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Discover›Design & architecture
Contents
Robert Venturi
Architect

Robert Venturi

Famoose for

Questioning modernist simplicity in buildings and architectural theory.

Complexity and Contradiction

Born
25 June 1925
Birthplace
Philadelphia
Died
18 September 2018

More people

Zaha HadidDesigning buildings with sweeping, fluid forms.Coco ChanelBuilding Chanel and popularising a simpler style of women’s dress.Christian DiorIntroducing the New Look that reshaped postwar fashion.

Robert Venturi

American architect who worked closely with Denise Scott Brown. His writing and designs encouraged attention to contradiction, symbolism and everyday commercial landscapes.

Early life

Architectural education

Grew up in Philadelphia and studied at Princeton. Worked with Eero Saarinen and Louis Kahn before a Rome fellowship.

Career

  1. 1954

    Rome Prize

    Studied and travelled in Europe.

  2. 1959–1967

    Pennsylvania teaching

    Taught at the University of Pennsylvania, where he met Scott Brown.

  3. 1991

    Pritzker Prize

    Received the architecture award.

Selected buildings

Complexity and Contradiction

Published his influential argument for richer architectural language.

Beyond architecture

Family and collaboration

Shared both life and professional practice with Denise Scott Brown. Their son James also entered architectural and planning work.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: todd sheridan from New York, United States. CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.