Every year, the Architectural League of New York honors the rising stars of architecture with the Emerging Voices Award, a title offered only to the most promising professionals. Long known as a predictor of long-term career success, the award has been given to architects who have later become some of the best in the world, including Steven Holl, Toshiko Mori, and Tod Williams. For a recent article entitled 10 Emerging Voices Winners on the Program's Lasting Influence, Metropolis Magazine asked some of the award's most illustrious winners to discuss how their trajectories were changed by the award, and how they changed architecture.
In 1982, Steven Holl was named to the first cohort of what would later become the Emerging Voices Award. Reflecting on one of his most important projects at the time, for the unbuilt Bridge of Houses, Holl said: "all my drawings were black-and-white, the slide presentation was all black-and-white—to protest against Postmodernism. I was a difficult character. I was not really looking for a client with that project. It was about ideas." Discussing the impact of the league and its award, Holl adds: "Today, the League continues to be the most important cultural anchor for practicing New York architects. And the Emerging Voices program continues to be an optimistic platform for young architects."
Open to North American architects, the award has recognized burgeoning designers with innovative projects around the world. For 33 years, the League has been shaping the future of architecture through Emerging Voices, serving as the catalyst for the careers of dozens of architects. Find out how Emerging Voices changed the careers of Eric Owen Moss, Tom Kundig, Deborah Berke, and 7 more over at Metropolis Magazine.
