Watch how these starchitects broke through their basic architect salary to be among the richest in the profession! Architects are always in demand with the ever-growing population and the challenges carried away by this. The listed rich architects did not quickly grow their basic architect salary into a high wealth—they worked their way through gender and racial challenges. They proved themselves as successful engineers and artists.
Who is the richest architect in the world?
Currently, Norman Foster earns more than any other architect on the globe. It is speculated that Norman Foster has a net worth of around $240 million. Because of his work on developing high-tech building techniques, Foster is often cited as a critical figure in the history of English modernism. In the following paragraphs, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about Foster.
Highest Architect Salary Made these the Top 10 Richest Architects in the World:
The average annual architect salary is around $80,000—however, these architects broke this rule and earned ten to twenty times more than that!
Image via RIBA
- Nationality: Danish
- Date of birth: October 2, 1974
- Famous design: VM Houses/The Moutain
- Net Worth: $17 Million
Running Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), one of the world’s biggest and most successful architectural firms, Bjarky Ingels started as a young aspiring architect and artist. Ingels worked on almost all projects and inspired the more youthful generations through his architectural documentaries. The Danish architect, with a net worth of $17 Million, is considered the youngest among the world’s wealthiest architects.
VIA 57 WEST, PYRAMID SHAPED APARTMENT BUILDING WITH SKYLINE, ARCHITECTS BJARKE INGELS GROUP, HUDSON RIVER, HELL’S KITCHEN
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Dame Zaha Hadid
Image by Dmitry Ternovoy
- Nationality: Iraqi
- Date of birth: October 31, 1950
- Famous design: The Riverside Museum
- Net Worth: $95 Million
Even after she passed away and she will go to her heirs, the ever-so-popular Dame Zaha Hadid is definitely among the list of the richest architects in the world—the starchitect was the first woman to win a Pritzker Architecture Prize. She was appointed as a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II. Hadid went fast from being a paper architect with a basic architect salary to being a professional leader. She left her mark in many cities worldwide, and her projects earned her a $95 million net worth.
The Riverside Museum. Image by Iwan Baan
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Sir David Adjaye
Image by Chris Schwagga.
- Nationality: Tanzanian
- Date of birth: September 22, 1966
- Famous design: Stephen Lawrence Centre in London, Moscow School of Management Skolkovo in Moscow, Francis Gregory Library in Washington DC, and Sugar Hill Housing in New York
- Net Worth: $10 Million
In a world that does not celebrate the black architectural identity, Sir David Adjaye became one of the richest architects in the world and one of the most famous, as well, after being knighted by the Queen in 2017. Adjaye is known for his commitment to the environment and for creating sustainable structures, including The National Museum Of African American History and Culture. Ghanian-British architect gained a net worth of $10 Million from his well-known public building designs.
Image via Adjaye Associates
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Kongjian Yu
Image via COAC
- Nationality: Chinese
- Date of birth: 1963
- Famous design: Houtan Park for Shanghai Expo, the Red Ribbon Park in Qinhuangdao, and Shipyard Park in Zhongshan
- Net Worth: $15 Million
Founder of one of the best Chinese architectural firms, Turenscape Company, Kongjian Yu made a net worth of $15 Million starting from a basic architect salary. Through the past 20 years, Yu has been a leader in the recreation of the Chinese Urban Planning field.
Yu is not only the founder of his firm, but he is also an ecological urbanist, an urban planner, a landscape architect, and a professor of landscape architecture at Peking University. His projects include the Qinhuangdao Red Ribbon, Haikou Fengxiang Park, and Quzhou Luming Park.
Image via Turenscape
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Maya Lin
Image Courtesy of UCSB Arts & Lectures.
- Nationality: American
- Date of birth: October 5, 1959
- Famous design: Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
- Net Worth: $12 Million
The second woman among the ten wealthiest architects in the world and one of the world’s most successful women in architecture, Maya Lin is an architect, sculptor, and land artist. With nearly 30 years of practice, she has completed a series of projects, including large-scale art installations, residential and institutional architecture, and memorials. Her work is focused on nature and sustainability, followed by minimal design and her goal of making a place for individuals within the landscape.
Image by Iwan Baan
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Renzo Piano
Image via Renzo Piano
- Nationality: Italian
- Date of birth: September 14, 1937
- Famous design: Centre Pompidou
- Net Worth: $25 Million
Renzo Piano started a little before the basic architect salary—the starchitect’s father was a construction worker. Piano savored many of the profession’s principles and foundations and had practical experience in the field from a very young age. According to The Explorian, the Italian architect’s net Worth is $45 million. His known projects include Hermes Maison in Tokyo, The Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Morgan Library in New York, and NEMO Museum in Amsterdam.
The image is courtesy of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
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Frank Gehry
© Condé Nast
- Nationality: Canadian
- Date of birth: February 28, 1929
- Famous design: The Guggenheim Museum
- Net Worth: $100 Million
Considering the architects who have left a stigma in contemporary architecture, Frank Gehry pops up to mind automatically. The geometric abstraction of his buildings makes his work recognizable worldwide. His success made him a celebrity, a star architect, and one of the wealthiest architects in the world. The Canadian architect is still practicing architecture to our day—there is a lot we do not know about Frank Gehry!
The Guggenheim Museum. Image via GRC/Alamy
Image via Moshe Safdie
- Nationality: Israeli, Canadian, and American
- Date of birth: July 14, 1938
- Famous design: Habitat ’67
- Net Worth: $100 Million
Moshe Safdie is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. Over a celebrated 50-year career, Safdie has explored the essential principles of socially responsible design through a comprehensive and humane design philosophy. He designed a project for his Master’s thesis; Habitat 67, the Canadian Pavilion for the World Exposition of 1967. Located in Montreal, Quebec, the building was initially intended as a practical solution for high-quality housing in dense urban environments and is considered one of the world’s unconventional structural systems.
Habitat 67 – Photo by Wladyslaw via Wikimedia Commons
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Santiago Calatrava
World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York – Image via Santiago Calatrava
- Nationality: Spanish
- Date of birth: July 28, 1951
- Famous design: The Milwaukee Art Museum, Turning Torso tower in Malmö, Sweden, The World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City, The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, Texas; and his most significant project, the City of Arts and Sciences and Opera House, in Valencia
- Net Worth: $100 Million
Mainly known for his bridges supported by single-leaning pylons, Spanish painter, architect, sculptor, and structural engineer Santiago Calatrava earned a $100 million net worth utilizing all his talents. Calatrava’s architecture is known to be imitating nature and living organisms—his successful projects are World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York, Twisting Torso Tower in Sweden, Milwaukee Art Museum, and Hunt Hill Bridge in Texas.
Image by Mark Lennihan
Image via Archinect
- Nationality: British
- Date of birth: June 1, 1935
- Famous design: Gherkin, London’s financial district
- Net Worth: $240 Million
Lord Norman Foster is the most prosperous architect in the world, with a net worth of $240 million. He founded his well-known architectural firm Foster + Partners back in 1967, and he is known for his sleek glass and steel structures. His most notable projects include the Citic Headquarters in Hangzhou, China, and the Swiss Tower RE in London, England. However, his Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi is still his most innovative work to this day.
Zayed National Museum – Image Courtesy of Foster + Partners
