Dezeen is 15 years old today! Here are some of the messages we've received from readers around the world, including famous ones such as Norman Foster and Philippe Starck and not-so-famous ones.
Norman Foster
Dear Dezeen, a happy 15th birthday and in the spirit of Dezeen carrying on its excellent work into the future, I wish you many happy returns. This brings back very good memories of when I helped to judge your awards in 2020. With best wishes, Norman Foster.
Pedro Saturno
Dear Dezeen team, I am a 75-year-old architect who starts his day consulting the news about this beautiful profession that a 15-year-old teenager named Dezeen brings to my window. Congratulations!
Philippe Starck
Before, for some reason, we used to go out a lot. We were so proud to show our last hit clothes. We knew at this time the meaning of all our clothes. After, for other reasons we stayed inside, a lot, and actually we were not so proud of our home. Sadly our home was the reflection of us. We were lost.
And then Dezeen enlightened us. Dezeen explores, selects and shows us the best, for so many reasons. Now we know where we are, why, and who we are, perhaps. Thank you Dezeen. Happy birthday Dezeen!
Kusalta Shrestha
I stumbled upon Dezeen as a second-year architectural student in Australia, back in 2007. Blogs were popping up left, right and centre and its discovery provided a wonderful respite in between scratching away errant lines on tracing paper – a task that was fast persuading me that perhaps this design business wasn’t for me, after all.
But, despite becoming a part of my daily routine, it hasn’t all been inspiration and awe. At times, there has been frustration felt at some of the content on offer – what felt fresh in the past, would read stale as new ground remained uncovered, different pastures unexplored.
My visits to the blog have become more sporadic over time, likely related to my own relationship with the world of design, (it’s complicated, you see) but I kept returning. Some things just stick and Dezeen is one of those sticky things. I may not always like what you share, but I appreciate that you do. You’ve become a mainstay. Happy birthday from Salta, a longtime reader.
Atang Tshikare
Who else can put you on an international judging panel with some of the world's top starchitects and designers? Dezeen is the plug that has been raising the bar and I'm incredibly happy to know Marcus and his team.
If you want to know what is happening in the spheres of design all you need do is type in the word Dezeen and a world of information is at your fingertips. That is the ultimate value we all want as entrepreneurs, so thank you Dezeen for always being the top platform and making life easier. Bravo Dezeen!
Amaury Arroyo Garay
I am one of the fifteen happy winners of the Redesign the World contest. I am proud to thank you not only for your anniversary and your contest, since from this corner of Colombia, for fifteen years every morning and before starting to create, I enjoy your articles and research, which give me an approach to what is happening worldwide in the subjects that I am passionate about. 5475 days of thanks Dezeen!
Sarah Wigglesworth
It's been fascinating to witness Dezeen's 15-year journey from niche title to major player in the design and architecture sector. I turn to Dezeen not just for industry news but for thought-provoking pieces with journalistic integrity.
Congratulations to the whole team for creating such an influential platform for dialogue in our sector. Looking forward to witnessing its evolution over the next 15 years!
Ian Ritchie, Francine Houben, Dorte Mandrup, Tobias Nolte and Kjetil Trædal Thorsen
On our way back from judging the Zumtobel Group award for sustainability and humanity, we decided to send our congratulations to the 15th birthday of Dezeen collectively. We want to thank you for Dezeen's ongoing effort to spread relevant, interesting and inspiring information on architecture and design to our worldwide community and beyond.
In our continuous striving to improve the conditions under which humans and nature develop, Dezeen is a source we always return to. Happy 15th birthday, Dezeen. Stay young!
Amber Jae Slooten
I remember the first time I found Dezeen. I couldn't stop scrolling. As a fashion student, we were often directed towards blogs about fashion but for me, Dezeen was the answer to telling me what the future might look like and showing me new perspectives. It covered a wide range across the design world which always helped me to understand the bigger context and therefore create from the zeitgeist, based on my feeling and the research I would do.
Being on Dezeen for the first time and meeting Marcus was such a great experience and ever since then, we, as The Fabricant, feel very supported by the platform. Thank you for being so open to these new ideas and always running at the cutting edge of tomorrow. Happy birthday Dezeen, looking forward to the next 15 years with you.
Daniel Libeskind
Dezeen has become the center of the architectural and design conversation on a global scale. You can find the latest in technology, discover up and coming designers as well as explore projects of the established firms. It is a terrific resource. Happy Birthday to Dezeen and I look forward to many more!
Christine Samuelian
I can scarcely believe it's been 15 years since you launched Dezeen. Happy birthday to your third baby! What a lot you have accomplished. I hope you are celebrating in a suitable fashion. Big hugs from all of us.
Chris Precht
Dezeeeeen, you were born at the same time when I started university. Growing up, you always felt like this distant classmate who is way too cool to hang with me. But I watched you. And learned. Almost every day. There were times where I felt like a stalker. And now that we are buddies, I look forward going through the next years of puberty with you. It’s going to be epic. Happy 15th birthday!
