Famous 18th Century Architects

Capability Brown was an English landscape architect and gardener. Regarded as the most popular figure in English landscape garden style history, Brown is also considered England's greatest gardener by many. Capability Brown is credited with designing more than 170 parks. His work had such an impact that the contributions of his predecessors William Kent and Charles Bridgeman are often overlooked.

Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford had begun his career as a mason at 14, having lost his father in infancy. A self-taught architect, he was responsible for building many structures, including the Caledonian Canal and the Menai Suspension Bridge. Named The Colossus of Roads, he symbolized the Scottish Enlightenment.

Italian architect, artist, and archaeologist Giovanni Battista Piranesi is best known for his 16-print series name The Prisons. His remarkable etchings of the famous landmarks of Rome exhibited his unique etching technique, which involved contrasts of light and shade. He made about 2,000 plates throughout his life.

English architect John Soane contributed immensely to the Neo-Classical style of architecture. Born to a bricklayer, Soane began training as an architect at 15. He soared to fame during his 45-year stint as an architect of the Bank of England and was also knighted for his achievements.

John Nash was a British architect of the Regency and Georgian eras, during which he designed several prominent areas of London using the picturesque and neoclassical styles. He is best remembered for designing popular edifices like Buckingham Palace, Marble Arch, and the Royal Pavilion. Nash also taught many future architects like John Adey Repton and James Pain.

Apart from being a Baroque-style architect, John Vanbrugh was also a well-known dramatist of the Restoration era. His works include the iconic The Provoked Wife and The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger. His most-loved designs include Lord Carlisle’s Castle Howard in Yorkshire. A staunch Whig, he was also part of the Kit-Cat Club.

Étienne-Louis Boullée was a French architect and visionary whose work continues to have a massive impact on the works of contemporary architects. A highly respected architect during his time, Boullée served as the chief architect under Frederick II of Prussia. Étienne-Louis Boullée is widely regarded as one of the most influential and prominent personalities of French neoclassical architecture. 

Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a Prussian painter, city planner, and architect. One of the most important architects of Germany, Schinkel designed both neogothic and neoclassical buildings. Apart from designing buildings, Karl Friedrich Schinkel also designed stage sets and furniture.

Claude Nicolas Ledoux was a French architect, known for developing an eclectic architectural style, linked with budding pre-Revolutionary social ideals. First noticed for his imaginative woodwork at Café militaire, he was soon flooded with commissions, designing numerous private houses in the neoclassical style for the French elite, also receiving commission for designing public buildings including the Ledoux’s Theatre of Besançon.

British-American William Thornton was initially trained in medicine and that is when he began drawing and sketching as part of his medical notes. He later won a contest for the design of the Library Company of Philadelphia's new hall. He also designed the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Best known for designing government buildings, Charles Bulfinch was also the first American-born architect. Educated at Harvard, he was later influenced by Neoclassical art. His designs included the Massachusetts State House and the Maine Capitol. He was also one of the architects of the United States Capitol.

James Gibbs, one of the most significant architects of his time, was trained in Rome and later merged the Italian and English styles of architecture. His best-known work includes the East Anglican St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London. While his works had elements of Baroque architecture, he was also influenced by Palladianism.

Aleijadinho was a Brazilian architect and sculptor best remembered for his works in and on various churches of Brazil. Aleijadinho's works are generally considered some of the finest paradigms of Portuguese colonial architecture. Also among his best-known works are the famous Twelve Prophets, a set of soapstone sculptures at the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus of Matosinhos in Congonhas.

Seventeenth-century French Baroque architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart is best remembered for designing Versailles as the city planner of King Louis XIV. His great-uncle, François Mansart, who was one of the pioneers of classical French architecture. His other works include Place Vendôme and the Château de la Chaize in Odenas.

Born to a Scottish father in Sweden, Sir William Chambers initially traveled to Canton as part of the Swedish East India Company. After studying Chinese architecture, he moved on to Paris and then to Italy. The Georgian-period architect was a major pillar of the Palladian style of architecture.

The Baroque architecture of Austrian architect, sculptor, and architectural-historian Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, who penned the influential book titled A Plan of Civil and Historical Architecture, greatly influenced the Habsburg Empire and shaped the architectural tastes of Austrian aristocracy for decades. Two of his major works include the Austrian National Library in Vienna, and the Holy Trinity Church in Salzburg.

Known for his pioneering written work on railroad construction, engineer and architect William Strickland was also one of the leaders of the 19th-century Greek Revival style of architecture. He designed structures such as the US Mint, contributed to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and was also one of the first American lecturers of architecture.

Jacques-Germain Soufflot was a French architect credited with introducing neoclassicism to the world. Soufflot designed several important edifices, including the Panthéon in Paris which was originally built as a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve. Such was his popularity that by 1755 Jacques-Germain Soufflot had gained architectural control of all of Paris' royal buildings.

Best known for designing the Arc de Triomphe, Jean Chalgrin was a proponent of Neoclassical architect. The Prix de Rome winner was one of those responsible for the revival of the basilican style of church building. He died before he could complete the Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon.

One of the most significant architects of the 18th century, Ange-Jacques Gabriel built many major structures during the reign of Louis XV. Born to premier architect Jacques V, he later succeeded his father. His most notable works include the Place de la Concorde and the Petit Trianon at Versailles.

Mechanical engineer and naval architect Samuel Bentham was responsible for Russia’s victory over a Turkish force, using shell guns on warships. He had also visited China to study ship designs and had served as the inspector of English naval works. He was the younger brother of philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Jacques-François Blondel was a French teacher and architect who served as a professor at the Académie Royale d'Architecture after running his own school of architecture for several years. Jacques-François Blondel is credited with teaching many future architects like Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, Étienne-Louis Boullée, Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin, and Louis Jean Desprez. In 1755, he was made an inductee of the Académie Royale d'Architecture.

François de Cuvilliés was a Bavarian architect and decorative designer. He played a key role in bringing the Rococo style to the House of Wittelsbach and to Central Europe. He designed several important buildings, such as The Old Residence Theatre which he constructed for Elector Max III Joseph. François de Cuvilliés also wrote many treatises on decorative and artistic subjects.

Charles Percier introduced what is now known as the Empire style of interior decoration, along with Pierre Fontaine, whom he met while studying architecture in Paris. The Prix de Rome winner often blended Greco-Roman and Egyptian styles of architecture and co-designed much of the Louvre and the Tuileries Palace.

Baroque architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt was also a military engineer and influenced 18th-century European architecture to a great extent. Known for his unique architectural decoration, he designed some of the most impactful buildings of his era, such as the Belvedere in Vienna, the Schönborn Castle, and the Mirabell Palace.

Carlo Fontana was an Italian architect who worked closely with popular architects like Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, working as a draughtsman for their architectural plans. He then started working independently and went on to design the Santa Maria sopra Minerva's Casanate library, the ribbed hemispherical dome for Montefiascone's duomo, and the casino in the Vatican.