Test your design IQ
MANILA, Philippines - Who was the British eclectic architect of the Georgian period known for Palladian style structures like the Somerset House and Kew Gardens?
He was born on Feb. 23, 1723 in Gothenburg to a merchant of Scottish descent living in Sweden.
Between 1740 and 1749, he was employed by the Swedish East India Company making three voyages to China where he studied Chinese architecture and decoration.
Returning to Europe, he studied architecture in Paris with JF Blondel, and spent five years in Italy. In 1755, he moved to London, where he established an architectural practice.
Through the recommendation of the 4th Earl of Bute in 1757, he was appointed architectural tutor to the Prince of Wales, later George III, and with 1766 with Robert Adam, architect to the King.
This appointment led to an extremely successful career as an official architect. He helped found the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768, and was its first treasurer. Upon receiving the knighthood of the Polar Star from the King of Sweden, he was allowed by George III to assume the rank and title of an English knight.
His best-known works are the Somerset House in London, now home of the Courtauld Institute Galleries; the Casino in Marino, near Dublin; Duddginston House in Edinburgh; and the ornamental buildings, including the Pagoda in Kew Gardens in Surrey, which he did for Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales. In the last, he went as far as in the direction of Romantic eclecticism as any architect of his time. In general, he was an architectural conservative who used a profound knowledge of European architecture to give a new look to the widely accepted motifs of Palladianism.
From 1758 to the mid 1770s, he concentrated on building houses for the nobility, beginning with one for Lord Bessborough in Roehampton.
He died in London in 1796 and is buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey.
Last week’s question: Who is the American chef who is said to have defined San Diego, California’s cuisine with his Georges at the Cove restaurant?
Answer: Trey Foshee
Winner: Alyssa Krixia C. Perez of Calamba, Laguna
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