Architects Annabelle Selldorf and Ma Yansong have been named on the Time 100 list of most influential people for 2025 by Time magazine.
The pair of architects were included alongside world leaders Donald Trump and Keir Starmer, Tesla founder Elon Musk, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and tennis player Serena Williams on the US magazine’s annual list of the world’s most influential people.
Yansong, who is the founder of MAD Architects, was selected by director George Lucas, while Selldorf, who is the founder of Selldorf Architects was picked by photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Chinese architect Yansong, a Dezeen Awards judge in 2018, has designed numerous significant buildings in China, including the Harbin Opera House, Jiaxing train station, YueCheng Courtyard Kindergarten, Wormhole Library and the Baiziwan social housing.
Outside of China, his studio has designed projects including One River North in Denver and the UNIC residential tower in Paris.
The Fenix museum in Rotterdam is set to open next month, while MAD Architects is also designing the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for Lucas.
“I have been a fan of architect Ma Yansong from his earliest works,” wrote Lucas in Time.
“His designs never cease to amaze and inspire me. This year, he has unveiled projects that include a striking building in Denver that takes inspiration from canyons, and Fenix, a spiralling new art museum in the Netherlands that explores human migration,” he continued.
“Like his mentor, the great Zaha Hadid, he has been at the forefront of a massive change in architecture that will transform our structures for generations.”
German architect Selldorf, who was a Dezeen Awards judge in 2020, leads New York-based studio Selldorf Architects. Her studio recently completed a pair of porcelain-clad skyscrapers and designed an outpost for international art gallery Hauser & Wirth in the city.
Among her other significant projects are the revamps of the Frick gallery in New York and the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery, which reopens next month.
Leibovitz praised her ability to create sensitive spaces that a large number of people can navigate easily.
“Annabelle’s mission is to make art accessible to the widest range of visitors possible,” wrote Leibovitz.
“The spaces she creates are meant to accommodate large numbers of people, but they are not overpowering. They are sensitively and deftly restrained,” she continued.
“The entrance to the Frick is no longer hard to find. Everyone can walk in through the same front door. Visitors can explore the museum at their own pace. Her work embodies the values she holds dear. Art and life are not separate.”
Last year, architects Lesley Lokko and Marina Tabassum were named on the Time 100, while in previous years American architects Jeanne Gang and Elizabeth Diller and Japanese architect Kengo Kuma have been included.
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