People
Below is an evolving visual list of practitioners I have encountered in my research over the past five weeks. While by no means exhaustive, I have attempted to curate a group of pattern makers across time, place, ethnicity and gender—working in fields as seemingly-disparate as architecture, economics, music and quantum physics.
Each has—in their own way—contributed to the incredible history, theory, practice and critique of ornament and pattern making.
Aaron Marcus
American, 1943–presentInterface Designer
Adolf Loos
Austrian-Czech, 1870–1933
Architect, Theorist
Architect, Theorist
Agnes Martin
Canadian-American, 1912–2004Artist
Allan McCollum
American, 1944–presentArtist
Albrecht Dürer
German, 1471–1528
Artist
Artist
Alexander Girard
American, 1907–1993Architect, Textile Designer
Alphonse Mucha
Czech, 1860–1939Painter, Illustrator
Alice Turner
Australian, 1985–present
Artist
Artist
Alvin Lustig
American, 1915–1955
Graphic Designer
Graphic Designer
Angelo Testa
American, 1921–1984Textile Designer
Anni Albers
German-American, 1899–1994
Textile Designer, Printmaker
Anna Maria Garthwaite
English, 1688–1763Textile Designer
August Ferdinand Möbius
German, 1790–1868Mathematician
Archimedes
Greek, 287–212 BCMathematician
Augustus Pugin
English, 1812–1852Architect
Benoit Mandelbrot
Polish-French-American, 1924–2010Mathematician
Barbara Brown
English, 1932–presentTextile Designer
Birgit Antoni
German, 1956–Painter
Branko Grünbaum
Yugoslav-Jewish, 1929–2018Mathematician
Blinky Palermo
German, 1943–1977
Painter
Painter
Bridget Riley
English, 1931–Artist
Buckminster Fuller
American, 1895–1983Architect
Bruno Munari
Italian, 1907–1998
Artist, Designer
Artist, Designer
Carl Lostritto
American, 1983–Architect, Computational Designer
Casey Reas
American, 1972–Artist
Carsten Nicolai
German, 1965–
Artist, Musician
Artist, Musician
Dan Funderburgh
American, 1978–Designer
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
American, 1860–1935Novelist
Dan Shechtman
Israeli-American, 1941–Nobel Prize-winning Chemist
Daniel Buren
French, 1938–Artist
Desmond Paul Henry
English, 1921–2004Machine Artist
Eadweard Muybridge
English, 1830–1904Photographer
Edward Norton Lorenz
American, 1917–2008Mathematician
Erwin Hauer
American-Austrian, 1926–2017Sculptor
Ethel Stein
American, 1917–2008
Textile Artist
Textile Artist
Ettore Sottsass
Italian, 1917–2007Architect, Designer
Fanette Mellier
French, 1977–Graphic Designer
Evgraf Fedorov
Russian, 1853–1919Mathematician, Crystallographer
Florence Broadhurst
Australian, 1899–1977Textiles Designer
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Franco Grignani
Italian, 1908–1999
Franco GrignaniArchitect, Graphic Designer
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Frank Lloyd Wright
American, 1867–1959
Frank Lloyd WrightArchitect
Frei Otto
German, 1925–2015Architect, Structural Engineer
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George Cacioppo
American, 1927–1984
George CacioppoComposer
Gio Ponti
Italian, 1891–1979Architect, Designer
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Hector Guimard
French, 1867–1942
Hector GuimardArchitect
Hans Vredeman de Vries
Dutch, 1527–1607Architect
Hella Jongerius
Dutch, 1963–Industrial Designer
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Iris Van Herpen
Dutch, 1984–
Iris Van HerpenFashion Designer
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James Nolan Gandy
American, 1979–
James Nolan GandyMechanical Draftsman
Johann Sebastian Bach
German, 1685–1750Composer, Musician
Johannes Kepler
German, 1571–1630
Astronomer, Mathematician
Astronomer, Mathematician
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Jürg Lehni
Swiss, 1978–
Jürg LehniDesigner
Karel Martens
Dutch, 1939–Graphic Designer
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Karl Nawrot
French, 1979–
Karl NawrotGraphic Designer
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Lev Manovich
Russian, 1960–
Computer Scientist, Theorist
Lebbeus Woods
American, 1940–2012Architect, Theorist
Lilian Schwartz
American, 1927–Artist, Computer Graphics Pioneer
And many, many more to come!
| Louis Sullivan |
| Lucienne Day |
| Maija Isola |
| Marcel Wanders |
| Margarete Riessen |
| Marthe Armitage |
| Matteo Thun |
| Max Brückner |
| MC Escher |
| Michael Lin |
| Nathalie du Pasquier |
| Norman Carberg |
| Owen Jones |
| Paul Rand |
| Persin Broersen & Margit Lukacs |
| Peter Kubelka |
| Peter Roehr |
| Philip Glass |
| Pier Luigi Nervi |
| Ray Kaiser Eames |
| Richard Kostelanetz |
| Richard Landis |
| Robert Smithson |
| Roger Penrose |
| Rosemary Newson |
| Saarinen |
| Seiko Miyami |
| Sheila Hicks |
| Sol Lewitt |
| Sophus Lie |
| Tai Tsuge |
| Tauba Auerbach |
| Tony Conrad |
| Tord Boontje |
| Victor Vasarely |
| Walter Russel |
| William Justema |
| William Justema |
| William Morris |
| Yayoi Kusama |
| Zach Lieberman |