Danish superstar Bjarke Ingels

Bjarke Ingels at his Copenhagen office in January 2018, sketching the layout of Noma’s new purpose-built home. Photography: Jan Søndergaard

(Image credit: Jan Søndergaard)

New fatherhood has not slowed down the Danish architectural superstar, who signed on to judge this year’s Awards despite being on paternity leave. His practice continues to grow in international reach – recently topping out Vancouver House, a sort of supercharged take on the Flatiron building; completing its first skyscraper in Asia (home to Shenzhen Energy Company); and winning commissions as far afield as Tirana, Albania and Quito, Ecuador.

Its greatest triumphs, though are still in its home base of Copenhagen: the opening of the new Noma, last February, showed that Ingels is equally adept at finesse as he has been at grand statements, while an autumn exhibition at Kunsthal Charlottenborg (through 13 January) showcased creative collaborations with the likes of Ai Weiwei, Es Devlin and Lars von Trier, firmly installing BIG in our cultural firmament. §

View the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2019 here

As originally featured in the February 2019 issue of Wallpaper* (W*239)

TF Chan is a former editor of Wallpaper* (2020-23), where he was responsible for the monthly print magazine, planning, commissioning, editing and writing long-lead content across all pillars. He also played a leading role in multi-channel editorial franchises, such as Wallpaper’s annual Design Awards, Guest Editor takeovers and Next Generation series. He aims to create world-class, visually-driven content while championing diversity, international representation and social impact. TF joined Wallpaper* as an intern in January 2013, and served as its commissioning editor from 2017-20, winning a 30 under 30 New Talent Award from the Professional Publishers’ Association. Born and raised in Hong Kong, he holds an undergraduate degree in history from Princeton University.