In an industry as rich with talent as the design world, it is indeed very difficult for me and the editors of Architectural Digest to single out only 100 people (or firms) for inclusion in our yearly list honoring the best of the best. One hundred is certainly not enough to celebrate everyone of note, but perhaps it is the right number to make landing on the list a real achievement. We agonize over the AD100 precisely because we realize how meaningful it is to the professionals who are on it and to the readers who trust it to guide them in their own design education and personal choices. This year we incorporate, for the first time, landscape designers as well as introduce a Hall of Fame, which enables us to acknowledge masters of their craft while affording some wiggle room to allow fresh names on the list. I do believe that once AD100, always AD100: Much like Oscar winners, recipients retain lifetime bragging rights. And it is most exciting and satisfying to see new people garner recognition. Consider interior designer Frank de Biasi, who makes his debut on the AD100 and on our cover, with an opulent, imaginative, and wholly original house in Miami Beach he created for a longtime client. We welcome Frank and all the other newcomers to the list. These handpicked 100—architects, decorators, landscape designers—present a tremendously dynamic snapshot of global design today. All are at the top of their game, working in profoundly different but equally relevant styles. The entire issue is a tribute to their breathtaking ability to reshape our physical and visual realities.

The exterior of George Lindemann‘s home , our January cover.

A table by Milan‘s Dimore Studio.

A sunny bedroom designed by India Mahdavi in the south of France.

The luxe Long Island bath of designers Dan Fink and Thomas O‘Brien.