Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA

Let's talk about Vishaan - this architectural maverick who casually drops mentions of smoking turkeys in the rain while racking up design awards. The man transforms industrial relics into urban treasures, writes manifestos that get WSJ nods, and still finds time to teach at Cornell. Notice how he downplays revolutionizing Penn Station like it's a side project? Meanwhile, he's out here winning Edmund Bacon Awards and getting his work featured as "architectural mic drops." The delicious irony of an establishment figure who keeps pushing against the establishment's comfort zone. That blend of ivy league credentials and radical urbanist energy? Pure calculated brilliance. He's not just designing buildings - he's redesigning how we think about cities, all while maintaining that "just another architect trying to make cities more joyful" vibe.