2018 Architect 50: Top 50 Firms in Design

For Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA, founding principal of Los Angeles–based Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects—this year's top firm on ARCHITECT's 50 list—buildings are not isolated objects. “Architecture is a social act,” he says. “When we design a building, we’re concerned about how it impacts the sidewalk and the street, and how it impacts the social and civic world.” His term for this approach: “Amplified urbanism.”

That philosophy—an especially forward-thinking one in sprawling LA—helped Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects earn the top spot in the design category of this year’s Architect 50. “Coherent and unique projects with tremendous range,” said the design judges about the firm’s portfolio. “The work possesses an impressive catalog of variation and invention concerning approaches to architectural identity.”

See the full list on ARCHITECT.