How Google Doodles Celebrate Architects and Architecture?
1998 was the year internet giant Google began manipulating their iconic logo in celebration of several national and international holidays. Since then, Google Doodles have been celebrating the works of several famous figures, from actors and artists to political figures, and even architects and designers. We have selected some of our favorites below sorted by year.
The Origin Story of Google Doodles:
The first Google doodle was in celebration of the Burning Man Festival. At the time, designers Larry Page and Sergey Brin were planning on attending the festival. Thus, by adding the burning man logo behind the second “O” in Google the designers could attend the event. It also allowed them to warn users that they would be absent, in case of the servers crashing. Since that fateful day, Google has been using Google Doodles to celebrate important people and moments in history.
The Doodles did not usually have hyperlinks or animations in the beginning, but with time this became the norm. Until today, there are over 2000 local and International Doodles appearing on Google’s homepage periodically.
2005
June 8th – 138th Birthday of Frank Lloyd Wright
2008
May 17th – 125th Birthday of Walter Gropius
October 30th – 35th Anniversary of Sydney Opera House Opening
2009
November 17th – 105th Birthday of Isamu Noguchi
2010
September 4th – 5th Anniversary of the Bucky Ball
2011
July 12th – 450th Anniversary of St. Basil’s Cathedral
August 4th – 102nd Birthday of Robert Burle Marx.
December 15th – 83rd Birthday of Friedensreich Hundertwasser
2012
March 27th – 126th Birthday of Mies Van der Rohe
April 18th – 75th Birthday of Jan Kaplicky
April 21st – Anniversary of Brasilia
May 27th – Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge
2013
January 9th – 150th Anniversary of the Tube
April 3rd – 150th Birthday of Henry van de Velde
May 20th – 125th Anniversary of the Exposición Universal de Barcelona
June 25th – 161st Birthday of Antoni Gaudi
September 4th – 100th Birthday of Kenzo Tange
2014
January 15th – 255th Anniversary of the British Museum
January 27th – 200th Birthday of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
August 6th – 94th Birthday of Anna Castelli Ferrieri
October 20th – 382nd Birthday of Christopher Wren
2015
March 31st – 126th Anniversary of the Public Opening of the Eiffel Tower
August 5th – 101st Anniversary of the First Electrical Traffic Signal
2016
January 19th – 127th Birthday of Sophie Taeuber-Arp
March 4th – 42nd Anniversary of Rio-Niteroi Bridge opening
May 4th – 100th Birthday of Jane Jacobs
2017
May 31st – First Female Pritzker Prize Winner Zaha Hadid
All Images via Google Doodles.
Alia El Saady is a graduate of the American University in Cairo (AUC Egypt) and currently works in Venice. She is a contributing writer for Arch2O, where she shares her insights on architecture, design, and culture. Since joining in 2018, she has authored 26 articles exploring topics such as sustainable living, architectural visualization, and the cultural significance of design. Her work reflects a passion for understanding the intersection of design and the built environment, offering readers a diverse and thoughtful perspective on contemporary architectural trends.