Father’s Day 2025: 10 indomitable father-child architect duos

A highlight of their father-son collaboration was the Norddeutsche Landesbank (NORD/LB) building in Hanover, Germany. Its stacked, angled volumes under a lightweight glass and steel cable façade marked a departure from Günter's earlier organic style toward a more dynamic, informal architectural expression.

In 1989, the younger Behnisch established the parallel Stadtbüro branch office, which ran alongside his father’s firm until Günter’s retirement and Behnisch & Partners’ closure in 2005.

The practice then adopted the name Behnisch Architekten, with Stefan leading its dedication to sustainable principles, while honouring Günter’s pioneering deconstructivist vision, even after his 2010 passing.

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Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava has redefined skylines globally with his innovative, neo-futuristic projects resembling living organisms. Also a sculptor, he has extensively explored the connection between art and architecture in his sinuous, organic forms.

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Among Calatrava’s celebrated masterpieces are the soaring 45-metre white arched roofs he designed for the Athens Olympic Stadium, the wings symbolising Greece’s new century while reinterpreting the ancient capital. 

Another icon is the World Trade Center Transportation hub named The Oculus in New York City, where the ribbed, cathedral-like structure filtering light and shadow evokes a bird taking flight–a poignant civic symbol rising at the September 11 memorial site.

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Besides working extensively alongside his father, Gabriel Calatrava also carries forward his legacy through Collaborative Architecture Laboratory (CAL), an interdisciplinary firm founded in 2015 that synthesises architectural, structural and environmental principles across residential, cultural and commercial typologies.

Ongoing CAL projects include the sculptural, tropics-embracing Phu Quoc Hotel and Villas in Vietnam, and the Sohar Bank in Muscat, Oman–both harmonising form, function and context that mirror the elder Calatrava’s pioneering vision of architecture as an intersection of art and engineering.

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Hailed as the father of modern Malaysian architecture, Hijjas Kasturi has left an indelible mark on the country’s built landscape through iconic landmarks.

One standout is the Maybank Tower in Kuala Lumpur, its form inspired by an upward-pointing sheathed (a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger)–an iconic example of modern Malaysian architecture incorporating traditional elements.

His daughter, Serena Hijjas, embraced her father’s contextual tropical design ethos when she joined Hijjas Architects + Planners in 1991 after a formative stint at Foster + Partners UK.

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A pivotal father-daughter collaboration was Kuala Lumpur’s Telekom Tower, also known as TM Tower, its façade resembling a sprouting bamboo shoot.  

Completed in 2002 and recognised as one of ASEAN’s leading energy-efficient buildings in 2005, the 55-storey tower preceded the country’s eco-building boom as Malaysia’s first green high-rise that features sky gardens, underfloor cooling and daylight harvesting. 

The Telekom Tower exemplified Hijjas’ advocacy for sustainability–an approach now core to Serena’s practice after taking over the firm's stewardship following her father's 2011 retirement.

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While studying in schools that focused on the Beaux-Arts style, Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei found an affinity with modernism after discovering Le Corbusier’s works. 

Subsequently, he also worked closely with Bauhaus masters Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, honing a thoroughly modernist style combining traditional principles with progressive geometric designs.

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Pei’s iconic Louvre Pyramid with 673 glass panes allow light into the underground Louvre Museum while framing views of the Louvre Palace. Whereas, the monumental Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong is a supertall skyscraper consisting of triangular frameworks covered by glass curtain walls.

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The Pritzker Prize winner’s influence extended to his Harvard graduate sons Chieng Chun (Didi) and Li Chung (Sandi), whom I.M founded PEI Architects with, carrying his legacy after his passing in 2019. 

The PEI practice’s recent milestone is the Bank of China Head Office’s “Kissing Towers” in Shanghai–two glass-façade skyscrapers seemingly locking lips in the upper levels, reminiscent of I.M’s Hong Kong tower.

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Finnish-American architect Eliel Saarinen pioneered the National Romantic style in his hometown of Helsinki, Finland. 

His most internationally recognised work is exemplified by the Helsinki Central railway station, a masterpiece of Finnish architecture, with its heavy stone and late Art Nouveau design that inspired railway station architecture globally. 

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After emigrating to the US and establishing Saarinen, Swanson and Associates, his son Eero, a Yale School of Architecture graduate, joined in 1936. 

Their most notable collaboration was the Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York, acclaimed for its exceptional acoustics and graceful architecture.

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When Eliel passed in 1950, Eero took over the practice’s helm, emerging as one of mid-20th century America’s preeminent architects and a leader of the International style. 

The younger Saarinen’s iconic works include the soaring 630-foot Gateway Arch in St Louis, Missouri, and the swooping TWA Flight Center terminal of thin-shell construction at New York’s JFK Airport.

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Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie has pioneered socially responsible design across six decades of iconic projects.

Most renowned are Singapore’s landmark Marina Bay Sands integrated resort with its iconic 340-metre skyway, and the community-centric Jewel Changi Airport featuring the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, the Rain Vortex, surrounded by a terraced forest setting.

