The impressive St. Peter's Basilica by Donato Bramante and Michelangelo, Balthasar Neumann's Würzburg Residence, or Antoni Gaudí's distinctive wealth of forms: the names of architects who have created outstanding buildings enter the collective memory and are admired even after many centuries. The fascination with exceptional architecture continues to this day. Breathtaking skyscrapers like the Burj Khalifa by SOM or the headquarters of the Chinese television broadcaster CCTV by OMA captivate just as much as spectacular museum buildings like Frank O. Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. But subtle architectural interventions are also world-famous: I. M. Pei's extraordinary glass pyramid in front of the Louvre has become a trademark of the museum. This volume brings together the most important architects since the Renaissance and presents them alongside their works.