CANO VERA, AD—WO, HILLWORKS, and others among the 2024 Emerging Voices winners

The winners of the 2024 Emerging Voices awards have been announced by the Architectural League of New York, celebrating the 44th cycle of honorees who are said to represent the best practices in addressing contemporary issues in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

"This year’s Emerging Voices winners represent various forms of practice that challenge the discipline of architecture and the nature of 'professional practice'," League president Mario Gooden commented, speaking to the qualities of each of the eight 2024 winners. "Their works are transcalar to the built environment in the production of space, sociality, community, and discourse. Additionally, their works hold a mirror to confront architecture’s entanglements with modernity, coloniality, and the resultant environmental, social, and technological changes, and how these are made manifest at the intersection of bodies, space, ecologies, politics, and aesthetics."

The architects Gooden and fellow jury members Marie Law Adams, Paola Aguirre, Behnaz Assadi, Fernanda Canales, Irene Cheng, David Godshall, Bryan Lee, Jr., and Jess Myers selected join Steven Holl, Enrique Norten, Jeanne Gang, Jing Liu, and Florian Idenburg on a list of past recipients of the honor.

Lectures featuring the 2024 cohort will be held online from March 7th through the 28th and are open to the public.

Emanuel Admassu and Jen Wood of AD—WO — New York City

"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."

Fermín Andrade, Juan Carlos Cano, Paloma Vera of CANO VERA arquitectura — Mexico City

"Juan Carlos Cano and Paloma Vera founded CANO VERA arquitectura in Mexico City in 2007, and Fermín Andrade joined the firm as partner in 2019. Initially oriented toward social housing design, the practice’s portfolio has since expanded to include large scale institutional, cultural, and infrastructural projects. Uniting expertise in both architectural and urban design, CANO VERA arquitectura’s work demonstrates a consistent social orientation and sensitivity to context expressed through ambitiously scaled forms. In the words of its founders, the practice believes that 'the specific can transform the whole.'"

David Fortin of David T Fortin Architect — Cambridge, Canada

"David Fortin founded David T Fortin Architect in Sudbury, Ontario in 2018. Now located in Cambridge, Ontario, the 100% Indigenous-owned firm believes that 'well-designed spaces can strengthen our relations with each other and the Land in profound ways,' in its own words. Primarily working with Métis and First Nation clients across Canada, David T Fortin Architect produces a broad range of work grounded in Indigenous knowledge, from installations and advocacy initiatives to affordable and social housing projects."

Armida Fernández, Luis Enrique Flores of Estudio ALA — Guadalajara, Mexico

"Armida Fernández and Luis Enrique Flores 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."

David Hill of HILLWORKS — Auburn, AL

"David Hill founded the landscape design studio HILLWORKS in 2009. Located in Auburn, Alabama and working closely with Auburn University, a public land grant institution, the firm is grounded in the ecological and cultural landscape of the southeastern United States. HILLWORKS engages in design research on plant performance, including studies in phenology and novel ecologies, and the inventive reuse of land, such as community gardens and rewilding strategies. The studio’s projects across a variety of scales reflect a dedication to the regenerative power of the landscape."

Katherine Darnstadt of Latent — Chicago, IL

"Katherine Darnstadt founded Latent in Chicago in 2010. Bridging the fields of architecture and community development, Latent utilizes participatory processes and leverages local assets to create design solutions in resource and budget limited environments. The practice’s portfolio includes smallscale urban interventions, new construction community buildings, adaptive reuse, neighborhood master plans, and speculative designs. Focused on accessibility, sustainability, and economic viability, the practice states that it is founded 'on the belief that great spaces belong to our most vulnerable populations.'"

Ross Altheimer, Maura Rockcastle of TEN x TEN Landscape Architecture + Urbanism — Minneapolis, MN

"Ross Altheimer and Maura Rockcastle founded TEN x TEN Landscape Architecture + Urbanism in Minneapolis in 2015. According to the firm, their transdisciplinary studio works collaboratively to 'co-create immersive, resilient landscapes that adapt to social, economic, and environmental transformation.' Through diverse projects that range from industrial reuse to memorial design and a methodology that centers research and community investment, TEN x TEN’s work demonstrates a deep respect for place and the belief that design can affect positive change in our environments."

Neeraj Bhatia of THE OPEN WORKSHOP — San Francisco, CA

"Neeraj Bhatia founded THE OPEN WORKSHOP in 2013 in Toronto, Canada. Now based in San Francisco, the multidisciplinary practice produces a diverse range of projects and built works that bridge speculative research and formal design. The studio investigates how architecture and urbanism can foster social, racial, environmental, and economic equity, engaging frequently with issues of housing justice and public space. Often created collaboratively with communities, institutions, and other designers, these projects both propose and represent what the firm describes as 'a collective ethos of design and forms of exchange.'"