The people responsible for the beauty of most of the buildings you love in the big cities from around the world are architects who managed to create something special. So, you would naturally expect them to win a lot of money. However, the average annual salary for architects in the US is $89,000. This might seem a lot for other countries but given the fact that the average US salary for all jobs is around $36,000, it is not that high.
The truth is there are many architects and they are usually not paid as much as people expect. Even so, some do manage to accumulate a pretty large wealth. With this in mind, here are the top 5 richest architects in the world right now.
Frank Lloyd Wright
With an estimated net worth of $25 million, Frank Lloyd Wright is a very influential architect, one that is highly respected in the world right now. The portfolio he is responsible for includes over 1,000 designs. Half of them led to completed structures, like office buildings, museums, churches, hotels, private homes, and much more. Frank’s style led to the creation of buildings perfectly integrating nature in the surrounding landscape, with Fallingwater being the most famous building he is responsible of.
Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier had a net worth of $40 million and was both an architect and a painter. His architecture work was mainly focused on reinforced concrete and steel, with elemental geometric forms. His artwork was all about simple structures and design so it fit with the architecture work.
What is interesting about Le Corbusier is he inspired 3 architectural discoveries. This included things like classical proportions in relation with Renaissance architecture and special awareness for buildings when compared to surrounding environments.
Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid was one of the few women architects who managed to thrive in a profession dominated by men. Her net worth was of $89 million and she did manage to become a very wealthy architect with work respected by literally everyone. She was described as being a radical decontructivist designer and she was the very first female to receive the prestigious Pritzker Architecture prize.
Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry has an impressive net worth of $100 million and what is very interesting is that he is still active right now and working. Most of his work, which is what led to his huge wealth, was focused on redesigning modern cities. He is renowned for the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum and you can find Gehry’s works in many other places. And who knows how many will still be erected?
Norman Foster
If you are looking for the architect with the highest net worth, it is $240 million and the architect is Norman Foster. Ever since the year 2011, Foster has been the wealthiest architect in the world. This is due to his impressive portfolio, which includes incredible structures like Citic Bank Headquarters, the London Swiss Tower RE, and Hearst Tower.
