Since antiquity, architects in most cultures have occupied the highest status among visual artists, because they marshaled mathematics, proportion, engineering, and technology in order to provide all that humans require—including beauty—to live, play, pray, protect, and sustain their community. Over the millennia, there is nothing that architects have not designed, from forks to forts. This is especially true over the last few centuries, as architects have been at the forefront of design innovation in forms and materials. In their hands, furniture, lighting, and useful objects—as well as those that are completely useless—reflect the evolving preoccupations of architecture by offering new or alternative ideas, thereby enriching human experience.

The Museum has owned objects designed by architects from its early days—both William Ward Watkin and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe furnished their buildings with handsome furniture—but not until 2000 did we embark on a collection of objects designed by great architects, thanks to the support of the Houston chapter of the American Institute of Architects. We are immensely proud of our partnership with the AIA Houston, to our knowledge the only one of its type in the United States. This effort has been led with exemplary vision and spirit by Cindi Strauss, the Sara and Bill Morgan Curator of Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design. In addition to her, I thank the past and present board, staff, and members of the Houston chapter for their unwavering support for this endeavor as well as congratulate all of the lifetime achievement honorees whose names may be found on the individual credit lines for the works.

Cindi Strauss and I hope that this catalogue and the related exhibition will provide insight and inspiration, bringing attention to the important role that architects have played in international design history.

Gary Tinterow
Director
The Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston