Architect

Architect

b. January 20, 1872
d. February 2, 1957

“My buildings will be my legacy … they will speak for me long after I’m gone.”

Julia Morgan is recognized as the first truly independent female architect in America and the first female architect licensed by the state of California. She designed nearly 800 projects in California and Hawaii, including the famous Hearst Castle in San Simeon.

Born in San Francisco and raised in Oakland, California, Morgan graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in civil engineering. She was the only female engineer in her class. After Morgan received her bachelor’s degree, an instructor encouraged her to pursue architectural studies at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The school, which had never admitted a woman, initially refused her application. She was accepted eventually after reapplying and became the first female to graduate with a certificate in architecture.

Upon graduation, Morgan returned to San Francisco and began working for John Galen Howard, a successful architect, on the University of California’s master plan. Morgan worked on designs for several buildings on the Berkeley campus and served as the primary designer of Berkley’s Hearst Greek Theater.

In 1904 Morgan became the first woman to obtain an architecture license from the state of California and opened her own firm. She completed many notable commissions, including Phoebe Hearst’s Hacienda del Pozo de Verona in Pleasanton, California, and multiple buildings on the campus of Mills College.

After the 1906 earthquake, Morgan was hired to repair the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Her innovative use of reinforced concrete was expected to help the building survive future earthquakes. She also oversaw construction of a series of YWCAs in California, Hawaii and Utah. Her California vernacular style included distinctive elements such as exposed support beams, horizontal lines that blend with the landscape, shingles, local redwood and earth tones.

In 1919 the newspaper publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst hired Morgan to design a main building and guest houses for his ranch in San Simeon, later known as Hearst Castle. Over the course of 28 years, Morgan designed most of the structures, grounds, pools, animal shelters, and workers’ camps and supervised nearly every aspect of construction. The finished property included a total of 42 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms and 127 acres of gardens. It remains an iconic landmark and tourist attraction.

Morgan received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from UC Berkeley in 1929. She was inducted posthumously into the California Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2014, 57 years after her death, she became the first woman to receive the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal.

Philanthropist

b. 1958

“It’s about supporting people who are trying to live in peace as openly gay or lesbian or transgender people.”

Jon Stryker is a philanthropist and leading funder of national and international LGBT organizations.

Stryker was raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Kalamazoo College and a master’s degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. He is an heir to the Stryker fortune and a major shareholder in Stryker Corporation, a hospital and surgical equipment manufacturer.

Stryker founded and solely funded the Arcus Foundation, the largest grantmaker for LGBT issues. Established in 2000, the foundation’s mission also includes conservation of the great apes.

In addition to the foundation, Stryker has personally donated more than $247 million to LGBT causes and great ape conservation. He is a founding board member of the Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya and Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Florida. The threatened colobine species Rhinopithecus strykeri was named in his honor.

A registered architect, he is the president of Depot Landmark, which specializes in the rehabilitation of historic buildings. Since 2004, he has been a Global Philanthropists Circle Member. In 2008, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force awarded Stryker the Creating Change Award.

Stryker is divorced with two children. In 2011, he was listed among The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s top 50 donors. The following year, Forbes named him one of the “400 Richest People in America.”

Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect

b. March 6, 1475

d. February 18, 1564

"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark."

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni is considered one of the greatest artists of all time. His art typified the High Renaissance style with use of naturalistic light, depiction of realistic figures and emphasis on the beauty of nature. One of the true "Renaissance men," his talent encompassed fine art, architecture and poetry. He was referred to as "Il Divino" ("The Divine One").

Michelangelo was born in the Tuscany region of Italy. At age 13, he started an apprenticeship in Florence with Domenic Ghirlandaio, from whom he learned fresco painting.

He moved to Rome and received a commission from the French ambassador to the Holy See, the central government of the Catholic Church. In 1497, he completed one of Christendom’s most significant artworks, the "Pietà." The lifelike marble sculpture depicts Mary cradling the body of Christ after the Crucifixion.

His colossal marble statue "David" is considered the masterpiece of High Renaissance sculpture. Completed in 1501, the sculpture is 17 feet tall and is exhibited in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Florence.

Michelangelo was a primary architect of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and the sole designer of its dome. From 1508 to 1512, he painted what would become his most famous work, the ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The frescoes include "The Creation of Adam," in which God’s finger stretches out to give Adam life. These murals are considered the most magnificent and spiritual art of the Roman Catholic Church.

A lover of male beauty, Michelangelo's lyrical poetry described his same sex-affection. He wrote: 

            The flesh now earth, and here my bones,

            Bereft of handsome eyes, and jaunty air,

            Still loyal are to him I joyed in bed,

            Whom I embraced, in whom my soul now lives.

Architect

b. July 8, 1906
d. January 25, 2005

"The job of the architect today is to create beautiful buildings. That's all."

Proportion, minimalism and geometry were elements Philip Johnson combined to create his masterpieces, which include iconic New York buildings. It seemed destined that Johnson, the descendant of Huguenot Jacques Cortelyou, who designed the town plan of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York), would leave an indelible mark on the city.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Johnson studied philosophy and history at Harvard. His education was regularly interrupted by long trips to Europe where he saw architecture that influenced his designs.

At New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), he co-curated an exhibition that tracked recent trends in building. The show, "The International Style: Architecture Since 1922," included Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe and provided the official introduction of modern architecture to the United States.

During the Great Depression, Johnson pursued a career in journalism abroad. He subsequently enlisted in the U.S. Army. After his military service, Johnson enrolled in the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he realized his passion for architecture.

Philip Johnson's work is characterized by innovation. In a career spanning almost 60 years, he developed a reputation for flexibility and foresight.

Johnson founded the Department of Architecture and Design at MoMA and served as a trustee of the museum. He was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal (1978) and the first-ever Pritzker Architecture Prize (1979).

The Glass House (1949), which he designed for himself, is a modest 56-foot-by-32-foot rectangle with exterior walls made almost entirely of glass. The building, in New Canaan, Connecticut, incorporates the bucolic setting as an integral part of the home's ambiance.

His other seminal works are the New York State Pavilion for the World's Fair (1964), MoMA's east wing and sculpture garden (1964), Pennzoil Place in Houston (1975), and the Sony Building in New York City (1984).

The architect shared the last 40 years of his life with his partner, David Whitney, who died only months after Johnson.