As a favor to a friend I’m currently working on designing a website for his company, a design firm. I really love taking on interesting and challenging projects and what better than designing for someone who is in the area of architecture. I suppose it’s like when an artist comissions another artist to paint something for him — the standards are so much higher.
One of the first things we encountered is the tedious task of choosing a domain name. Since his firm’s business name is pretty generic and common, the domain name is taken. So, now it’s about finding something that still represents his firm, makes sense, is easy to spell, and of course isn’t already taken. Tough task.
Coincidentally, I happen to also be a subscribe to Architectual Digest and recently came across their list of the Top 100 designers. So, what better way to get inspiration than to look at the best 100? Below is the list and their corresponding websites:
Marco Aldaco, No website
Thomas Allardyce, www.hendrixallardyce.com
Charles Allem, www.cadintl.com
Marc Appleton, www.appleton-architects.com
Howard J Backen, www.bgarch.com
Penny Drue Baird, No website.
Bannenberg & Rowell, www.bannenbergandrowell.com
Javier Barba, www.greenarchitecture.com
John Barman, www.johnbarman.com
Bill Bensley, www.bensley.com
Marcos Bertoldi, www.marcosbertoldi.com.br
Karin Blake, no website.
Count Benedikt Bolza, www.reschio.com
Samuel Botero, www.botero.com
Peter Roy Bowman, www.banderasbaytradingcompany.com
Geoffrey Bradfield, www.geoffreybradfield.com
Thomas Britt, www.thomasbritt.com
Mario Buatta, no website.
Diane Burn, no website.
Candy & Candy, www.candyandcandy.com
Timothy Corrigan, www.timothy-corrigan.com
Savin Couelle, www.couelle.com
Elissa Cullman, www.cullmankravis.com
Wallace E. Cunningham, www.wallacecunningham.com
Joanne de Guardiola, no website.
Mark de Reus, www.dereusarch.com
Douglas Durkin, www.durkindesign.com
David Easton, www.davideastoninc.com
Steven Ehrlich, www.ehrlicharchitects.com
Mica Ertegun, no website.
Ferguson & Shamamian, www.fergusonshamamian.com
Norman Foster, www.fosterandpartners.com
Linda Garland, www.lindagarland.com
Michael Graves, www.michaelgraves.com
Allen Greenberg, www.allengreenberg.com
Robert M Gurney, www.robertgourneyarchitect.com
Victoria Hagan, www.victoriahagan.com
Mona Hajj, www.monahajj.com
Alexa Hampton, www.markhampton.com
Hariri & Hariri, www.haririandhariri.com
Nicholas Haslam, www.nh-design.co.uk
Thad Hayes, www.thadhayes.com
Ann Holden, no website.
Laura Hunt, www.laurahunt.com
Terry Hunziker, no website.
Ike Kligerman Barkley, www.ikba.com
Hugh Newell Jacobsen, www.jacobsenarchitecture.com
David Jameson, www.davidjamesonarchitect.com
Jim Jennings, www.jimjenningsarchitecture.com
Stephen Knollenberg, www.stephensknollenberg.com
Richard Landry, www.landrydesigngroup.com
Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, www.martynlawrencebullard.com
Michael Lee, www.mlcollection.com
Donna Livingston, www.dlivingstondesign.com
London Boone, www.mimilondon.com
Ron Mann, www.ronmanndesign.com
Peter Marino, www.petermarinoarchitect.com
Marmol Radziner + Associates, www.marmol-radziner.com
Margaret McCurry, www.tigerman-mccurry.com
Richard Meier, www.richardmeier.com
Miro Rivera Architects, www.mirorivera.com
Juan Pablo Molyneux, www.molyneuxstudio.com
Juan Montoya, www.juanmontoyadesign.com
Moore Ruble Yudell, www.mryarchitects.com
Katherine Newman, www.lonadesign.com
Sandra Nunnerley, www.nunnerley.com
Olson Kundig Architects, www.oskaarchitects.com
Thomas Pheasant, www.thomaspheasant.com
Mary Philpotts McGrath, www.philpotts.net
Campion Platt, www.campionplatt.com
Alex Possenbacher, www.possenbacherdesign.com
Jennifer Post, www.jenniferpostdessign.com
Antoine Predock, www.predock.com
Bart Prince, www.bartprince.com
Chakib Richani, www.richani.com
Jaquelin T Robertson, www.cooperrobertson.com
Jacques Saint Dizier, www.saintd.com
Nina Seirafi, www.ninaseirafi.com
Annabelle Selldorf, www.selldorf.com
Stephen Shadley, www.stephenshadley.com
Shelton, Mindel, www.sheltonmindel.com
Shope Reno Wharton, www.shoperenowharton.com
Majorie Shushan, www.majorieshushan.com
Michael S. Smith, www.michaelssmithinc.com
Scott Synder, no website.
Jose Solis Betancourt, www.solisbetancourt.com
John Stefanidis, www.johnstefanidis.com
Robert A. M. Stern, www.ramsa.com
Emily Summers, www.emilysummers.com
Roger Thomas, no website.
Suzanne Tucker, www.tuckerandmarks.com
Edward Tuttle, www.designrealization.com
Wang Ta-Chun, www.mwa.com.tw
Paul Vincent Wiseman, www.wisemangroup.com
Craig Wright, no website.
Pierre Yovanovitch, www.pierreyovanovitch.com
As with many projects, I typically do my research before diving into design. In this case, having a list of the top 100 designers currently by AD is beneficial in seeing what others have (or haven’t) done when it comes to representing their life’s work on the web. So, In the upcoming notes I’ll share with you my findings while browsing through this list. But, for today — here’s some interesting notes by just looking at the domain names.
Part of their name + the keywords “architect”, “design”, or any abbreviation of those words: 22, or 22%
Gotta love calculating percentages when the #’s are out of 100. The one thing that stuck out to me was the # of folks who didn’t have a website. In this day and age, it amazes me. Especially considering these are the top 100! I think it just goes to reinforce the fact that much of the business in the Design and Architectural world comes via contacts and knowing the right folks. I would be interested to know if any of these top 100 receive leads via their websites.