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Safdie’s pioneering vision took shape with his debut project Habitat 67 in Montreal in 1967–a brutalist masterpiece of 146 affordable residences constructed from 354 prefabricated concrete forms, which the young architect with his family, including daughter Taal, moved into one of the units when they opened.

Growing up immersed in Habitat’s model for integrated urban living, Taal seemed destined to follow her father’s footsteps. In 1993, she co-founded the award-winning Safdie Rabines Architects in San Diego with husband Ricardo Rabines.

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While Moshe’s ethos of combining social activism with innovative technologies and contextual design sensibilities are reflected in subsequent high-density housing like Sky Habitat in Singapore and Habitat Qinhuangdao in China; they also manifested in Taal’s thoughtful developments: from the UCLA Court of Sciences Student Center, to a thriving residential portfolio under the husband-and-wife moniker.

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No discussion of 20th century architectural marvels is complete without Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed over 1,000 buildings across his 70-year career, and pioneered American movements like organic architecture and the Prairie School style.

While the elder Wright crafted icons like New York’s Guggenheim Museum and Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel (which remarkably survived the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake due to its solid foundation and steel construction); his eldest son Lloyd Wright Jr initially carved his own path in landscape architecture, before eventually aligning in his father’s footsteps.

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The younger Wright’s use of repeated concrete block patterns in residences presaged his father’s famous “textile block” houses in Los Angeles, culminating in his ornate Mayan-themed Sowden Residence that earned the “Jaws House” moniker for its shark mouth-like façade.

Another iconic Wright Jr work is the Wayfarers Chapel–known as “The Glass Church”–in California, which applied his father’s revolutionary organic principles.

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The Lloyd Wright apple didn’t fall far from the tree: Lloyd Wright Jr’s son, Eric was an architect responsible for the restoration of many of his father’s and grandfather’s works; and Lloyd Wright Sr’s second eldest estranged son, John, was father to architect Elizabeth Wright Ingraham.

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Austrian-born and Los Angeles–based, Richard Neutra was a seminal figure in Southern California modernism, pioneering indoor-outdoor living through sleek glass-and-steel materials that harmonised buildings with nature and human psychology.

Beyond his best-known works–including the Lovell Health House, Kaufmann Desert House, and his own VDL Research House–Richard also coined the term “biorealism” in his 1954 book Survival Through Design, which anticipated today’s environmental psychology and sustainable design by emphasising architecture attuned to both environment and human senses.

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Dion, Richard’s son and longtime collaborator, continued and expanded the Richard and Dion Neutra Architects and Associates through both collaborative projects and solo works, such as the Huntington Beach Central Library, a landmark of civic modernism.

Dion was also a tireless advocate for preservation, who fought to save endangered Neutra buildings that helped define Los Angeles’s architectural identity, including the VDL House and Reunion House, where he later lived.

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He also co-founded the Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design, which he later revitalised as a centre for research and outreach. The institute is currently led by his youngest son, Raymond, who continues preservation efforts–including digital archives, historic site restorations, and AR-enhanced tours–to ensure their legacy of humanistic, ecologically sensitive design endures for future generations.

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After moving to Los Angeles in 1894, British-born architect John Parkinson profoundly influenced the city’s urban identity, creating works that laid the foundation for the city’s modern skyline.

Together with his son Donald Parkinson–who joined the Parkinson & Parkinson practice after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology–they designed over 400 buildings that redefined Los Angeles’ architectural landscape.

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While John’s Beaux-Arts influence gradually gave way to Donald’s preference for Moderne and Art Deco styles, the duo’s ability to blend classical symmetry with modern innovation reflected broader shifts in American architecture. 

Their most iconic contributions include the Los Angeles City Hall, a monumental Art Deco civic tower that still dominates the downtown skyline; Union Station, a grand fusion of Spanish Colonial Revival and Streamline Moderne that continues to operate as a major transit centre; and the Bullocks Wilshire Building, a luxury department store celebrated for its copper tower and sleek vertical lines that now houses the Southwestern Law School.

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Jamaican-born architect Richard Henriquez is a pioneering figure in Canadian architecture known for his sculptural designs that blend historical memory, urban myth, and social purpose.

A recipient of the 2005 Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal and the Order of Canada in 2017, Richard’s standout projects include the Sylvia Hotel Tower, Gaslight Square, and the BC Cancer Research Centre–all of which helped shape Vancouver’s architectural identity.

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His son, Gregory, joined Henriquez Partners in the late 1980s. Together, the father-son duo has transformed the firm into a beacon of socially conscious architecture, with projects defined not only by aesthetic excellence but also by civic responsibility and ethical purpose.

Deeply committed to ethical design, Gregory views architecture as a tool for social justice. He is best known for the ambitious Woodward’s Redevelopment, a landmark project in Vancouver that integrated market-rate condominiums with non-profit housing, educational spaces, and civic amenities–proving that socially equitable development could be achieved without government subsidy.

His current projects, such as the Oakridge Centre in Vancouver and the Mirvish Village in Toronto, continue this inclusive approach, often combining affordable and luxury housing with public services.

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