Buildings Designed by Famous Non-architects
About this daily · 10 questions & answers
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 untrained architect was granted the 1954 US patent that made the geodesic dome famous?
- AR. Buckminster Fuller
- BAlexander Graham Bell
- CThomas Edison
- DNikola Tesla
Show answer
R. Buckminster Fuller
Fuller did not invent the form — Walther Bauersfeld of Carl Zeiss built the first geodesic dome for a planetarium in Jena after World War I — but Fuller coined the word 'geodesic' and turned the dome into a global icon.
Q 02Which man, trained as a sculptor rather than an architect, took over the dome of St Peter's Basilica in 1547?
- ALeonardo da Vinci
- BMichelangelo
- CRaphael
- DDonatello
Show answer
Michelangelo
Michelangelo, a sculptor and painter by training, assumed charge of St Peter's in 1547 and designed its dome. Giacomo della Porta completed the work to his design by 1590.
Q 03Which English playwright, with no architectural training, designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard?
- AWilliam Congreve
- BRichard Sheridan
- CJohn Vanbrugh
- DBen Jonson
Show answer
John Vanbrugh
Vanbrugh made his name with the comedy The Relapse in 1696, then turned to building without ever training for it, leaning on Nicholas Hawksmoor for technical help. Jonathan Swift wrote that "Van's genius, without thought or lecture, is hugely turn'd to architecture."
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
Show answer
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein joined the architect Paul Engelmann on his sister Margaret's house in 1926 and ended up the main author of the design. Near completion he had a ceiling lifted 30 mm to get the proportions he wanted.
Q 05Which self-taught architect president designed his own hilltop house and the University of Virginia?
- AThomas Jefferson
- BJames Madison
- CJohn Adams
- DJames Monroe
Show answer
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson learned architecture from books and from travel rather than training, designing Monticello on Palladian principles. He also laid out the University of Virginia with its Rotunda, plus Poplar Forest and the Virginia State Capitol.
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
Show answer
Rural postman
Ferdinand Cheval, known as Facteur Cheval, delivered mail at Hauterives and built his palace between 1879 and 1912. He carried the stones home first in his pockets, then a basket, finally a wheelbarrow.
Q 07Which heiress enlarged a California mansion room by room for decades, leaving stairs that stop at the ceiling?
- AHetty Green
- BIsabella Stewart Gardner
- CSarah Winchester
- DAlma Spreckels
Show answer
Sarah Winchester
She hired at least two architects but dismissed them and did the planning herself, designing rooms one at a time with her carpenters from 1886 onward. The house held around 500 rooms at its largest and 160 when she died in 1922.
Q 08Which Oxford astronomy professor and Royal Society founder rebuilt 52 City of London churches after the 1666 fire?
- ARobert Hooke
- BEdmond Halley
- CIsaac Newton
- DChristopher Wren
Show answer
Christopher Wren
Wren was Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford from 1661 and president of the Royal Society from 1680 to 1682; St Paul's Cathedral, his masterpiece, was declared complete in 1711.
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
Show answer
Painting theatre scenery
Jank recycled backdrop sketches from his stage career, which is why the castle looks like a set; architects Eduard Riedel and later Georg von Dollmann had to work out how to actually build it.
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
Rodia bent the framework from scrap rebar using nearby railway tracks as a vise, then gave the lot to a neighbour in 1955; a 1959 load test found the towers could take 10,000 pounds of lateral force.
How to play
- One question at a time, four options. Tap an answer to lock it in.
- You see the answer and a short explanation right away.
- Harder questions and faster answers earn more points. Share your score at the end.