Aug 20 2026
Born on August 20, 1910, in Kirkkonummi, Finland, Eero Saarinen became one of the architects who gave mid-century America its most memorable vision of the future. The soaring Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the sweeping TWA Flight Center at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, the dramatic terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport, and …
Jun 08 2026
Born on this day, June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin, Frank Lloyd Wright became one of the most influential architects of the 20th century. Over a career spanning more than seven decades, he challenged assumptions about what an American building should look like, how rooms should connect to one another, and how architecture should …
May 24 2026
Born on this day, May 24, 1905, in Spokane, Washington, George Katsutoshi Nakashima became one of the most influential American furniture makers and woodworkers of the 20th century. His tables, chairs, benches, cabinets, and architectural spaces are immediately recognizable for their extraordinary respect for the materials from which they were made. A Nakashima table might …
Apr 13 2026
Imagine walking into a room where the ceiling is unexpectedly yellow, one wall glows through translucent layers of color, a sculptural modern chair sits beside an antique object, and textiles from Europe or Asia appear alongside furniture by young Australian designers. Nothing is beige simply because beige is safe. Nothing has been selected merely because …
Nov 17 2025
Walter Peregoy did not seem particularly interested in making animation look safe. His backgrounds could be rough, angular, brilliantly colored, and deliberately incomplete. A building did not need every brick carefully rendered. A tree could become a collision of shapes and lines. Colors did not have to remain neatly contained within outlines, and the painted …
Nov 01 2025
Born on November 1, Hello Kitty has one of the most unusual birthdays in pop culture because the character herself has remained essentially timeless. She began with a white face, two black eyes, a yellow nose, whiskers, and a red bow, yet that remarkably simple design grew into one of the most recognizable visual identities …
Oct 18 2025
Born on October 18, 1903, in Zurich, Switzerland, Albert Frey became one of the architects most closely associated with Palm Springs and the development of Desert Modernism. He arrived in California with firsthand experience of European modernism, an enthusiasm for industrial materials, and a belief that architecture should respond intelligently to contemporary life. What he …
Jul 21 2025
Born on July 21, 1932, in Helsinki, Finland, Eero Aarnio became one of the designers who gave the Space Age its furniture. His Ball Chair looks like a private capsule waiting to be launched from a futuristic living room. The transparent Bubble Chair hangs from the ceiling like an enormous soap bubble. The Pastil can …
Jul 11 2025
Born on July 11, 1940, Toby Bluth built an unusually varied creative career that crossed animation, illustration, watercolor painting, theater, children’s books, production design, and Disney fine art. Although his older brother Don Bluth became more widely known as the director behind films such as The Secret of NIMH and An American Tail, Toby developed …
Jun 25 2025
Born on June 25, 1900, in New York City, Joseph Eichler became one of the most influential homebuilders of mid-century America without ever training as an architect. Instead, he was a developer with an unusually strong belief that ordinary families should be able to live in genuinely modern, architect-designed houses. At a time when much …
