The journey to create a truly beautiful home begins long before the architect is hired; it starts in childhood. Architecture requires both art and science, drawing and math, three-dimensional design and limitless imagination. That’s why architects are born, not made. They join a secret society in elementary school, constantly drawing, viewing the world through a different dimension than the rest of us. Perhaps there’s even a secret handshake. My neighbor Jack, a buoyant 8-year-old, is a member. He announced at Christmas that he plans to be an architect. “I’m designing a new cruise ship,” he told me, and then proceeded to describe it in detail. I’m a believer—I’ve booked its maiden voyage for 2033.
Architecture is more a calling than a job. Great architects have the ability to turn empty space into livable art or transform a dispirited shelter into a sanctuary—with an amazing kitchen thrown in for good measure. These 12 architects and the 10 divine homes they’ve designed are the culmination of personal paths drawn from diverse backgrounds around the globe and realized in the fulfillment of their visions and their clients’ dreams.
