AN Interior’s Top 50 Architects and Designers of 2023

For the past six years, AN Interior has recognized the Top 50 North American architecture and design firms working in interiors, and this year is no exception. As always, the lineup considers diversity in all its iterations, from ethnicity to location to budgets to scale. The companies in this year’s roster demonstrate more than imagination and creativity—they are motivated by praxis, implementing their individual philosophies into every detail of the design. Many of these outfits demonstrate a commitment to architecture as an instrument of change, for the sake of the environment, for mental health, or even inclusivity. There are a variety of styles and typologies represented here, but if there’s one thing that unites them, it’s their pursuit of a better future for architecture and thus the world at large.

Alda Ly Architecture

New York

Alda Ly’s eponymous office is a full-service architecture and interior design firm whose vision for inclusivity runs deep. As a recognized leader in biophilic design, the office often rethinks and improves traditional healthcare, office, retail, and cultural spaces.

And And And Studio

Los Angeles; Toronto

And And And Studio is a collaboration between principals Daniel Rabin and Annie Ritz. The duo champion a playful, open-minded vision that collapses the divide between architecture, interiors, and design.

Anya Moryoussef Architect

Toronto

Anya Moryoussef Architect was founded to pursue the deliberate and imaginative application of design to everyday life. As such, the firm strives to reinvent typologies, focusing on the dialectical relationship between space and its inhabitants’ well-being.

archimania

Memphis, Tennessee

A mission to design places that are authentic runs throughout archimania, a collective of architects and designers led by Todd Walker and Barry Alan Yoakum. Founded in 1995, the office practices progressive architecture that approaches each project as an opportunity to shape the community’s understanding of the built environment.

Architecture Research Office

New York

Helmed by Stephen Cassell, Kim Yao, and Adam Yarinsky, Architecture Research Office works with leaders and communities to design projects that are committed to accountable action, social good, and environmental responsibility. The office’s projects are united in its goal to inspire people, further institutional missions, and advance equity and resilience.

Bestor Architecture

Los Angeles

Bestor Architecture inventively integrates architecture, urbanism, infrastructure, and landscape. Bestor is recognized for its pursuit of experimental designs that enhance urban life and expand the category of architecture into atmospheric urbanism.

Charlap Hyman & Herrero

New York; Los Angeles

Gesamtkunstwerk makes up the core of Charlap Hyman & Herrero. Led by principals Adam Charlap Hyman and Andre Herrero, the firm is recognized for its fantastical, playful vision, executed through research and a keen feel for interaction.

Civilian

Brooklyn, New York

Civilian works across scales and disciplines to curate environments and objects that convey a sense of care and mood. Founded in 2018 by Nicko Elliott and Ksenia Kagner, the studio crafts a tailored design language in response to each project’s social, historical, and material context.

CLB Architects 

Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Bozeman, Montana

Power of landscape, the quality of light, and the honesty of vernacular architecture inform the design language behind CLB Architects. This philosophy, inspired by place, has guided the firm since its inception in 1992.

Commune Design

Los Angeles

Spanning disciplines—residential, commercial, and hospitality architecture, as well as graphics, and products—Commune Design integrates community and material consciousness in all their endeavors. The office follows a collaborative approach under the ethos that true creativity comes from the collective.

Davidson Rafailidis

Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada

Cofounded by Stephanie Davidson and Georg Rafailidis, Davidson Rafailidis takes inspiration from the quotidian. As both teach architecture, the duo integrates their research and education to build flexible and autonomous typologies.

Design, Bitches

Los Angeles

Catherine Johnson and Rebecca Rudolph draw from their eccentric background in design, art, and pop culture to inform the vision of their firm Design, Bitches. Since its inception in 2010, the office champions highly social building concepts that challenge assumptions about how spaces should look.

Elizabeth Roberts Architects

Brooklyn, New York

Architect and founder of her eponymous studio, Elizabeth Roberts garnered a cult following for her refined style and glamorous renovation of classic brownstones. Since 1998, the firm has integrated architecture and interior design, evolving Roberts’s aspirational urban aesthetic.

Figure

San Francisco

Led by James Leng and Jennifer Ly, Figure is a collective which explores the intersections of art, architecture, and community. It functions as an open studio, often working with a network of international architects, designers, and creatives.

