The Masters of Design

Mark Fishman

President, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research,
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Three years ago, when cardiologist Mark Fishman was charged with reinventing drug development for Novartis, he bet on design. Meeting with the architectural firm that would build the company's $285 million laboratories, he talked about how work environments play a powerful role in the "sociology of science." Fishman championed what was initially an unpopular idea of creating denser areas where researchers could work "cheek by jowl around the lab bench." It's not just about efficiency. Fishman believes researchers thrive in crowded conditions because they interact more. "Mark clearly understood the power of design to affect performance and productivity," says architect Scott Simpson. That power means, in some cases, a sharply reduced timeline for preliminary clinical trials. -- Christine Canabou

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Richard M. Daley

Mayor,
Chicago, Illinois

The city once synonymous with smokestacks may soon be better known for its greenswards, thanks to Chicago's Richard M. Daley, the 16-year mayor. "Most people look at cities as harsh, cold, concrete, stark, naked, steel, dirt," says Daley. "It doesn't have to be that way." After a trip to Germany, where he saw a sea of garden roofs -- which absorb rain, keep buildings cool, and filter the air -- Daley decided in 2000 to convert City Hall into one of the first green-topped public buildings in the United States. Today, the city has 120 rooftop gardens under construction.

In 2004, Daley mandated that all new public and publicly supported buildings be green-topped. And next year, if the mayor has his way, Chicago will purchase 20% of its energy from renewable sources. Despite his share of political woes, Daley has undoubtedly made his mark on the urban jungle. -- Danielle Sacks

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Jacqueline Novogratz

Founder and CEO, Acumen Fund,
New York, New York

Jacqueline Novogratz, a banker turned social capitalist, is redesigning the way critical goods and services are sold to the poorest of the poor. Since its launch four years ago, Acumen, a nonprofit venture-capital fund, has invested $3.67 million in 14 innovative organizations.

Acumen puts design at the forefront of its investing strategy. It helped A to Z Textile Mills, an African company, develop a long- lasting antimalarial bed net. Then, Novogratz's team wondered if there was a way to make the nets more affordable and desirable, and dreamed up nets that hang in windows and doorways -- an attractive solution that uses less material. This year, Acumen plans to invest another $5 million in organizations, and it is collaborating with Ideo CEO Tim Brown to create an Acumen Design Council. The goal is to wield design as a catalyst for social change. -- DS

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Zaha Hadid

Founder, Zaha Hadid Architects,
London

Last spring, Baghdad-born Brit Zaha Hadid became the first woman to win the vaunted Pritzker Architecture Prize, the industry's highest honor. Never heard of her? There's a reason. Hadid doesn't swim in the mainstream. Her uncompromising attitude and edgy designs have shocked and even alienated clients. Her first landmark contract, an opera house in Cardiff, Wales, was yanked in 1994 after locals rebelled against the glass-and-concrete concept. Today, the failed design appears regularly on "Greatest Buildings Never Built" lists. Over the next few years, only a handful of jobs came her way, though her premier U.S. building, Cincinnati's Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, opened in 2003 to rave reviews. Then came the Pritzker. Now she has rocketed to prominence, winning new work from Spain to Oklahoma to Taiwan. "Zaha Hadid has built a career on defying convention," says Karen Stein, a Pritzker juror. "But she strikes a chord with people all around the world." -- Lucas Conley

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Chung Kook Hyun

Senior VP and director of design,
Samsung Electronics, Seoul, Korea