The 2015 Emerging Voices winners

The Architectural League of New York announced today the eight winners of the Emerging Voices Awards 2015. The prestigious invite-only, portfolio competition recognizes emerging and potentially influential firms and individuals in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and urbanism. Awarded firms and individuals are based in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico.

This year's winners were selected by the jury for their alternative forms of practice and entrepreneurial spirit, as well as their accomplishments in the design and academic communities.

Find out who they are below.

 

Benjamin Aranda and Chris Lasch - Aranda\Lasch, New York and Tucson

 

"Benjamin Aranda and Chris Lasch founded New York- and Tucson-based Aranda\Lasch in 2003. Committed to “experimental research and innovative building,” Aranda\Lasch’s projects are “multiscalar and interdisciplinary,” operating at a wide range of scales from objects, furniture, and installations to buildings and landscapes...Currently in progress are the Art Deco Project, a new retail building in Miami’s Design District, as well as large-scale retail and mixed-use developments in Niigata, Japan; Wuxi, China; and Libreville, Gabon."

Neri Oxman - Architect, Founder and Director, Mediated Matter Group, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA

"Brian Phillips founded Philadelphia-based ISA in 2004. ISA is committed to “bringing innovative design with a strong environmental agenda to urban environments.” Although a particular focus is housing, the firm works in a wide range of scales and typologies in Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago, as well as speculative projects for cities nation-wide."

Elizabeth Whittaker - Principal, Merge Architects, Boston

"Elizabeth Whittaker established Boston-based Merge Architects in 2003. Merge seeks to “produce an architecture that embraces the art of making within a larger agenda: to re-define the urban and social boundaries of the city...Current projects include a YMCA Health and Wellness Center in East Brookfield, MA; and a prototype for His / Hers House, a single-family housing structure."

Gabriela Etchegaray and Jorge Ambrosi - AMBROSI | ETCHEGARAY, Mexico City

"Gabriela Etchegaray and Jorge Ambrosi founded Mexico City-based AMBROSI | ETCHEGARAY in 2011. The firm seeks an “architecture in harmony with nature, where earth, gravity, and light must be present.” Current projects include Papalote Museo del Niño, an outdoor “museography-landscape,” as well as a collaboration with GMexico Mine Company to build cultural plazas and sports infrastructure in local communities. "

Manuel Cervantes Cespedes - MANUEL CERVANTES CESPEDES / CC ARQUITECTOS, Mexico City

"Manuel Cervantes Cespedes founded Mexico City-based MANUEL CERVANTES CESPEDES / CC ARQUITECTOS in 2005. The firm identifies itself as, “part of a constellation of Mexican architects belonging to the same generation, late heirs to Mexican Modernism and an architectural tradition that can be traced back to the first pre-Hispanic settlements.”

Roberto Rovira - Studio Roberto Rovira, Miami

"Roberto Rovira, a landscape architect with a design, engineering, and fine arts background, founded Studio Roberto Rovira in 2011. Committed to a 'process of design development, analysis, and investigation that seeks larger connections to ecology, patterns, history, and time,' the firm produces work in a variety of scales and typologies, including public art, gardens, courtyards, parks, and event pavilions."

Alejandro Guerrero and Andrea Soto - Principals, ATELIER ARSº, Guadalajara

"Alejandro Guerrero and Andrea Soto are principals of Guadalajara-based ATELIER ARSº. Guerrero founded the firm in 2000, and Soto began working as his associate in 2010. The firm sees its practice as 'a way of thinking about the discipline in which history, theory, and criticism are present in the architectural project.'"

This year’s jury included: Cynthia Davidson, Susannah Drake, Mario Gooden, Louise Harpman, Paul Lewis, Toshiko Mori, Thomas Phifer, and Billie Tsien.

Winners will present lectures this March at the Scholastic Auditorium in Soho. The League will also present digital features on each of the eight firms on archleague.org/EV15, exploring their work and design “voice” through interviews, video, and documentation of their work, available starting in April.

Past Emerging Voices have included Morphosis; Steven Holl; Tod Williams; Toshiko Mori; Enrique Norten; Deborah Berke; Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works; Michael Maltzan; Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi; James Corner of Field Operations; Adam Yarinsky and Stephen Cassell of ARO; SHoP Architects; Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects; Jeanne Gang; Amale Andraos and Dan Wood of WORKac; Teddy Cruz; David Benjamin of The Living; and Betsy Williamson, Shane Williamson, and Donald Chong of Williamson Chong Architects.