Frederick Tang Architecture

Brooklyn, New York

From concept to design to permitting to bidding, Frederick Tang Architecture is a holistic practice following an iterative process. The firm’s nimble yet optimistic design is a result of its pursuit of experimentation and curiosity, executed through collaboration.

Future Firm

Chicago

Founded by Ann Lui and Craig Reschke in 2015, Future Firm uses design to synthesize the aims and efforts of multiple stakeholders, catalyze transformation for individuals and groups, and create flexible space for diverse needs. Lui and Reschke value challenging the status quo by developing novel approaches toward community and belonging.

Gabellini Sheppard

New York

Gabellini Sheppard distinguishes itself through its sculptural finesse of space, light, and materials. The firm, founded in 1991, balances needs and desires, viewing each project as a frame through which perception is enhanced.

GRT Architects

Brooklyn, New York

When GRT Architects was established in 2014, it focused on adapting historic buildings in New York. The firm has evolved since then, but this early commitment to context remains visible in experiments with materials and hands-on construction.

HASTINGS

Nashville, Tennessee

HASTINGS services are multifold, from architecture to interior design to planning to sustainability consulting. Throughout, the firm produces award-winning sustainable architecture that positively impacts clients and society at large.

Home Studios

Brooklyn, New York

Home Studios designs for outsiders, the playful, and the curious. The team of 15, led by Oliver Haslegrave, is recognized for crafting cult-favorite bars and restaurants by tapping their collective backgrounds in custom fabrication and fine art.

Höweler + Yoon

Boston

Architecture and urbanism practice Höweler + Yoon has built a reputation for work that is formally and technologically innovative, socially engaged, and conceptually rigorous. With each project, it seeks to investigate how design fits into contemporary culture, and how it can affect social standards.

Ivy Studio

Montreal

Ivy Studio reimagines the boundary of design. The office works collaboratively to challenge industry standards and create unique spaces that celebrate the identity of each client.

Kwong Von Glinow

Chicago

Founded in 2017 by Lap Chi Kwong and Alison Von Glinow, Kwong Von Glinow champions a forward-looking, optimistic vision. Its work focuses on creating innovative living environments, places for cultural engagement, urban public space, and contemporary workspaces.

Leckie Studio Architecture + Design

Vancouver

Leckie Studio Architecture + Design’s residential and commercial projects are informed by an environmental sensitivity that includes an emphasis on passive solar design, sustainability, and a scenario-based approach to program and form.

Leong Leong

New York; Los Angeles

Leong Leong works with forwardthinking clients, cultural enterprises, and institutions to build cultural resonance and advance social agendas within the built environment. Founded in 2009, the firm operates globally and at many scales, including buildings, interiors, exhibitions, and furniture.

Ludwig Godefroy

Mexico City

For French-born Mexican architect Ludwig Godefroy’s eponymous practice, concordance, a resonance between two elements, is key. This philosophy defines the firm’s unique unification of Godefroy’s cultural background and vision.

Marlon Blackwell Architects

Fayetteville, Arkansas

Marlon Blackwell Architects uses an economy of means to deliver maximum meaning. Since 1990, the award-winning, environmentally responsible firm has operated with the belief that architecture can happen anywhere, at any budget.

Michael Hsu Office of Architecture 

Austin; Houston

Michael Hsu Office of Architecture is concerned with creating work that is functional, optimistic, and honest. The firm, founded in 2005, sets out to build livable, neighborhoodoriented spaces with an emphasis on available materials and simple design palettes.

Michael K Chen Architecture

New York

Recognized for expertise in creating complex urban projects, Michael K Chen Architecture strives to produce work that is unexpected, hyper-useful, intelligent, and full of delight. The office integrates architecture, interior design, and product design through a cohesive, coordinated, and collaborative process.

Modellus Novus

New York

Modellus Novus prioritizes inclusivity, not just in its design ethos but in the firm as a whole. The firm champions a new business model that serves to challenge the exclusivity of architecture and promote its capabilities for change.

_naturehumaine

Montreal

_naturehumaine believes architecture is an immersive medium with the power to affect mental states. The office’s positive and thoughtful design stems from this belief and runs throughout their projects, from large to small, to affordable to lavish.

