Like Father, Like Son

In an idle moment, I made a list of celebrated architectural dynasties. There are many examples in the past, when knowledge was passed down informally from father to son:

Bartolomeo Sanmicheli and his brother Giovanni and his son Micheli

Andrea Palladio and his son Silla

François Mansart and his grandnephew Jules Hardouin-Mansart

Jacques V. Gabriel and his son Ange-Jacques

William Adam and his sons Robert and John

James Wyatt and his sons Benjamin Dean and Philip

Sir George Gilbert Scott and his son George Gilbert Jr. and his son Sir Giles Gilbert

Samuel Pepys Cockerell and his son Charles Robert and his son Frederick Pepys

Sir Charles Barry and his son Sir John

Benjamin Henry Latrobe and his son Henry

Richard Upjohn and his son Richard M. and his son Hobart

The practice has continued in modern times:

Frank Lloyd Wright and his sons John Lloyd and Lloyd

Eliel Saarinen and his son Eero

Albert Speer and his son Albert

Richard Neutra and his son Dion

Carlo Scarpa and his son Tobia

Emery Roth and his sons Julian and Richard

Edward Durrel Stone and his son Hicks

I.M. Pei and his sons Chien Chung and Li Chung

Cesar Pelli and his son Rafael

Quinlan Terry and his son Francis

Glenn Murcutt and his son Nick

Hugh Newell Jacobsen and his son Simon

It’s a surprisingly long list. Or, maybe, not surprising—growing up with an architect father must create a heightened sense of one’s surroundings. In some cases the father’s reputation dominates, in others the son’s. Robert Adam outshone his father, Henry Latrobe didn’t. In several cases—the Barrys, the Saarinens, the Scarpas—both generations achieved renown. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who designed the classic (and classical) British red telephone box, had a not-so-famous architect-father, and a very famous architect-grandfather. In quite a few of the modern cases, given current longevity, father and son work together (Pei, Pelli, Terry, Jacobsen). The name recognition helps, too, of course.