Bjarke Ingels Group — universally referred to as BIG — is the Copenhagen-and-New-York-based architecture firm founded in 2005 by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. One of the most-prolific and most-discussed contemporary international architectural practices, BIG operates from offices in Copenhagen, New York, London, and Barcelona, with a portfolio spanning residential, commercial, cultural, and infrastructure work across five continents. The firm's New York portfolio includes VIA 57 West (2016), The XI at 76 Eleventh Avenue, The Spiral at Hudson Yards (2022), and the Google Bay View campus collaboration with Heatherwick Studio.
The Copenhagen-and-New-York-based architecture firm founded by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels in 2005 — one of the most-prolific and most-discussed contemporary international architectural practices, whose substantive New York portfolio includes VIA 57 West, The XI at 76 Eleventh Avenue, The Spiral at Hudson Yards, and the substantial collaboration with Heatherwick Studio on the Google Bay View campus.
At a glance
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founder | Bjarke Ingels (b. 1974, Copenhagen, Denmark) |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen, Denmark (with substantial offices in New York City, London, and Barcelona) |
| Staff | Approximately 600 globally |
| Major NYC residential work | VIA 57 West (2016); The XI at 76 Eleventh Avenue (completed approximately 2024) |
| Major NYC commercial | The Spiral at Hudson Yards (2022); collaboration on the broader Hudson Yards platform |
Why Bjarke Ingels Group matters
Bjarke Ingels Group — universally referred to in the architectural press and within the firm itself as "BIG" — is the contemporary international architectural practice founded in 2005 in Copenhagen by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. The firm has developed across approximately twenty years into a substantial global practice with offices in Copenhagen, New York, London, and Barcelona, and a substantial portfolio of completed work across the residential, commercial, cultural, civic, and infrastructure building categories on five continents.
Ingels's distinction within the contemporary architectural profession is structural. He represents — perhaps more than any other architect of his generation — the public face of contemporary international architectural practice in popular culture, with substantial public-press visibility, a substantial published authorial output (the firm's monograph Yes Is More and the subsequent publications have anchored substantial popular-architectural readership), and a substantial international commission pool that has translated his individual public visibility into a substantial built portfolio. The firm's architectural philosophy — articulated by Ingels under the rubric of "hedonistic sustainability," the proposition that sustainable architectural practice and the substantive integration of environmental concerns into architectural design need not produce austere or restricted architectural forms but can produce buildings that are substantively pleasurable, visually striking, and programmatically generous — has anchored a body of work that combines substantial environmental ambition with substantial architectural visibility.
For Manhattan residential buyers evaluating BIG's New York residential portfolio — The XI, VIA 57 West, and the broader BIG-designed inventory — the architectural attribution is a substantive part of the buildings' structural premium. The firm's international reputation, the substantive New York portfolio across the residential and commercial categories, and the recognizable BIG architectural register together constitute a residential context that no other contemporary firm substantially replicates.
Founding and architectural philosophy
Bjarke Ingels was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 2, 1974. He studied architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and at the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona, completing his formal training in 1998. Following the conclusion of his studies, Ingels worked briefly at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam — Rem Koolhaas's architectural practice — before returning to Copenhagen and co-founding the architectural practice PLOT with Julien De Smedt in 2001.
PLOT operated for approximately four years and produced several substantive Copenhagen projects (including the early Maritime Youth House and several other Copenhagen commissions) before dissolving in 2005, when Ingels established Bjarke Ingels Group as his own independent practice. The firm's early years (2005–2010) produced the substantive Copenhagen residential projects — Mountain Dwellings (2008), 8 House (2010), and the broader VM Houses (with Plot, 2005) — that anchored the firm's early international architectural reputation.
The firm's architectural philosophy, articulated by Ingels across his continuing practice and in the firm's substantial publishing program, emphasizes several recurring themes. The first is the "hedonistic sustainability" thesis — the proposition that sustainable architectural and environmental practice can be combined with substantively pleasurable, visually striking, and programmatically generous architectural design. The second is a substantive engagement with hybrid program — the firm's larger projects routinely combine multiple building uses (residential plus retail plus office plus public infrastructure plus park) within unified architectural compositions, with the design strategies calibrated to support the substantive program integration. The third is a substantive engagement with the building's social and urban-design function — the firm's projects routinely emphasize public access, public-realm contribution, and the substantive engagement with the building's surrounding urban context.
The combination of these themes has produced a body of work that has been substantially praised across the architectural and broader public press for its architectural ambition and substantial program integration, and that has been substantially criticized in some quarters for its substantive iconographic quality and the substantive marketing-and-publication infrastructure that the firm has built around its work.
Major works: international portfolio
The firm's international practice across approximately twenty years includes a substantial portfolio of completed work. The works listed below represent the firm's most-recognized commissions; the full body of work substantially exceeds this list.
Residential
VIA 57 West (New York, 2016). The firm's principal New York residential project completed in the period before The XI — a 35-story residential tower with a substantial tetrahedron-form exterior on West 57th Street between 11th and 12th Avenues. The building's substantial sloping massing produced a building form that has been substantially discussed in the architectural press; the building's residential program supports approximately 700 apartment units.
The XI at 76 Eleventh Avenue (New York, completed approximately 2024). The firm's twisting twin-tower condominium project at the western edge of Chelsea — covered in detail in the dedicated building guide.
