Throughout history, Architects in different eras played an active role in shaping our cities and communities. During the world’s evolutions and revolutions, some prominent Architects left their stamp and their works continue to influence architecture today.
Shaping and influencing the Architecture world in their own different and unique ways are some of the lesser-known influential Architects of colorthat you must know.
1. Vishaan Chakrabarti
Vishaan Chakrabarti is an American Architect and founder of the Practice of Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) which is a firm in New York. He is a professor and city planner and an advocate for high-density living. His firm PAU prides itself on tackling pressuring issues on our communities like climate change, stalled social mobility, grossly substandard infrastructure, and fraying cultural fabric.
2. Kotchakorn Voraakhom
KotchakornVoraakhom is a Thai landscape architect and founder of the Koungkey Design Initiative, which works with communities to rebuild public spaces. Kotchakorn is also the chief executive officer of Porous City Network, a social enterprise that works towards increasing urban resilience in Southeast Asia. She works on creating green public spaces that tackle climate change.
3. Ma Yansong
Ma Yansong is a Chinese Architect and professor at Tsinghua University. He is also the founder of MAD Architects whose core design philosophy is Shanshui City- to create a balance between humanity, the city, and the environment.
4. Mabel O Wilson
Mabel O Wilson is an Architect, designer, and writer. She is currently a professor at Columbia University where she teaches courses in Architectural design, history, and theory. Her writings and research are on the social production of space, politics, and cultural memory in America. Some of her most notable books are Race and Modern Architecture, Begin with the Pas and Negro Building.
5. Suchi Reddy
Suchi Reddy is a New York based Architect and founder of Reddymade. Her projects include architecture, interior design, and installation. With the principle of Form follows feeling, Reddy believes that the quality of space evokes emotion and that good design, calibrated carefully to the human, influences well being, creativity, and productivity.
6. Michael Ford
Micheal Ford ‘ the hip hop architect’, has dedicated himself to exploring the connections between music and design. He is the founder of BrandNu designs which focuses on community engagement, pre-development strategies, and capital for capital in new developments. During his Hip Hop Architecture research, he uncovered the subconscious roles of historical architectural figures like LeCorbusier in envisioning the built environments which called for the birth of hip hop culture.
7. Juan Gabriel Morena
Juan Gabriel Morena is a Columbian born award-winning Architect and founder of Juan Gabriel Morena Architects (JGMA). JGMA is dedicated to active community involvement and the enrichment of people’s lives through the attentive and dynamic organization of space.
8. Yolande Daniels
Yolande Daniels is a founding design principle at StudioSUMO and has been a recipient of the Architectural League Prize among many other awards. Most of her projects include research, writing and building and analysing and teaching have been critical to her work.
9. Linda Mvusi
Linda Mvusi is a South African Architect and Actress. She is the first South African to receive the Best Actress award at Cannes. Linda Mvusi is also credited for her architecture on the Apartheid Museum.
10. Walter Hood
Walter Hood is a Landscape Architect and founder of Hood Design studio. The social art and design practice focuses on art, fabrication, design, landscape, research, and urbanism. Walter Hood has received a MacArthur Fellowship Award and wrote the book, Black Landscapes Matter.
11. Doreen Adengo
Doreen Adengo is an Architect and founder of Adengo Architecture which is a practice focused on research and multidisciplinary collaboration. Before this, she had taught at The New school and Pratt Institue in New York and also worked for Adjaye Associates. Most of her recent work has involved research on housing conditions in Kampala Uganda and finding affordable housing solutions.
12. Marina Tabassum
Marina Tabassum is an Architect and principle Architect at Marina Tabassum Architects. She believes light is everything and emphasizes on open spaces, light, and vernacular spaces. This Bangladesh Architect received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2016 and had many other nominations before.
13. Samantha Josaphat
Samantha Josaphat is an Architect and founder of Studio 37. Before this Samantha worked on a range of projects from airports, to retail, to corporate interiors. Studio 37 explores how to design high end and affordable architecture. Blurring the boundaries between architecture, product design, and fashion is also something the Studio 37 team explores.
14. Kesha Franklin
Kesha Franklin is an Interior Architect and founder of Halden Interiors. She is a self-taught Interior Architect ho has a background in fashion and her interest in art led her to Interior design. According to her, the essence of Interior design is: bringing together a mix of furnishings, colors, time periods, materials, and cultural stories of the individuals who dwell in the spaces.
15. Sarah Akigbogun
Sarah Akigbogun is an Architect, filmmaker, and associate lecturer. She is the founder of Studio Aki in London. The practice philosophy is to engage with the social, cultural, and physical context of each project, developing briefs in the close collaboration and end users evolving proposals out of this process.
