Credit: Nuestro Stories
All around the world, Latinos have managed to leave an indelible mark on the cultural, and oftentimes, literal landscape wherever they go. When it comes to the United States, the list of contributions made by Latino people is endless. Food. Music. Clothing. Art. You name it, our influence is somewhere in it.
Read more: Latin American Inventions That Changed the World
When it comes to the physical landscape, our fingerprints are there, too. From our hands, buildings that seemingly touch the sky have formed in cities like San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles – which is why today we are honoring three Latino architects whose presence are felt in the building of worlds.
Cesar Pelli, the architect responsible for San Francisco’s tallest building
Born in Argentina in the mid 1920s, Cesar Pelli is one of the most prolific Latino architects of this generation, and is responsible for the creation of some of the world’s tallest buildings. To this day, the Salesforce Tower is still the tallest building in San Francisco; it is one of the buildings that is noted to stand out as you drive over the Bay Bridge to enter into the city. From San Francisco’s tallest tower, to Manhattan’s Brookfield Plaza in Manhattan, and the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, Pelli is an architectural force to be reckoned with. One of our favorite facts about Pelli though? He didn’t get started until much later in life. In fact, he didn’t open his first firm until he was in his 50’s reminding us all that there is no such thing as too late to make a change.
There aren’t many architects like Tatiana Bilbao
This Mexico City born and raised art-chitect (a mixture of artist and architect) has often been called an architectural prodigy. Her work, such as San Francisco’s Hunters Point Masterplan, merges the tangible with the intangible by not only building functional structures, but by envisioning solutions to problems such as affordable housing and sustainable living. She has had projects, buildings, and retrospectives of her work shown everywhere from the U.S., to Mexico, to Europe and back. Turning 50 this year, if her previous half century is any indication, this next chapter of Bilbao’s life will continue to grow and evolve architecture on the whole.
Gustavo Rodriguez’s inner child is thriving
With a love of architecture that started from his days growing up – playing Legos in Santo Domingo – Gustavo Rodriguez incorporates his inner child in the architectural work he creates. His unique creativity is evidenced on Long Island. For example, The Forge, his 38-story building, is designed to make it look like it visually exists in the 2D. Its streamline architecture, almost stacked structure, appears flattened against the skyline – and with its shimmering windows casting reflections of New York the structure becomes camouflaged. A seemingly impossible feat for a massive metal construct that stands hundreds of feet tall, but Rodriguez’s sensibilities made it so.