Norman Kelley

Chicago

Norman Kelley focuses on residential architecture, commercial interiors, furniture design, exhibition design, and design criticism. The firm, founded by Carrie Norman and Thomas Kelley, work collaboratively with a sensitivity towards place and the nontraditional.

Odami

Toronto

Founded in 2017 by architect Aránzazu González Bernardo and designer Michael Fohring, Odami focuses on creating buildings and spaces that resonate with their place, story, and clients. The firm playfully explores typology, materiality, craft, and light.

Olson Kundig

Seattle

Olson Kundig is a collaborative global design practice whose work expands the context of built and natural landscapes. Led by 13 principals and owners, the firm carefully considers the environment, local materials, and culture for each project, often seeking out the expertise and contributions of craftspeople and artists.

PLY+

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Collaborative practice PLY+ combines rigorous research and creative invention to produce work recognized for its experiential complexity, geometric experimentation, and discipline. It is guided by three inputs: collaboration, research, and implementation.

PRODUCTORA

Mexico City

Projects by PRODUCTORA are identifiable by their precise geometries and clearly legible gestures. The office was founded by Abel Perles, Carlos Bedoya, Victor Jaime, and Wonne Ickx.

Ringo Studio

New York

Ringo Studio designs visionary environments where the customer journey is as strategically considered as the architecture that embodies it. Founded by Madelynn Ringo, the company prioritizes eye-opening, beautiful spaces that articulate nuanced experiences.

Rockwell Group

New York; Los Angeles

Driven by a deep curiosity about the world, Rockwell Group works across luxury hospitality, cultural, and healthcare projects in addition to educational, product, and set design. Individual narratives, interactive technology, and handmade objects inform each project.

Studio Shamshiri

Los Angeles

Pamela and Ramin Shamshiri founded Studio Shamshiri in 2016. The duo uses their background in production, art direction, and set design to oversee their wide range of projects, including residential, commercial, and hospitality projects, as well as home restoration.

Shin Shin

Los Angeles; Detroit

Shin Shin operates under the ethos that architecture and design can have a lasting positive impact on social and built environments. Led by principal Melissa Shin, the firm is committed to building long-term collaborative relationships with its clients and community partners.

SOM

Chicago

An early dedication to sustainability, equitable spaces, and research has awarded Skidmore, Owings and Merrill significant achievements in architecture and engineering.

Spiegel Aihara Workshop

San Francisco

At the intersection of architecture, landscape, and urban design, Spiegel Aihara Workshop (SAW) identifies blind spots between disciplines and takes advantage of the hidden opportunities therein. Design emerges collaboratively through a research-based process.

Studio J. Jih

Boston

Studio J. Jih is concerned with figure, both in the sense of architectural form and the bodies that choreograph and inhabit it. Engaged in difference, the studio finds solutions that are pragmatic, efficient, and rigorous yet ambitiously sculptural.

TenBerke

New York

TenBerke is united in the belief that architecture is not an end in itself, but a tool that turns what we have into what we need. The firm executes this with a design that fulfills three pillars: sustainability, imagination, and delightfulness.

Waechter Architecture

Portland, Oregon

Waechter Architecture transforms complex conditions into buildings of elemental beauty and enduring value. The team pursues architectural projects that are inclusive, working with clients and partners to solve problems and uncover insights.

West of West

Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon

Established in 2014 by Jai Kumaran and Clayton Taylor, West of West engages the worlds of design, art, culture, and technology to shape contemporary life and the built environment. The duo collaborates with others to develop environmentally and socially responsive buildings that interweave innovation and craft.

Woods + Dangaran

Los Angeles

Woods + Dangaran create modern homes through dialogue and exploration. The office works holistically to integrate architecture, interiors, custom furnishings in a quietly luxurious yet warmly modern fashion.

WORKac

New York

Cofounded by Amale Andraos and Dan Wood, WORKac specializes in public, cultural, and civic projects that reinvent how we live, work, and experience the world. The work integrates architecture, landscape, and ecological systems to uncover a pragmatic, optimistic future.

Worrell Yeung

Brooklyn, New York

Concise, poetic pragmatism lies at the heart of Max Worrell and Jejon Yeung’s practice, Worrell Yeung. The office approaches conceptualization and construction with equal importance, making work that appears simple and unembellished but is rooted in a rigorous and innovative design process.