New York City: 8 Architects to Follow in 2019

2019 will be a big year for New York City’s architectural industry. Here, we’ve compiled a list of promising architects based in New York City who designed buildings in it. The list includes established and emerging architects who have attracted much attention from the press in the past year. What are they up to in the coming year? Read on to find out.

Architecture Firms N.Y.C.: 8 Architects to Follow in 2019

1) Peterson Rich Office

According to their website, P.R.O. is “an interdisciplinary design studio founded in 2011 by Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich, specializing in cultural and residential projects as well as urban design proposals.” They are recent winners of the 2018 New Practices New York Competition, along with Agency-Agency, MABU + Matt Burgermaster, N H D M / Nayhun Hwang + David Eugin Moon, and Only If.

They designed the Telfair Studio, an artist’s studio for Tula Telfair. They also participated in the ‘Mental Health by Design (MHxD)’ initiative to “promote mental health in N.Y.C. public schools through thoughtful design.” With mostly small-scale projects, the duo sets the stage for attractive future designs.

2) HANNAH Architecture & Design

The practice, co-founded by Alexander Chmarin, Alexander Graf, Leslie Lok, and Sasa Zivkovic, rose into the New York scene in 2019 with its RRRolling Stones project—3D printed concrete follies installed in Socrates Sculpture Park. According to their website, “The stones are both smooth and jagged(re)d, each turn reveals new curvature and seating profiles that adapt to different body types and sizes.”

The seats were printed at the Cornell Robotic Construction Laboratory as part of the Folly/Function Competition organized by the Architectural League of New York. The architects have previously experimented with 3D printing and other innovative fabrication and manufacturing techniques in New York, Stuttgart, and Shanghai.

3) New Practice Studio

The studio, founded by Nianlai Zhong, with partners Sidong Lang and Tai-Li Lee, is “an interdisciplinary collaboration between architects, interior designers, graphic designers, and brand strategists based in New York and Shanghai.”

With their origins in China, the architects are invited to design multiple interior projects related to the Chinese community in New York, including Tang Hotpot of Manhattan, Hunan Slurp (winner of the Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards), and Hao Noodle Shop in West Village. Their attention to detail is exceptional and has created many warm and cozy spaces for dining in Manhattan’s hidden corners.

4) The Very Many

Marc Fornes founded The Very Many in a studio in Brooklyn. He has caught the media’s attention with his design computing and advanced digital fabrication skills, which he employs to craft spatial experiences. He says, “the studio has designed and built many thin-shell pavilions and installations that push the limits of form, structure, and space.”

Fornes’ projects, combined works of art and architecture, have become synonymous with avant-garde experiences for visitors from various walks of life. His recent project, Marquise, is a spatial entry structure for El Paso’s Westside Natatorium. It has garnered both attention and awards.

5) wHY Architecture

We recently interviewed wHY founder Kulapat Yantrasast. Originally from Thailand, the architect has developed many art museums over the years. His practice has just announced a collaboration with the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art to renovate the Modern and Rockefeller Wings. The project is slated to begin in 2020 and be completed in 2023. Kulapat has been known for working closely with artists to create ideal spaces for art. His studio has recently worked on the Edinburgh Scotland landscape competition, Pomona College, and the E.P.A. Center of Art.

6) Thomas Heatherwick

British starchitect Thomas Heatherwick is a man that needs no introduction. His studio has many exciting, upcoming projects set to open in 2019, including Vessel— a massive sculpture made of climbable pathways. The statue will become a public landmark in the new development zone ‘Hudson Yards,’ due to open next spring.

He is also responsible for designing Pier 55, the Meatpacking District park project, destined to become a futuristic green space. The design features a series of mushroom columns floating along the coastline of the Hudson River, with greenery growing on top of them. The project is still under construction, yet people are already pumped about it.

7) Annabelle Selldorf

German-born architect Annabelle Selldorf is the founding principal of the New York-based Selldorf Architects. This year, she is leading the renovation of the Frick Collection, introducing a lobby, a revamped reception area, a museum shop, and a brand new education center to the Upper East Side art museum.

She is also the mastermind behind 21E12, a 23-story residential tower in Greenwich Village, which has proved to be very popular on the real estate market with the hyped sales earlier this spring. The female architect, known for clean lines and simplistic yet sophisticated designs, will continue to amaze us in the coming year.

8) Diller, Scofidio + Renfro

The “most anticipated” goes to the fabulous DS+R, again making waves in the city. Their project, “The Shed” at the Hudson Yards Development on the island’s west side, features an attractive retractable shell. It will open next year amidst the public’s excitement. The New York-based studio is also working on 15 Hudson Yards—a residential skyscraper, and the MoMA expansion. There’s so much to look forward to in the coming year!