The “Objective” winners of the 2018 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers

The Architectural League announced the 2018 winners of their prestigious League Prize for Young Architects + Designers. Established in 1981, the portfolio competition carries a legacy in contemporary architecture in that many now-well-known architects received the award early in their careers — like Billie Tsien, Steven Holl, Neil Denari, Frida Escobedo Lopez, Lisa Iwamoto and Craig Scott, and many more. North America-based designers who are out of school no more than 10 years are invited to submit their work.

The 2018 “Objective” theme challenged entrants “to consider objectivity today as simultaneously elevated and undermined, in an era in which technology, science, and post-truths coexist. How do we define or understand architecture in a post-truth world?”

Here are the winners!

Anya Sirota of Akoaki | Detroit

Anya Sirota founded Akoaki with Jean Louis Farges in 2008. The Detroit-based firm explores the role of architecture in urban regeneration through temporary installations that combine design and public programs. Sirota is an assistant professor of architecture at University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Bryony Roberts of Bryony Roberts Studio | New York

Founded in 2011, Bryony Roberts Studio is a New York-based design and research practice. Combining architecture and performance, Roberts aims to occupy, re-enact, and re-vision historically charged spaces. She teaches architecture and preservation at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Gabriel Cuéllar and Athar Mufreh of Cadaster | Brooklyn, NY

Through research and design projects, Brooklyn-based Cadaster explores the relationship between architecture and territory. The firm was founded in 2016 by Gabriel Cuéllar and Athar Mufreh, who have jointly worked on rehabilitation and preservation projects for Baptist churches in addition to urban strategy for municipalities and the New York State Canal System.

Coryn Kempster of Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster | Buffalo, NY

Whether working on public spaces, oral histories of modernist houses, or single-family homes, Coryn Kempster emphasizes the role of experience and memory in architecture. He co-founded the firm, Julia Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster, with Julia Jamrozik in 2014. Kempster is currently an adjunct assistant professor of architecture at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Alison Von Glinow and Lap Chi Kwong of Kwong Von Glinow | Chicago

Kwong Von Glinow is a Chicago-based architecture practice founded in 2017 by Alison Von Glinow and Lap Chi Kwong. Through the reinterpretation of familiar architectural elements, the firm develops creative design solutions focused on public spaces and multifamily housing. Von Glinow is a part-time professor of architecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Kwong teaches as an adjunct professor of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology

Dan Spiegel of SAW // Spiegel Aihara Workshop | San Francisco

Operating at the intersection of architecture, landscape, and urban design, SAW // Spiegel Aihara Workshop brings an experiential approach to its projects. Dan Spiegel founded the practice in 2011 with Megumi Aihara. He currently teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, and California College of the Arts.

The winners will give evening lectures on June 21-22, and will exhibit their works at from June through August at The New School. Also, the League recently published the book, “Young Architects 18: (im)permanence”, which revisits the work of the 2016 League Prize winners.