Andrea Palladio (30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an architect active in the Republic of Venice. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily by Vitruvius, is widely considered the most influential individual in the history of Western architecture. All of his buildings are located in what was the Venetian Republic, but his teachings, summarized in the architectural treatise, The Four Books of Architecture, gained him wide recognition. The city of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

He was born on November 30, 1508 in Padua under the name of Andrea Di Pietro della Gondola and lived until August 19, 1580. His father Pietro called "della Gondola" was a miller. From early on, Andrea Palladio was introduced into the work of building. In Padua he gained his first experiences as a stonecutter in the sculpture workshop of Bartolomeo Cavazza da Sossano, who is said to have imposed particularly hard working conditions. At the age of 16 he moved to Vicenza where he would reside for most of his life. In fact, in April 1524, after one failed attempt, Palladio managed to run away to Vicenza. Here he became an assistant in the Pedemuro studio, a leading workshop of stonecutters and masons. He joined a guild of stonemasons and bricklayers. He was employed as a stonemason to make monuments and decorative sculptures. These sculptures reflected the Mannerist style of the architect Michele Sanmicheli.

Arata Isozaki (磯崎 新, Isozaki Arata; born 23 July 1931) is a Japanese architect from Ōita. He graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1954. Isozaki worked under Kenzo Tange before establishing his own firm in 1963. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1986.

In 2005, Arata Isozaki founded the Italian branch of his office: Arata Isozaki & Andrea Maffei Associates. Two major projects from this office are currently underway: CityLife office tower, a redevelopment project in the former trade fair area in Milan, and the new Town Library in Maranello, Italy.

Sir David Alan Chipperfield CBE, RA, RDI, RIBA (born 18 December 1953) is a British architect, born in London. He has offices in London, Berlin and Milan, and a representative office in Shanghai. Uncompromisingly modernist in outlook, his practice is driven by a consistent philosophical approach, rather than a 'house style'.^{[citation needed]}

Chipperfield studied Architecture at Kingston Polytechnic, graduating in 1976 along with the Architectural Association in London. He worked at the practices of Douglas Stephen, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, and in 1984 established his own practice, David Chipperfield Architects. The practice — which has offices in London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai — has over 250 staff from 15 countries, working on a variety of projects in Europe, the United States and China.

Chipperfield first made his reputation in Japan in the 1980s. Among his early projects in England that revealed his rigorous and elemental approach to design included a shop for Issey Miyake on London's Sloane Street in 1983, and a house for the fashion photographer Nick Knight. Later, Chipperfield designed the award-winning River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames using green oak cladding, concrete and glass. Chipperfield was the only British architect to be shortlisted for the commission to design Tate Modern.