The Alist’s favourite architect and master of the gravity-defying building, Frank Gehry unveiled a typically ambitious structure to grace the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion this summer. The network of timber planks and glass planes was inspired by wooden catapults designed by Leonardo da Vinci and striped beach huts.

Critics say his style is mere spectacle but the Canadian’s most famous works, such as the curvacious Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, have prompted an economic regeneration of their locale. Gehry, 79, who sculpts model façades with paper and sticky tape, is not beyond designing a £1,000 gold torque ring for Tiffany’s.

He also wants to transform Hove, East Sussex, with a £290 million seafront development. Next stop is the Golden Lion award at architecture’s Venice Biennale.

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