Italian architect Federico Babina has done the planet an immense solid with a retro series of pixelated portraits of the world’s greatest architects. These 8-bit portraits capture many of the modern masters, from Alvar Aalto to Zaha Hadid. It’s easy to think of each portrait as depicting a mini-boss with his or her level. Defeat Kazuyo Sejima at the top of the Zollverein School of Management and Design, pick up her Pritzker Architecture Prize and proceed to the next level!
Please note: architecture does not in fact work this way. Sir Norman Foster is not waiting for you at the top of the Gherkin. There isn’t a warp zone in the CCTV Towers. You cannot level up high enough to beat Le Corb. (Torre Agbar is a real-life video game set, probably.)
Scroll through these retro starchitect portraits, alongside the projects that made them famous, and you will definitely get a one-up. (Hat-tip: Design Boom.)
All project images courtesy Wikimedia Commons.