León Krier. Photo Wikipedia

An architect, urban planner, theorist, and critic, León Krier was a key figure of New Urbanism for his staunch defense of traditional architecture and the preindustrial city. Born in Luxembourg in 1946, he studied in Stuttgart and worked in the office of James Stirling from 1968 to 1974. He taught in institutions like the Royal College of Arts in London, Princeton, and Yale. Since 1988 he had acted as consultant in architectural matters for King Charles III, with whose backing he built the New Town of Poundbury, in Dorset. But the project that best embodies his vision is ‘Atlantis,’ a humanistic Arcadia of social harmony and formal perfection designed for Tenerife. The architect passed away in Palma de Mallorca on 17 June.