Interiors grad student chosen for 2026 Metropolis Future100
Paymaan Taymouri, graduate student in the University of Kentucky School of Interiors, has been named to Metropolis magazine’s 2026 Future100 list, an honor recognizing the top architecture and interior design students in North America.
The Future100 program, launched in 2021, identifies 100 graduating design students who represent excellence in design thinking and a commitment to innovation and sustainability. Selected students are nominated by faculty members and reviewed by a panel of industry professionals. Taymouri was nominated by UK College of Design Associate Dean for Research and School of Interiors Associate Professor Lindsey Fay.
“Paymaan examines power dynamics in architecture, interrogating how spatial hierarchies and representational systems influence the built environment. This grounding in critical theory enriches his current research, situating his design explorations within larger social and cultural conversations,” Fay said in her nomination.
Taymouri has six years of experience spanning architectural firms, freelance work, and academic collaborations. His work combines architectural design with advanced digital tools, specializing in 3D modeling, rendering, and visualization while exploring emerging technologies including parametric design, AR/VR, folding systems and 3D printing.
Taymouri’s portfolio includes experimental spatial installations, academic research and professional architectural projects. His installation “The Empty Seat of Power” uses suspended laser-cut steel fragments that align into a throne only from a specific viewpoint, revealing how authority can exist as an illusion shaped by perception and distance. In “Falling Colors,” a collaborative installation with the UK School of Arts and Visual Studies, layered textiles and colored vinyl create a translucent canopy
that responds to light, movement and the hidden landscape of the site.
His architectural work ranges from the human-centered redesign of Noori Afshar Hospital in Tehran, which prioritizes healing environments and patient comfort, to adaptive reuse and hospitality projects such as the revitalization of the historic Laleh Hotel. Across these projects, Taymouri integrates digital fabrication, spatial experimentation and cultural context to create environments that are both technically precise and conceptually expressive.
Taymouri will receive a complimentary year-long Metropolis subscription and a celebration box. He was also featured on the Metropolis website and will be featured again in the Metropolis Summer issue. Members of the Future100 will also be spotlighted in a special video compilation on DesignTV by SANDOW, set for release later this Spring.
Taymouri is one of only 17 interiors graduate students in North America who were selected for this honor, positioning him among the field’s most promising emerging designers and highlighting the University of Kentucky’s commitment to developing creative, globally minded talent.
To view the full list of 2026 honorees, visit https://metropolismag.com/programs/future100/. View Taymouri's portfolio of work here.
