Léon Krier

Who is Léon Krier?

Léon Krier is an architect, architectural theorist and urban planner. He is a representative of New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture.

Krier was the first laureate of the Driehaus Architecture Prize in 2003.

From the late 1970s onwards Krier has been one of the most influential neo-traditional architects and planners. He is best known for his on going development of Poundbury, an urban extension to Dorchester, UK for the Duchy of Cornwall under the guidance of Prince of Wales and his Masterplan for Cayalá, an extension of Guatemala City. He is one of the first and most prominent critics of the architectural modernism, mainly of its functional zoning and the ensuing suburbanism, campaigning for the reconstruction of the traditional European city model. These ideas had a great influence on the New Urbanism movement, both in the USA and Europe. The most complete compilation of them is published in his book "The Architecture of Community". Léon Krier is the younger brother of architect Rob Krier.

Krier acts as architectural consultant on urban planning projects but only designs buildings of his personal choice. Amongst his best known realizations are the temporary façade at the 1980 Venice Biennale; the Krier house in the resort village of Seaside, Florida, USA; the Arqueological Museum of Sintra, Portugal; the Windsor Village Hall Florida; the Jorge M. Perez Architecture Center on the campus of the University of Miami in Miami, Florida; and the new Neighbourhood Center Città Nuova in Alessandria, Italy. Currently Leon Krier is involved in the planning for the reconstruction of Tor Bella Monaca, a degraded suburb of Rome.