Wallpaper* Architects' Directory 2026: 30 Emerging Studios Worldwide
In its 25th edition, Wallpaper* Architects' Directory honors the magazine's 30th anniversary by showcasing 30 up-and-coming architecture firms from 27 nations. Launched in 2000, this annual compilation now boasts over 500 past participants, primarily highlighting residential designs. Among the distinguished entries are Place of Work (Canada, 2022), Mattaforma (US, winner of the 2026 National Design Award), Diana Salvador (Ecuador), Ricehouse (Italy, 2016), Templeton Ford (UK, 2025), Hitotomori (Japan, 2019), and Civil (Bahrain/Kuwait, 2017). The directory prioritizes architecture that is sustainable, community-oriented, and sensitive to its surroundings, with many firms incorporating local materials and passive cooling strategies.
Key facts
- The Wallpaper* Architects' Directory 2026 features 30 emerging architecture studios from 27 countries.
- The directory is in its 25th edition and celebrates Wallpaper's 30th anniversary.
- Mattaforma, founded by Lindsey Wikstrom, won the 2026 National Design Award for Emerging Designer from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
- Diana Salvador's Casa Sula on the Galápagos island of Santa Cruz was prefabricated in Quito and assembled in 25 days.
- Ricehouse, founded in 2016 in Piedmont, Italy, transforms rice production by-products into natural building materials.
- Dehli Grolimund reconstructed Kazuo Shinohara's Umbrella House at the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany.
- Exutoire will co-curate the Luxembourg Pavilion at the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale.
- Solar.xyz won the COAM Emerging Award in Spain in 2024.
Entities
Artists
- Jennifer Esposito
- Duncan Patterson
- Will Perkins
- Lindsey Wikstrom
- Diana Salvador
- Tiziana Monterisi
- Alessio Colombo
- André Templeton Ford
- Jessica Templeton Ford
- Yoshiaki Nagasaka
- Marilia Pellegrini
- Gustavo Penna
- Rene Gonzalez
- Richard Meier
- Arthur Casas
- Ali Ismail Karimi
- Hamed Bukhamseen
- Goy Zhenru
- Glenn DeRoche
- Amar Mehta
- Pablo Canga
- Ana Herreros
- Susan Nwankpa Gillespie
- Farid Karim
- Osvaldo Gounon
- Kemi Amede
- William Tailly
- Natacha Djédjé
- Christian Dehli
- Andrea Grolimund
- Kazuo Shinohara
- Othmane Bengebara
- Peter Marino
- Patricio Huidobro
- Cassandre Verdier
- Elena Cadouin
- Rhys Howell Owen
- Kasturi Wagh
- Vineet Hingorani
- Sofia Xanthakou
- Thomas Høyer
- Paul-Antoine Lucas
- Bui Quy Son
- Céline Zimmer
- Qianyi Lin
- Dongzi Yang
- Sara Alissa
- Nojoud Alsudairi
- Magdalena Garbarczyk
- Mathew Hay
- Matt Goodman
- Khoa Vu
- Ellie Stathaki
- Tadao Ando
- Rem Koolhaas
Institutions
- Wallpaper*
- Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
- Vitra Campus
- Venice Architecture Biennale
- Pan-African Architecture Biennale
- Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions
- Pratt Institute
- Harvard University
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- The Bartlett
- Thames & Hudson
- Ruby Press
- COAM
- Globizen
- Adidas
- Louis Vuitton
- saudiarchitecture.org
- Um Slaim collective
Locations
- Australia
- Bahrain
- Benin
- Brazil
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Denmark
- Ecuador
- France
- Ghana
- Greece
- Ivory Coast
- Italy
- Japan
- Kenya
- Kuwait
- India
- Morocco
- New Zealand
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Spain
- Switzerland
- UK
- US
- Vietnam
- Halifax
- Toronto
- Atlantic Canada
- Ontario
- Cape Breton Island
- Nova Scotia
- Quito
- Galápagos
- Santa Cruz
- Piedmont
- London
- Sussex
- Hoathly Hill
- Nara
- Mount Kasuga Primeval Forest
- Asuka
- Nara Prefecture
- São Paulo
- Alphaville
- Diyar Al Muharraq
- Bukit Timah
- Accra
- Osu
- Aburi
- Akwapim Ridge
- Nairobi
- Kilifi
- Madrid
- Southern California
- Inglewood
- California
- West London
- Zurich
- Weil am Rhein
- Germany
- Essaouira
- Santiago
- Casablanca Valley
- Pacific Ocean
- Paris
- Barbizon
- Peckham Rye
- Mumbai
- New York
- Kamshet
- Maharashtra
- Athens
- Plaka
- Ebeltoft
- Jutland
- Oslo
- Hanoi
- Luxembourg
- Qinhuangdao
- Seoul
- Shenzhen
- Yongjia
- Riyadh
- Najd
- Aotearoa
- Nelson
- South Island
- Separation Creek
- Victoria
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Saigon River
- Thessaloniki