georgian Adelphi development appeals as much for its entrepreneurialism as its architecture
Tim Ronalds’ inspiration: Gothenburg Law Courts Extension
Tim Ronalds explains why he rates Asplund’s building not only for its beauty but also for the way it marked the evolution of modernism and its reflection of a more democratic society
David Kohn's inspiration: Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milan
The ambiguous, eclectic style of Portaluppi’s Milanese villa keeps drawing David Kohn back to experience the magic of its interior.
Neil Spiller's inspiration: Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia
Bartlett professor Neil Spiller explains how Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece has resonated with him through the different stages of his career
Michál Cohen’s inspiration: Hellerup School
Michál Cohen of Walters & Cohen Architects explains why this Copenhagen school, built only eight years ago, transformed her notions of what a school could be like, and tells how she has fared trying to introduce its ideas to British clients
Renato Benedetti’s inspiration: Rome’s Pantheon
Renato Benedetti explains how the 2,000-year-old Pantheon, with its adaptability over the centuries has influenced him at a fundamental level
Piers Gough's inspiration: The Barbican by Chamberlin, Powell & Bon
When Piers Gough came to study at the AA in the sixties, the Barbican represented the three-dimensional future of the city. Here he looks at how its baroque confidence has influenced his buildings
Deborah Saunt and David Hills on the Gardens of Versailles
The founders of DSDHA revisit Versailles and reveal why it’s the gardens, not the chateau, that matter
James Soane’s inspiration: Liverpool Playhouse extension
The glamour and confidence of a sixties extension to a 19th century theatre had an early influence on James Soane of Project Orange
Clare Wright looks at her changing relationship with the Glasgow School of Art building
The Wright & Wright partner explains how Mackintosh’s building has influenced her as a child, a student and an architect
Adam Caruso on the impact of Liverpool’s pioneering Ellis Buildings
When the Caruso St John partner first moved to England, Peter Ellis’s Oriel Chambers and 16 Cook Street offices were among the first buildings he made a visit to see
Charlie Sutherland finds inspiration at Fort George in the Highlands
Sutherland Hussey’s Charlie Sutherland explains how an 18th century fort built to suppress Jacobite uprisings has influenced much of his practice’s work
