Handedness of acclaimed architects: No indication for an over-proportional representation of non-right handers

The claim that left handers are over-proportionally common among architects has inspired both scientific theories and popular beliefs about left handedness. However, a review of the existing literature reveals inconsistent findings and a modest overall sample size even when accumulated across studies. The present observational study reinvestigates the notion by assessing the hand preference of acclaimed professional architects. Relevant architects were identified from the winner list of prestigious architecture awards (i.a., The Pritzker prize, The Royal Gold Medal) and by referring to influential architecture magazines. Utilizing pictures and videos available online, hand preference of 515 architects was determined. Of these, 41 cases (8%; confidence limit, CI95%: 5.8–10.5%) were left handed or ambidextrous, a percentage below rather than above the expected 10.6% for the general population (χ² = 3.78, p = .052). To account for known historical trends in left handedness, we selectively considered architects born after 1950. Here, 10.1% (CI95%: 7.0–13.6%) were non-right handed, which was statistically comparable to the expected value (χ² = 0.07, p = .78). In conclusion, the present results allow excluding a relevant over-representation of left and non-right handers among acclaimed architects, challenging the popular belief that left handers (as a group) have a special talent for visual arts and architecture.