The ranking of the most famous architects

Starchitect rankings

To determine the relative popularity and brand value of starchitects, we use the STAR ™ model (v0.2) developed by an architecture data team at MIT.

Monograph recently published a starchitect ranking based on real data to show how famous famous architects are. Created by digital product designer Moe Amaya and the Monograph data team, the project uses the STAR system classification algorithm to determine an architect’s relative popularity and brand value.

As the Monograph team states, “Whether you’re a client wanting to attract a talented architect or a student building your education, a starchitect’s brand value in business and academia has been pretty opaque.
The Starchitect classification system is the beginning of a data-centric, architectural brand value approach. “
According to this ranking, Zaha Hadid tops the list, followed by Norman Foster, Le Corbusier and Bjarke Ingels.

STAR ™ Variables

• Monthly searches: We collect Google’s global keyword search volume from Ahefs, the most active Internet crawler outside of Google.
• Age – To normalize the natural age constraint, we have a logarithmic multiplier applied to the search volume. For example, Bjarke Ingels at 45, earns a multiplier of 2.4 times for his age.
• Pritzker – Being awarded the Pritzker gives an architect a score of 10 points.
• Notable projects:the projects considered for this variable are based on the Google Search knowledge graph, which is limited to 50 projects.
• ArchDaily project data – The ArchDaily team generously supports the Starchitect project by providing data on the project’s location and categories.
• Instagram: as a visual discipline, we use the Instagram follower as a proxy for visual search volume.

Many important variables are missing, including books and their impact on the project. The team is also classifying the architects with their own name and not those who form a team such as SANAA, MVRDV, Herzog de Meuron and Snøhetta. Future versions of the algorithm will take these variables and these important architectural studies into account