The 'VALUE' winners of the 2020 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers

Ten emerging designers from the U.S. and Mexico have been selected as winners of VALUE, the 39th edition of the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers. The annual portfolio competition recognizes up-and-coming architects and designers who completed an undergraduate or master’s degree program within the past ten years.

"Value is a slippery construct in architecture, leading to thoughts of numbers, colors, measurement, worth, and ethics," The Architectural League elaborated on this year's guiding theme. "In a time of political and social precariousness when all cultural value sets seem publicly permissible, this year’s Architectural League Prize competition asked entrants to consider how notions of value operate in their work. How are values mediated by the processes of design? What are the discursive contexts, forms of representation, and/or spaces of action in which these values manifest themselves?"

A digital exhibition of the winning work will launch at archleague.org on June 22 in lieu of the usual physical gallery exhibition at Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York. Online lectures with the selected architects and designers are scheduled for late June and will open for registration later this month.

Here are this year's winning practitioners:

David Eskenazi of d.esk (Los Angeles, CA)

About the designer: "David Eskenazi founded Los Angeles-based d.esk in 2014. According to the architect, his practice aims 'to contribute to the history of ideas in architecture through a close look at contemporary conundrums.' Experimenting with scale, materiality, and design processes, Eskenazi also pursues research through writing and is on the faculty of Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). He was awarded a 2017 MacDowell Fellowship and a 2015 Willard A. Oberdick Fellowship from the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning."

Garrett Ricciardi and Julian Rose of Formlessfinder (Los Angeles, CA / New York, NY)

About the designers: "Garrett Ricciardi and Julian Rose founded Formlessfinder, based in Los Angeles and New York City, in 2010 as 'a laboratory for methodological experimentation oriented toward the introduction of moments of formlessness into architecture.' Their work ranges from 'traditional architectural representations such as models and drawings to videos, photography, structural and material tests, writings, and interviews.' Formlessfinder received the 2012 AIA NY New Practices award. Ricciardi currently teaches at UCLA."

Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic of HANNAH (Ithaca, NY)

About the designers: "Leslie Lok and Sasa Zivkovic founded HANNAH, based in Ithaca, New York, in 2012. Digital design and fabrication technologies are intrinsic to their work, which ranges from 3D-printed concrete architectural elements to full-scale seating and structures. They describe their work’s structural performance and architectural expression as 'inherently derived from materiality, digital construction protocols, robotic routines, and bottom-up design logics.' HANNAH was recognized in Architect Magazine’s 2018 Next Progressive series. Both Lok and Zivkovic are assistant professors at Cornell University."

Isaac Michan Daniel of Michan Architecture (Mexico City, Mexico)

About the designer: "Isaac Michan Daniel founded Mexico City-based Michan Architecture in 2010. He describes the practice 'as a laboratory of architecture, exploring new possibilities within the discipline.' Its work ranges from temporary installations to commercial spaces and large-scale residential projects. Michan Architecture received a 2019 Design Vanguard award from Architectural Record, a 2017 Architecture MasterPrize for AL Apartment, and a 2015 Architizer Award for Z53 Social Housing."

Ivi Diamantopoulou and Jaffer Kolb of New Affiliates (New York, NY)

About the designers: "Ivi Diamantopoulou and Jaffer Kolb founded their New York City-based firm in 2016. Relating this year’s theme, Value, to their firm’s emphasis on re-use for projects including installations, pavilions, and residential projects, the partners describe how they 'scavenge for parts to reconstruct fragments, surfaces, and forms out of byproducts; to find hidden moments of value and invent new visual languages and disciplinary tools along the way.' Diamantopoulou is a visiting critic at Syracuse University and Kolb is an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University GSAPP. New Affiliates won a 2020 AIA New York New Practices Award."

Luis Beltrán del Río García and Andrew Sosa Martínez of Vrtical (Mexico City, Mexico)

About the designers: "Mexico City-based studio Vrtical was founded in 2014 by Luis Beltrán del Río García and Andrew Sosa Martínez. The practice is 'dedicated to the democratization of architectural service,' as the architects describe it, aiming to understand and respond to the needs of the individuals and communities it serves. The practice was selected for the Young Latin American Architects exhibition at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale. del Río is a professor at UNAM and Universidad Iberoamericana. Sosa teaches at CENTRO."