10 top architecture firms that you need to know

Architecture is a multidisciplinary field that is constantly evolving. Despite different trends and schools of thought, good architecture is timeless. Here are 10 top architecture firms defining a visual language with their philosophy of design and aesthetics.

Architecture is a gigantic field where designers take risks to challenge constraints and shake the basic construction fundamentals, creating extraordinary buildings yet assuring their purpose and functionality. 

A complex yet fascinating sector that requires thorough planning, intense research for new materials and technologies, understanding of changing habits of people with resulting use of spaces and the ability to design on diverse scales.

Although, this complexity does not frighten people to opt for architecture. Only in the USA, each year more than 10,000 students graduate from architecture schools.

Ministry of Design, Singapore

Ministry of Design is a prestigious award-winning Singapore-based firm founded by architect Colin Seah. Each project at MOD starts with the slogan: “Question, Disturb, Redefine”.

Architects question the inherent potential of contemporary design, disturb the way it is perceived and redefine it with an innovative language.  

MOD’s work method of respecting contextual surroundings, yet not being afraid of dreaming out of the box, is a core feature in their stunning creations.

“Each MOD project endeavors to be delightfully surprising but yet relevant, distinctly local but still globally appealing”

Peter Zumthor, Switzerland

Peter Zumthor is a former Pritzker prize winner and the founder of one of the most renowned architecture firms on a global level, famous for his uncompromising style and way of respecting the use of each material.

Zumthor, the son of a furniture maker, graduated from the Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland, in 1963 and continued his studies at the Pratt Institute in New York City. Soon after he established his own practice in Haldenstein, Switzerland.

Zumthor purposefully started with small-scaled works to be more intimately involved in the entire process of design. The design of Therme Vals was a prime opportunity for Zumthor to get international recognition as an architect.

SANAA, Japan

SANAA is an architecture firm in Tokyo, founded by Kazuyo Sejima in collaboration with Ryue Nishizawa. SANAA has designed numerous innovative buildings in Japan and around the world. 

Examples of their groundbreaking works include the Rolex Learning Center in Lausanne, famous for winning the Pritzker Prize in 2010, the Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion in Ohio with a striking crystal landscape reflecting the city’s glass legacy, and the Christian Dior Building in Tokyo renowned for its transparent glass facades.

Although soon after two years of working together, Kazuyo and Ryue began their own individual practices focused on small scale projects.

Herzog & de Meuron, Switzerland

This Swiss architecture studio was founded by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, who both attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

The studio is currently comprised of an international team of 44 associates and around 400 collaborators working on projects across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

This Basel-based firm is most famous for its remarkable conversion of London’s Bankside Power Station into the new home of one of the largest museums of modern art, the Tate Modern.

Herzog & de Meuron began their practice following a minimalist and modern style that keeps developing into contemporary aesthetics.

Emilio Ambasz, Argentina

Emilio Ambasz, an advocate of “green architecture” and Argentina-born architect is known for his projects that combine buildings with gardens in a way that he loves to describe as “green over grey”.

He kicked off this idea in the 70s’ by hiding buildings under grass.

Emilio’s style reflects a strong integration of contemporary shapes and Nature. His most remarkable projects include the Acros building in Japan and the Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan, USA.

Alvaro Siza, Portugal

Expressing emotions is one of the most difficult aspects to present as a designer. “Simplicity at its best” is how Alvaro Siza describes emotions through his works.

Siza is one of the best Portuguese architects the country has had to this date.

His style is widely appreciated for being coherent, clear and fairly simple. 

Despite his relatively small team, Siza’s practice has won the RIBA Gold Medal, the AIA Gold Medal and the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement, among many more prizes.

Hiroshi Sambuichi Architects, Japan

Japanese architect, Hiroshi Sambuichi has a unique design philosophy of “building around nature”: architecture should work in harmony with the environment surrounding it so that it becomes a natural part of the Earth.

Sambuichi believes that architecture begins with “Water, Air and Sun”. His design approach to a site entails long-term study and reflection upon the qualities and forces of nature embedded within.

Some of the most notable works of this extraordinary architect include the Rokko-Shidare Observatory and the Naoshima Hall.

Snøhetta, Norway

Snøhetta began as a collaborative workshop of architecture and landscape design.

From the beginning, the studio has followed its purpose of designing with a sense of surroundings no matter the scale of the project.

This world-renowned Norwegian architecture firm has won an impressive number of awards over the past years, including the Aga Khan Award for their Bibliotheca Alexandrina project in Alexandria, Egypt.

A relationship between multiple disciplines is a definite driving force in all of Snøhetta’s work.

The firm focuses on creating experiences engaging senses and body presence in space supporting social interaction.

Snøhetta is now renowned internationally with 240 employees making a successful way ahead.

DP Architects, Singapore

DP Architects is part of our top Architecture firms selection, one of three leading studios in Singapore specializing in sustainable architecture.

Originally founded in 1967 with just 18 members, DP Architects has now grown into 1,200 people with offices in 15 countries all over the world.

In 2005 Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas said at a press conference when he visited Singapore:

“These buildings (Golden Mile Complex and People’s Park Complex) were not intended to be landmarks, but they became landmarks.”

DP Architects has evolved with time in building Singapore as a nation and has been performing a vital role in shaping its remarkable urban environment.

Janus Rostock, UAE

Leaders in Architecture MENA Summit in UAE is the largest and well-distinguished platform dedicated for promoting and advancing the architecture industry across the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.

Atkins is a British multinational engineering, architectural design and consulting firm, one of the largest in the industry on a worldwide scale. 

Being MENA’s Regional Director and having managed projects for prestigious clients with Atkins, Janus Rostock – Danish architect – is one of the key players and a dominant symbol in the Middle-Eastern industry.

Janus desired to be an architect at the age of 8 years old and became a sensation in the post-modern architecture world by designing The Dubai Opera House.