The Architectural League of New York has announced the winners of its 2015 Prize for Young Architects + Designers. Launched in 1981 and organized by a committee comprising League Programs Director Anne Rieselbach and a selection of winners from last year, the Architectural League Prize is one of the United States' most prestigious awards for young architects, recognizing provocative work and offering a platform for the winners to disseminate their ideas. This year's theme, "Authenticity," asked designers how technological changes in computation, visualization, material intelligence, and fabrication technologies are altering our perception of design and the role of the architect.
The jury for the prize consisted of Keller Easterling, Sanford Kwinter, Michael Meredith, Lyn Rice, and Billie Tsien, as well as previous winners Carrie Norman, John Rhett Russo, and Jenny Sabin. As part of their prize, in June the six winning practices will present a series of lectures, and their work will be on display in an exhibition during the summer.
Read on for the complete list of winners.
Dan Adams and Marie Adams, Landing Studio, Somerville, MA
Working on projects including port facilities, headquarters buildings, demolition plans, shared industrial/public park landscapes, ocean transport, and mining operations, Landing Studio describes their approach as "developing design tactics for positively integrating active global industries and infrastructures into their local contexts."
Erin Besler, Besler & Sons, Los Angeles, CA
Founded last year, Erin Besler's firm Besler & Sons works include a finalist proposal for the MoMA PS1 Young Architect's Program titled Roof Deck. In her words, her work "references and reuses things that are already in circulation" - things which she then aims to "refit into a slightly different framework."
Seth McDowell and Rychiee Espinosa, mcdowellespinosa, Scottsville, VA and Brooklyn, NY
Founded in 2010, mcdowellespinosa works on the "transformation of waste, excess and the ordinary into new spatial and material realities" at a range of scales, from individual objects to the city, as in their Water Fuel: The Plan for a Self-Sustaining New York project.
Thom Moran, Ann Arbor, MI
Thom Moran's work focuses on "using humor to investigate the relationships between architecture, environments and objects" - something which he achieves through a range of approaches, from the large-scale recycled plastic puzzle of Making Friends to the "urban sculpture" of Rainbro.
Anna Neimark and Andrew Atwood, First Office, Los Angeles, CA
Founded in 2011, First Office works on a range of scales with a variety of approaches. Besides their role in the 2013 conversion of the Pinterest Headquarters, they have exhibited work at numerous museums and colleges, and are currently producing a book simply titled Nine Essays.
Clark Thenhaus, Endemic, Ann Arbor, MI
The work of Clark Thenhaus' practice is embodied within its name, with the definition of Endemic encompassing both "the traditional meaning concerning context, language, and material sensibilities as an intensely local construct,” and yet at the same time being "a term of the discipline itself, thus making contact with fundamental, cross-cultural conversations on technique, history, form, and process as inherent to the practice of architecture."
Find out more about the six winners at the Architectural League's website.
