Architecture Has Entered Its Influencer Era — and That’s a Good Thing

If you work in architecture, urban planning, or design you’ve likely been swept into what The Architect’s Newspaper recently dubbed the “Very Online Architecture” era. As Diana Budds so aptly lays out in her latest story, the once-esoteric world of design criticism and discourse has broken out of the lecture halls and landed in the comment section. And we’re here for it.

For years, the architecture industry has talked amongst itself. Awards juries. Academic papers. Glossy print spreads. Important, yes — but often inaccessible to the public who experience the built environment daily without the vocabulary or context to talk about it. What today’s TikTok explainers, YouTube deep dives, and Instagram reels are doing is democratizing design literacy. They are expanding the audience. And they’re doing it in a voice that feels more like a friend walking you through a building than a professor behind a podium.

This shift isn’t just cultural—it’s professional. Designers like Dami Lee and Stewart Hicks are building real practices and client pipelines through content. And creators like Diana Regan and Adam Paul Susaneck are taking on big topics — car culture, segregation, hostile architecture — and making them impossible to ignore.

As a communications firm operating at the intersection of design, destinations, and development, we are often asked by architects how to “get press.” But maybe the better question is: How are you participating in the conversation? Are you waiting for someone else to write about your work — or are you already telling the story yourself, in a way that resonates?

We don’t believe one replaces the other. Longform features, critical essays, and awards coverage still matter. But so does the 90-second video on what makes a building beautiful. These new tools aren’t just gimmicks—they’re a new form of practice, advocacy, and storytelling.

We see a future where design firms think like studios and media outlets, with the same rigor applied to a reel as to a rendering. And as Diana Budds smartly suggests, this isn’t about watering down the work — it’s about widening the lens.

Because architecture was never meant to live in a vacuum. And now, thanks to this new generation of creators, it doesn’t have to.

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Katie Breest is the founder of Agency PR, a strategic communications firm focused on the future of cities, design, and the built environment. She works closely with architects, developers, and creative studios across North America to shape the narratives behind transformational projects and the people who bring them to life.