Being an innovator such a unique and artistic industry as design and architecture takes time and extraordinary effort. To showcase the innovative women making large strides in this business, CovetED Magazine recently highlighted 25 of the most influential women in both design and architecture on their blog.

Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid, the iconic Iranian-British architect known for her powerful, neo-futuristic creations and exemplary architecture. Though her passing in 2016 has left the world with one less imaginative spirit, her artistic views exist in her projects and their impact on those who see or benefit from them.
One of these projects includes the Napoli-Afragola high-speed train station that provides a key interchange hub for four high-speed train lines. Located only 7.5 miles from Naples, these lines will link the north and south sections of the country.

Headshot photo credit: Dmitry Ternovoy. Train station photo credit: Pivari.com

Kelly Wearstler

Interior designer Kelly Wearstler also ranks highly on the list. Known for her aesthetics in modern California luxury, Wearstler’s business has grown remarkably since the early ’90s from a boutique interior design firm to a global lifestyle brand, with designs in lighting, fabrics and furniture in both residential and commercial spaces. Artistic pieces like this gold sculpture showcase a bold, unique presence that makes a statement.

Photos courstesy of flickr.com/designmilk

Neri Oxman

Architect, designer and inventor Neri Oxman is known for making her own statements in both the architectural and scientific fields of study. As Sony Corporation Career Development Professor and Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, Oxman has coined the term material ecology, which considers “computation, fabrication, and the material itself as inseparable dimensions of design.
In this approach, products and buildings are biologically informed and digitally engineered by, with and for, Nature,” according to her website.

Some of Oxman’s work is included in permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Institute, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and other prestigious organizations. The MIT Media Lab features one of her structures titled Silk Pavilion, created using an algorithm that replicates a silkworm’s biological silk-spinning methods.

Photos courtesy Neri Oxman.

See CovetED Magazine’s full list of 25 female innovators in the link below!