AD—WO and Estudio ALA

The Architectural League’s annual Emerging Voices program spotlights North American architects, landscape architects, and urban designers who have significant bodies of realized work and the potential to influence their field.

Emanuel Admassu and Jen Wood founded AD—WO in New York in 2018.  Working at the intersection of art and architecture, the practice is rooted in Black studies, decoloniality, and conceptual art. Admassu and Wood’s installations, exhibitions, and built projects articulate, in their own words, “how architecture and art are implicated in ongoing struggles; redirecting spatial thinking against various forms of subjugation.” Located in galleries and educational and cultural institutions, the firm’s installations utilize tactical materiality and non-Western aesthetics to challenge architectural conventions. 

Luis Enrique Flores and Armida Fernández founded Estudio ALA in Guadalajara in 2012.  Often designing for industrial and agricultural contexts, the firm, in its own words, seeks to “honor culture and tradition while still questioning the significance of programs, methodologies, and materialities.” Through built work and research projects that engage creatively with established economic and social structures, Estudio ALA explores a wide range of topics, including migrant spaces and pathways; emerging dwelling typologies; environmental sustainability; and reuse and reprogramming.

The presentations will be followed by a conversation with Paola Aguirre Serrano and Jess Myers. 

Paola Aguirre Serrano is a native of the Mexico-United States region, urban designer, and partner at BORDERLESS since 2016. Her design and research practice is based in San Antonio and Chicago. Aguirre Serrano was a member of the 2024 Emerging Voices jury.

Jess Myers is an urbanist whose practice includes work as an editor, writer, podcaster and curator. She is an assistant professor at Syracuse University School of Architecture. Myers was a member of the 2024 Emerging Voices jury.