2009 Young Architects Forum: FORESIGHT

The Architectural League’s Young Architects Forum is an annual competition and series of lectures and exhibitions organized by the Architectural League and its Young Architects Committee. The Forum was established to recognize specific works of high quality and to encourage the exchange of ideas among young people who might otherwise not have a forum.

Participants in the program are chosen through a portfolio competition that is juried by distinguished architects, artists and critics, and the Young Architects Committee. The committee, a group selected each year from past participants in the Young Architects Forum, is responsible for developing the program's theme and selecting competition jurors. Open to designers ten years or less out of school, the competition draws entrants from around North America. The lecture series and exhibition by winners of the competition provide a lively public forum for the discussion of their work and ideas. Winners' designs will also be illustrated in a catalogue to be published by Princeton Architectural Press.

THEME
The competition theme, “Foresight,” created a basis for entrants to compose their portfolios and critically evaluate their work. This year’s committee posited that architecture is a profession of ideas—giving architects the means both to respond to problems and to project solutions. Entrants were asked to consider how architectural ideas might resonate beyond professional boundaries—particularly for younger practices who are more apt to consider cross-fertilizations from other disciplines and to incorporate new tactics and techniques into their work. Further, entrants were encouraged to address how to align the ambitions and capacities of architecture with the needs and desires of a diverse and changing world.

JURY
Paola Antonelli
Teddy Cruz
Nader Tehrani
Calvin Tsao

and the Young Architects Committee
Mark Gage
Ana Miljacki
Julio Salcedo

Cristina Goberna and Urtzi Grau, Fake Industries, Brooklyn

Cristina Goberna and Urtzi Grau are principals (with collaborators Ariel Boles, Cornelia Herlz, and Cristian Zanoni) of Brooklyn-based Fake Industries, “a conglomerate that explores the potentials of architectural agonism and false constructions.” Their work, both speculative and built, examines alternative forms of domesticity and the urban landscape. Their individual and joint work and writings have been published internationally. In 2008 they were winners of Europan 9. Among their projects are a campaign for free New York City apartments; a “House for Cesar,” which is a renovation of an office for a client evicted from his home; “The Illegal Hotel,” examining the role of unpaid architecture office interns; and “Golf! Urbanism Manifesto.”

Goberna graduated from the School of Architecture of Sevilla, where she co-founded the multidisciplinary group La Casita. Grau graduated from the School of Architecture of Barcelona Both Goberna and Grau received M.S. degrees in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.

Phu Hoang, Phu Hoang Office, New York City

Phu Hoang founded his New York City firm Phu Hoang Office in 2004. Current research projects, including “Enclaves and Floods,” situated on the border between India and Bangladesh and “Foodopolis,” an Urban Food Network in New York City, are expressive of his interest in using “current political conflicts and ecological disasters as a way to formulate architectural questions…relating to the possibility of designing for radical change.” Other projects include a prototype for a responsive building envelope made of water, and a 4,500 square foot loft in Manhattan. The firm’s design for “Every Man’s Land” in the Yucatan Peninsula received an honorable mention in the 2007 Sudaplan competition, and their “No Man’s Land” design for a tourist resort city in the Dead Sea was short listed in the 2007 Environmental Tectonics competition.

Hoang received a B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a M.Arch. from Columbia University. He is currently teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, and previously taught at Columbia University.

Sung Goo Yang, Ether Ship, Boston

Sung Goo Yang established his Boston-based firm Ether Ship in 2008. His work spans scales from urban design to fashion runways and abstract digital animations and designs—all expressing his interest in the interplay between image and form. Recent work includes his prize-winning competition for the Gwangbook Street Renovation in Busan City, Korea; “Vogue Fashion House” and a fashion show runway for Wooyoungmi, both commissioned by Vogue Korea; the “Seoul Change Project,” commissioned by Harper’s Bazaar; and competition entries for a gallery in Porto and the Incheon Changla Tower.

Yang studied architectural engineering at Korea University, where he was a founding member of “A-GENE-DA” Design Group, and received his M.Arch. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He was recently a guest critic and lecturer at Seoul National University.

TICKETS
Tickets are free for League members; $10 for non-members. Members may reserve a ticket by emailing [email protected]. Member tickets will be held at the check-in desk; unclaimed tickets will be released fifteen minutes after the start of the program. Non-members may purchase tickets online at www.archleague.org > Young Architects, beginning May 14. Purchased tickets are available for pick-up at the check-in desk and are non-refundable. For more information on our ticketing policy, go to www.archleague.org > Information; for general information, email [email protected] or call 212.753.1722 x13. AIA and New York State continuing education credits are available.

The Young Architects Forum is made possible with support from Dornbracht, LEF Foundation, Susan Grant Lewin Associates, and Tischler und Sohn. Architectural League programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The Urban Center, 457 Madison Avenue