Who

Dubbeldam is a hipper-than-thou architect known for her unorthodox condo designs.

Backstory

The daughter of an architecture nut who constantly designed and constructed new homes for his family, Dubbeldam says she moved 15 times as a kid and was forced to learn to live with few possessions, which likely explains the spare, clean designs aesthetic she's since become famous for. In 1990, Dutch-born Dubbeldam arrived in New York and bounced between jobs at the firms of Bernard Tschumi, Steven Holl, and Peter Eisenman. Four years later, she struck out on her own and started Archi-tectonics. Although she's only realized several projects in New York—many of her designs have never been carried out—she's attracted attention for her outside-the-box work on a few condo developments.

Of note

Dubbeldam's signature style melds rustic materials and futuristic lines to create a look that's somewhere between mid-century warmth and space-age modern. In 2003, she completed work on her most high-profile project to date, the 16-story condo development 497 Greenwich, which was praised by the architectural community for its cascading glass facade. She's now at work on a new condo project, 33V. Other projects over the years have included three residential towers in her native Rotterdam and an office design for Bob Guccione Jr.'s (now shuttered) Gear magazine. Dubbeldam also teaches: Formerly a lecturer at Harvard and Columbia, she is now an associate professor of practice at Penn's architecture school.

Personal

Dubbeldam, who's unmarried, seems to be a fan of her own work. After completing 497 Greenwich, she moved in. One famous neighbor: artist Cindy Sherman.