Robert Venturi

Date of Birth: June 25, 1925

Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Date of Death: September 18, 2018

Biography

Robert Venturi was an influential American architect, born on June 25, 1925, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is widely recognized as a principal figure in the postmodern architecture movement. Venturi’s work and theories have significantly shaped contemporary architectural thought and practice. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1947 and later earned his MFA there in 1950. Venturi’s career took off after he joined the office of Eero Saarinen and later collaborated with Louis Kahn. In 1964, he established his own firm, Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, with his wife and partner, Denise Scott Brown. Together, they challenged the minimalist doctrines of modernism, advocating for complexity and contradiction in architectural design. His notable works include the Vanna Venturi House, the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London, and the Seattle Art Museum. Venturi’s contributions to architecture were recognized with the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1991. He passed away on September 18, 2018, leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire architects worldwide.

5 Interesting Facts about Robert Venturi

1. Robert Venturi wrote the seminal book “Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture” (1966), which has been described as “the most important writing on the making of architecture since Le Corbusier’s ‘Vers Une Architecture’.”

2. He coined the term “Less is a bore” as a counter to Mies van der Rohe’s famous dictum “Less is more.”

3. Venturi and his wife Denise Scott Brown were awarded the AIA Gold Medal in 2016, making them the first pair to receive the award.

4. The Vanna Venturi House, designed by Venturi for his mother, is considered one of the earliest examples of postmodern architecture.

5. Venturi and Scott Brown’s book “Learning from Las Vegas” (1972) introduced the concept of the “Duck” and the “Decorated Shed” as metaphors for architectural form and function.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Robert Venturi

1. “Less is a bore.”

2. “When circumstances defy order, order should bend or break: anomalies and uncertainties give validity to architecture.”

3. “You don’t have to like something to learn from it.”

4. “Modernism purged architecture of ornament, but it also purged it of meaning.”

5. “I am for richness of meaning rather than clarity of meaning.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

At the peak of his career, Robert Venturi’s net worth was estimated to be around $10 million.

Children

Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown had one son, James Venturi, who is a filmmaker and the founder of the film production company, ‘Reinventing the Wheel.’