When Margaret Russell unveiled her master plans for the future of Architectural Digest in March, she mentioned her intention to "celebrate the DNA of the magazine." At that point, however, it was unclear what she would do with the AD100, a roster of 100 influential architects and interior designers that has become one of the pub's hallmark features since former editor in chief Paige Rense Noland instituted it more than two decades go. Would Russell keep the list—which many industry insiders had started to consider stale anyway—going? Would she eliminate it altogether? Would she overhaul it with 100 entirely new picks?
The January issue, on newsstands tomorrow, brings answers. The AD100 still stands; on it remains 17 members of the inaugural class but 53 new additions since 2010, including young, hip, and au courant firms such as Carrier and Company, Aero Studios, and Vicente Wolf (one of Russell's besties). According to a post-event recap by the New York Post, at the AD100 party in NYC last week the names of each of the 100 inductees were rendered on "soaring pillars in the museum's rotunda to symbolize their status in the design community." A new era in Architectural Digest's influence, perhaps, and yet another signal that Russell has turned the dusty old "design authority" around? Self-aggrandizement? An advertising ploy? A combo platter of the three? It remains a philosophical quandary for now; meanwhile, read some notables from this year's AD100 architecture and interior design firms below.
Aero Studios (interior design)
Alexander Gorlin Architects (architectura)
Bunny Williams Inc. (interior design)
Campion Platt (architecture and interior design)
Carrier and Company (interior design)
Drake Design Associates (interior design)
Foster + Partners (architecture)
Ike Kligerman Barkley Architects (architecture)
Jacques Grange (interior design)
Jennifer Post Design Inc. (interior design)
Kelly Wearstler (interior design)
Mac II (interior design)
Mario Buatta (interior design)
Mark Hampton LLC (interior design)
Martyn Lawrence Bullard Design (interior design)
Michael S. Smith Inc. (interior design)
Miles Redd (interior design)
Muriel Brandolini (interior design)
Olsen Kundig Architects (architecture)
Peter Marino Architect (architecture and interior design)
Richard Meier & Partners Architects (architecture)
Richard Mishaan Design (interior design)
Robert Couturier Inc. (architecture and interior design)
Robert A. M. Stern Architects (architecture)
Rockwell Group (architecture and interior design)
Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors (architecture and interior design)
Selldorf Architects (architecture)
Steven Holl Architects (architecture)
Thad Hayes Inc. (interior design)
Thomas Jayne Studio Inc. (interior design)
Timothy Corrigan Inc. (interior design)
Victoria Hagan Interiors (interior design)
Vicente Wolf Associates Inc. (interior design)
Please visit the full list over on Architectural Digest.
· Margaret Russell Shares More Intel About the New Arch Digest [Curbed National]
· The New AD100 [Architectural Digest]
· All Architectural Digest coverage [Curbed National]
· He creates dubious apparel [NYPost]