Norman Foster, Bjarke Ingels, Tatiana Bilbao and seven other world renowned architects give their advice on the role of the architect in the 21th century.

Renzo Piano (b. 1937) is a lauded Italian architect. His most known buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, The Shard in London and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. In 1998, Piano won the highly prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Tatiana Bilbao (b. 1972) is a Mexican architect. In 2004, she founded Tatiana Bilbao Estudio with projects in China, Europe and Mexico. Bilbao is the recipient of prestigious awards including the UNESCO Global Award for Sustainable Architecture Prize in 2014.

Frank Gehry (b. 1929) is a Canadian-born American architect, who is known for his trademark sculptural style. Among his best-known buildings are Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle and Dancing House in Prague. Gehry is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards including the Pritzker Architecture Prize (1989), National Medal of Arts (1998), Prince of Asturias Award (2014) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016).

Kengo Kuma (born 1954) is considered one of the most significant contemporary Japanese architects. In 1990, Kengo Kuma & Associates, his own studio was established. In 2008, Kuma earned a Ph.D. from Keio University. In October 2021 The Waseda International House of Literature (The Haruki Murakami Library) will open.

Anna Heringer, born in 1977, grew up in Laufen, a small town at the Austrian-Bavarian border close to Salzburg. Today, as an architect and honorary professor of the UNESCO Chair of Earthen Architecture, Building Cultures, and Sustainable Development she is focusing on the use of natural building materials. She received numerous honors: the Obel Award 2020, the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, the Loeb Fellowship at Harvard’s GSD, and a RIBA International Fellowship.

Norman Robert Foster (b. 1935) is an English architect and designer, who is considered one of the most prolific architects of his generation. He is the founder of Foster and Partners (1967) and responsible for renowned buildings such as London City Hall and Millennium Bridge (London), Reichstag (Berlin), and Apple Spaceship Headquarters (est. 2016). Foster has received several awards such as the Pritzker-prize in 1999, the Stirling Prize in 1998 and 2004, as well as the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the University of Technology Petronas in Malaysia (2007). He was knighted in 1990.

Bjarke Ingels (b. 1974) is a Danish architect and founding partner of BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group – located in Copenhagen, New York, and London. In 2013 BIG was chosen to redesign the Smithsonian, the world’s largest museum and research complex in Washington, a project which will be implemented over a period of 20 years. Moreover, BIG received the Architizer’s Firm of the Year Award in 2014.

Alejandro Aravena (b. 1967) is a Chilean architect. In 2001 he founded the socially conscious architectural office Elemental, which focuses on projects of public interest such as housing, public space, infrastructure, and transportation. Aravena is the recipient of prestigious awards including the Silver Lion (2008), the Erich Schelling Architecture Medal (2006), a Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2008), and the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2016. From 2009 to 2015 he was a member of the Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury.

Anne Lacaton (b. 1955) is a French architect and partner of Lacaton & Vassal, which she formed in 1989 with Jean-Philipe Vassal. Some of their most significant building projects include Palais de Tokyo in Paris and FRAC Dunkerque in Dunkirk. Lacaton & Vassal have received many prestigious awards including the Grand Prix national de l’architecture (2008), the Simon-Award from Fundació Mies van der Rohe (2017), and the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2018).

Anupama Kundoo was born in Pune, India in 1967. Kundoo’s internationally recognized and award-winning architecture practice started in 1990. In 2013 Kundoo received an honorable mention in the ArcVision International Prize for Women in Architecture for ‘her dedication when approaching the problem of affordability of construction and sustainability in all aspects.’ The same year she participated in La Biennale di Venezia directed by David Chipperfield.

Renzo Piano, Tatiana Bilbao, Alejandro Aravena, Bjarke Ingels, Anupama Kundoo, Anna Heringer, Anne Lacaton, Norman Foster, and Frank Gehry was interviewed and produced by Marc-Christoph Wagner. Kengo Kuma was interviewed by Mette Holm and produced by Christian Lund.