Sportswear brand Nike fails to qualify for our Dezeen Hot List top 20 by a whisker. With this being an Olympic year, the brand was particularly active, unveiling a raft of new high-performance products at a lavish ceremony in New York in the spring and following this up with a major presence at Milan design week in April. More about Nike
New residential skyscraper proposals for London, New York and Miami helped Italian architect Renzo Piano climb to number 22 in our Hot List. More about Renzo Piano
Thomas Heatherwick divides opinion. There are those who love his ambitious proposals that defy architectural convention. And there are those who seem incensed that the 46-year-old Englishman continues to go near buildings at all. More about Thomas Heatherwick
London's Royal College of Art is our highest-ranking education establishment. More about Royal College of Art
Melbourne-based skincare brand Aesop is well-known among Dezeen readers for its outlets around the world. The brand works with different architects almost every time, meaning no two stores are the same. More about Aesop
Japanese design brand Muji is best known for its unbranded goods but behind the scenes it has long worked with a number of very well-known designers. More about Muji
Danish toy company Lego caught the attention of readers when its kit aimed at architects went viral on Dezeen's social media channels after it was included in our 2015 Christmas gift guide. More about Lego
Vietnamese architect Vo Trong Nghia is fast establishing himself as one of the leading global players. More about Vo Trong Nghia
The past year has been a roller coaster of highs and lows for Santiago Calatrava, the architect Dezeen readers tend to either love or hate. More about Santiago Calatrava
Danish brand Hay is one of the most dynamic in the sector at the moment, expanding aggressively and engaging in a range of eye-catching initiatives and collaborations. More about Hay
Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza is a cult favourite among architects, so comfortably made our Hot List without being in the news a whole lot over the past year. More about Álvaro Siza
The so-called master of minimalism, John Pawson doesn't tend to shout too loudly about his latest architecture projects. But the clients he works for often do, and Dezeen readers generally can't get enough. More about John Pawson
The Bartlett – University College London's faculty of the built environment – comes in number two in our schools ranking, with conceptual graduate projects featuring fantastical architectural drawings dominating the top posts about the school. More about The Bartlett
The architecture of Frank Gehry has always popular with Dezeen readers. Recently though he became almost better known for a spontaneous finger gesture. More about Frank Gehry
Founded in 1909, Chanel is one of the most revered fashion brands in the world, but it doesn't tend to crop up on our design radar too often. However it has stormed its way to the top of our fashion list this year thanks to a single project: Crystal Houses, its new store in Amsterdam with a facade designed by Dutch architects MVRDV. More about Chanel
Japanese architect Toyo Ito is one of the world's most revered architects but he rarely allows his buildings to be published online, hence his relatively modest showing on our Hot List. More about Toyo Ito
It was a busy year for Snøhetta, the Oslo and New York-based firm led by architects Craig Dykers and Kjetil Trædal Thorsen. They completed one of their most important projects to date, a major extension to the Mario Botta-designed San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA), which more than tripled its gallery space. More about Snøhetta
Brothers from Brittany Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec were on a roll at the end of 2015. Dezeen readers could not get enough of their striking and thoughtful designs for companies like Hay and Mutina, including outdoor furniture and porcelain tiles. More about Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
British designer Tom Dixon has long had a following, but in the last year he's drawn particular attention for a number of large-scale installations that showcased his products in unusual settings. More about Tom Dixon
French architect Jean Nouvel spent a lot of time in the news at the start of 2015, after he publicly disowned his Philharmonie de Paris. He seemed to be keeping a low profile after that, which could be the reason he ranked further down the Hot List than we might expect. More about Jean Nouvel