Pietro Belluschi
Who? He was a controversial modernist pioneer who worked as a civil engineer, designer and architect. Among other claims to fame, Belluschi helped start the career of Chinese-born legend
I.M. Pei, securing him some major commissions.
What's his story? Born in 1899 in Ancona, Italy, Belluschi trained as an engineer at the University of Rome and Cornell University, emigrating to the United States in 1923. After working as a mining engineer, he joined the Portland-based architecture firm A.E. Doyle. Belluschi was its chief designer for several years before becoming a partner in 1933. He assumed control of the firm under his own name in 1943. During his Portland phase, Belluschi designed several commercial buildings in the embryonic International Style.
What is Belluschi best known for? The Pan Am (now Met Life) building (above right) in New York, which was completed in 1963 with the help of Bauhaus School founder Walter Gropius and skyscraper fanatic Emery Roth. Even sterner than the average International edifice, it is classified as a peerless example of Brutalist architecture. The building's stretched octagonal shape was meant to echo a plane's wing. It can be seen as an eyesore or the boldest statement on the New York skyline.
Another striking example is St. Mary's Cathedral in San Fran-cisco. From the outside it looks like a scalpel but on the inside a floral design greets the eye. One can see it as a twee exercise in pseudo-spiritual indulgence or a masterpiece that reaches out to the soul of the visitor.
What else was Belluschi responsible for? Quite a lot - he claimed to have more than 1,000 buildings and projects in his portfolio. As his career evolved he won approval from the establishment. From 1951 to 1965, he acted as dean of architecture and planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1972, he received the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects. He died just shy of 100 in 1994.
How has his reputation stood? University of Washington architecture scholar Meredith Clausen, who is the author of his biography, says it is difficult to gauge. 'Jury's still out ... His work appeals to some, seems banal and derivative to others. He had an extraordinarily keen eye, combined with a sharp mind; he thought like an engineer, but at the same time with the sensitivity of an artist.'
