Buildings designed by famous non-architects
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Buildings Designed by Famous Non-architects — Daily trivia Thursday, July 9, 2026: questions and answers
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01Which inventor was granted the US patent that made the geodesic dome famous?
- AR. Buckminster Fuller
- BAlexander Graham Bell
- CThomas Edison
- DNikola Tesla
Show answer
R. Buckminster Fuller
R. Buckminster Fuller. He didn't invent the form: Walther Bauersfeld of Carl Zeiss had designed one for a planetarium in Jena after World War I.
Q 02Which Renaissance artist, trained as a sculptor rather than an architect, designed the dome of St Peter's Basilica?
- ALeonardo da Vinci
- BMichelangelo
- CRaphael
- DDonatello
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Michelangelo
Michelangelo, who took charge of St Peter's at 71 and redesigned the dome; it was finished to his plan, with some changes, only after his death.
Q 03Which English playwright, with no architectural training, designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard?
- AWilliam Congreve
- BRichard Sheridan
- CJohn Vanbrugh
- DBen Jonson
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John Vanbrugh
John Vanbrugh. Before turning architect without any training, he spent four and a half years in French prisons, including the Bastille, on an espionage charge.
Q 04Which philosopher spent over two years designing a modernist Vienna house for his sister, a year of it on radiators?
- AMartin Heidegger
- BKarl Popper
- CTheodor Adorno
- DLudwig Wittgenstein
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Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein. Architect Paul Engelmann began the design, but Wittgenstein took it over so completely that Engelmann came to consider him its author.
Q 05Which self-taught architect president designed his own hilltop house?
- AThomas Jefferson
- BJames Madison
- CJohn Adams
- DJames Monroe
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Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson. He also designed the University of Virginia's original campus, which shares a UNESCO World Heritage listing with Monticello.
Q 06The French villager who spent 33 years building the Palais idéal from gathered stones had what job?
- AParish priest
- BRural postman
- CQuarry foreman
- DVillage schoolmaster
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Rural postman
Rural postman. Ferdinand Cheval began after tripping over an oddly shaped stone on his round, then carried stones home in his pockets, a basket and finally a wheelbarrow.
Q 07Which heiress enlarged a California mansion room by room for decades?
- AHetty Green
- BIsabella Stewart Gardner
- CSarah Winchester
- DAlma Spreckels
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Sarah Winchester
Sarah Winchester. Legend says she kept building to trap the ghosts following her, but there is no evidence for it; she dismissed her architects and planned the rooms herself.
Q 08Which Oxford astronomy professor and Royal Society founder rebuilt 52 City of London churches after the Great Fire?
- ARobert Hooke
- BEdmond Halley
- CIsaac Newton
- DChristopher Wren
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Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren. His tomb in St Paul's Cathedral carries the Latin line 'Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you.'
Q 09Christian Jank, who drafted Ludwig II's Neuschwanstein Castle, made his living doing what?
- APainting theatre scenery
- BComposing operas
- CIllustrating fairy tales
- DRestoring cathedrals
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Painting theatre scenery
Painting theatre scenery. Christian Jank had painted scenery for Wagner's opera Lohengrin, and architect Eduard Riedel turned his drawings into the real castle.
Q 10Simon Rodia, who built the Watts Towers alone over 33 years, worked by day as what?
- ARailroad brakeman
- BTile mason
- CBarber
- DFishmonger
Show answer
Tile mason
Tile mason. Rodia built the towers alone with hand tools and no plans, then in 1955 simply gave the property to a neighbor and moved away.
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