Stefano Boeri
Those who said that without paper magazines, architecture is dead, oh yeah...
Those who said the architectural media are now slaves to speculation, oh yeah….
Those who said that advertising affects social media, oh yeah….
Those who said that architects who know how to communicate are carried in triumph, oh yeah…
Those who said that architectural criticism is dead, oh yeah…
Those who said if you don't know how to communicate you can be a genius… but no one will consider you, oh yeah…
Those who said how beautiful it was when you could see the details of a project in print, oh yeah…
Those who said "Dezeen? What the fuck is it?" OH YEAAAAAH!
Inspired by a song by well-known Italian singer-songwriter Enzo Jannacci.
Kengo Kuma
I’m walking around the town feeling the wind of Dezeen. Whether I’m eating or working with my smartphone, I try to embrace the wind as much as I can. Without it, I’d find the whole world suffocating. I came to like feeling the wind even more after the Covid-19 pandemic. Dezeen, for me, is such a pleasant breeze.
Winy Maas
Hi Dezeen! My word you have grown! I remember cradling you when you were just a cute baby… Riding the wave of the digital revolution, you have established yourself as one of the most influential design and architecture magazines on the planet. You are always quick, somehow snappy, friendly, quite fair, attempting to cover every place and both the small and big scale – even when the large-scale is not covered by many, and often only in a boring way.
And you always maintain a strong interest in the future, in the next step. It is as if you put realised work into a historic framework. You have always maintained an optimistic outlook, that we, the creative industries, can help to avert a climate, social, and economic catastrophe… In short: that we are relevant.
Now that you are 15 with that strong voice, please continue in this work, in these explorations, in an even more critical manner, and use your influence even more to strongly support the upcoming changes and the role that we all have to take. Happy birthday and best wishes from all of us at MVRDV and The Why Factory, Winy Maas.
Nelly Ben Hayoun
OULALA! Dezeen is 15! A massive congratulation to the team for this milestone! It has been so inspiring to see the development of the platform from the very start to where it is at now. I met Marcus when I was just literally finishing the Royal College Of Art, working to beam people in space from a rocket chair that I called The Soyuz Chair!
And since, well, Dezeen and I, we have explored the universe and beyond, It has been fantastic to experiment with the digital platform – a first of its kind! – and see the team go on site to experience architecture or design and write about it. I think we both share the strong belief that things need to be lived in order to reflect on it.
It is a great honour to co-host the Dezeen award ceremony with Lionheart this year, or host a sports show last year in the midst of the pandemic, but also so many other projects developed by the team. I wish you all a happy birthday, to the past 15 years and to the more new beginnings we will experience together on the platform!
Simon Allford
Happy 15th birthday Dezeen – a truly unique, inspirational and immediate visual resource for architects, designers and built environment professionals around the globe!
James Melia (Blond)
"Dezeen is not only our go-to place for industry news, but the fiery comments are tremendously insightful, and often very amusing. What would we do without you? Thank you, Dezeen, for your support over the years, the top-notch reporting, and for providing such an excellent global platform for discussion. Happy 15th birthday!"
Klein Dytham Architecture
“To the Dezeen Dream Team, thank you for starting a new paradigm and for keeping it as fresh, relevant and inspiring as it was 15 years ago! What would we do without you? Here’s to celebrating 30! Love from Tokyo, Astrid, Mark and the Klein Dytham Allstars.
Neri&Hu
Thank you, Dezeen, for bringing the world closer to design, and for bringing us designers closer to the world. Happy 15th from Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu!
Adam Nathaniel Furman
Dezeen has been amazingly supportive of my career, as it has been of so many other architects and designers who otherwise would struggle to reach an audience, and as well as being a fantastic resource for designers and a place for opinions to be published that would otherwise not find a platform, it is a great example of British journalistic entrepreneurship, being a global force in design while retaining the spirit of an adaptable, free-thinking indie enterprise.
Andres Reisinger
Dear Dezeen, on this important day, I wanted to express how fortunate I am to have had the chance to collaborate with your great curators and under your philosophy. Today is an excellent day to begin another 15-year trip. It's a new beginning for new projects, new technologies, and amazing achievements. I wish you the happiest of anniversaries! From Andrés Reisinger and the Reisinger Studio team.
Skidmore Owings & Merrill
Fifteen years ago, Dezeen changed the landscape of design journalism. Suddenly, architecture and design became accessible to anyone with the internet. A small pencil crafted from chocolate could reach as many people as news of an international skyscraper in New York. Dezeen launched just as SOM's 7 World Trade Center completed.
These days, when so many of us are focused on finding solutions to the climate crisis through design, Dezeen plays an instrumental role in bringing these ideas to the world every day. Happy Birthday Dezeen, from all your friends at SOM.
Sou Fujimoto Architects
Congratulations on the 15th anniversary of Dezeen! We are always excited about Dezeen's enthusiasm for publishing wonderful architecture. Thank you for introducing our works to readers worldwide. Wishing you all the best and success!