8 House (Copenhagen, 2010). The firm's substantive Copenhagen residential project, with the building's distinctive bow-tie-form composition producing the residential building's substantial visual identity. The building incorporates approximately 475 apartments organized around a substantial continuous ramp circulation system.
Mountain Dwellings (Copenhagen, 2008). The firm's earlier Copenhagen residential project, organized around the substantial integration of a parking-garage program (in the building's interior) with a substantial residential program (on the building's stepped exterior).
Vancouver House (Vancouver, 2020). The firm's substantial Vancouver residential commission — a 49-story residential tower with substantial twisting architectural massing.
79 & Park (Stockholm, 2018). The firm's substantial Stockholm residential commission.
Commercial and infrastructure
The Spiral (Hudson Yards, New York, 2022). The firm's substantial Hudson Yards commercial commission — a 65-story office tower with the substantial exterior terraced design that wraps around the building, producing the substantive distinctive architectural identity that gives the building its name. The Spiral represents the firm's principal commercial New York commission.
Two World Trade Center (New York, status varied). The firm has at various points been associated with the Two World Trade Center design, with the project's design and commission status having varied across multiple development cycles.
Google Bay View Campus (with Heatherwick Studio, Mountain View, California, 2022). The firm's collaboration with Heatherwick Studio on Google's Bay View campus headquarters — a substantial three-building campus complex with the substantial dragon-scale roof structure designed to incorporate solar-energy generation across the building's surface.
Amager Bakke / Copenhill (Copenhagen, 2017). The firm's substantial waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen — a building that combines its primary infrastructure program (the substantial waste-to-energy facility) with a substantial public ski slope and recreational space on the building's roof. The project anchored the firm's substantive engagement with hybrid program at significant scale.
Cultural and civic
LEGO House (Billund, Denmark, 2017). The firm's substantial cultural building for the LEGO company in the company's headquarters city — a substantial composition of stacked LEGO-brick-form architectural volumes that anchor the building's relationship to its LEGO programmatic identity.
Telus Sky (Calgary, Canada, 2020). The firm's substantial Canadian mixed-use commission.
O-14 (Dubai, 2010). The firm's substantive Dubai commercial commission — a 22-story residential building with substantial concrete exterior diaphragm structure that produces the building's distinctive perforated exterior.
Other principal commissions
The firm's broader portfolio includes substantial work across the cultural, civic, infrastructure, and master-planning categories at scale, with continuing project development across the firm's substantial international commission pipeline.
The firm's New York portfolio
Bjarke Ingels Group's New York City portfolio is substantively concentrated in the 2016–2024 period, with three substantial NYC commissions reaching residential or commercial occupancy across that window.
VIA 57 West — the firm's first major NYC residential, completed 2016 at West 57th Street near the Hudson River. The substantial tetrahedron-form residential building anchored the firm's New York architectural visibility at the start of the decade.
The Spiral — the firm's substantial Hudson Yards commercial commission, completed 2022 as a 65-story office tower. The building's substantial exterior terraced design produced the building's name and its substantive architectural identity within the Hudson Yards platform.
The XI at 76 Eleventh Avenue — the firm's substantial Chelsea / High Line residential commission, completed approximately 2024. The substantial twisting twin-tower configuration produced one of the most architecturally distinctive Chelsea / High Line residential buildings.
The firm's New York office, established to support the firm's substantial American commission pipeline, continues to operate as one of the firm's principal international offices alongside the Copenhagen headquarters.
Working with Bjarke Ingels Group
The firm continues to accept substantial commissions globally, with Ingels personally continuing to lead the firm's design direction across the firm's substantial international portfolio. The firm's commissions span the substantial range of building typologies — residential, commercial, cultural, civic, and infrastructure — at substantial scale.
For buyers evaluating the firm's existing NYC residential inventory — VIA 57 West and The XI — the firm's architectural significance, the substantive NYC portfolio, and the specific architectural character of the building together constitute substantive components of the building's structural premium.
Considering a Bjarke Ingels Group-designed building?
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Manhattan trophy-tier new-development inventory as a structural element of our luxury practice. We publish this architect profile because Manhattan residential buyers and sellers deserve substantive intelligence about the firms whose work has shaped the contemporary inventory.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at The XI, VIA 57 West, or any of the broader contemporary new-development inventory anchored in significant contemporary architectural practice, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Corey Cohen, Principal The Roebling Team at Compass
646.939.7375 · c.cohen@compass.com
Run the numbers
Related buildings
- The XI at 76 Eleventh Avenue — the firm's twisting twin-tower Chelsea condominium project
Related guides
- New Development in Manhattan: The 2016–2026 Research Guide — the broader context for the period's inventory
- Co-op vs Condo in Manhattan — the ownership-structure framing for new-development purchases
- Foreign-Buyer Guide — relevant for the international buyer demographic that the firm's residential commissions have attracted
This page reflects publicly available information on Bjarke Ingels Group's practice, the architectural and broader public press coverage of the firm's major commissions, the firm's published portfolio, and The Roebling Team transaction experience with the firm's NYC residential inventory. The Roebling Team at Compass does not represent Bjarke Ingels Group or the firm's institutional or residential commissioning clients. Specific project attributions, completion years, and current operational details should be confirmed independently. © 2026 The Roebling Team at Compass.
Buildings designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)
No profiles yet. Check back as the catalog grows.