BIG founder Bjarke Ingels has been included in TIME’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2016.

In a citation, Pritzker Prize winner Rem Koolhaas – who founded international practice OMA, where he was once Ingels’ boss – said the Danish architect is “the embodiment of a fully-fledged new typology, which responds perfectly to the current zeitgeist.”

He said: “Bjarke is the first major architect who disconnected the profession completely from angst. He threw out the ballast and soared. With that, he is completely in tune with the thinkers of Silicon Valley, who want to make the world a better place without the existential hand-wringing that previous generations felt was crucial to earn utopianist credibility.”

"We are friends," Koolhaas added. "Once, during lunchtime, I used his office to prepare a competition presentation. On the menu that day was quiche. ‘Wow,’ I wondered, ‘so you can do great architecture without violating anyone’s comfort zone?’”

The TIME list provides an annual ranking of individuals judged to be the most influential. Koolhaas himself has previously been list. This year, Ingels is the only architect included.

Speaking last week, Ingels outlined his architectural philosophy. He said: “Our buildings don't look different just to be different, they look different because they perform differently. They uncover a new necessity or unexplored potential.

"Instead of having to come up with a nice decor for the same building you designed last year, you have to find out what is inherently new about this building that forces it to be different and how you can accommodate that difference in a way that forces you to explore new forms and materials."

A selection of BIG’s most innovative leisure buildings can be found here.