Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers answers 'which dramas are shaping architecture’s arc today'

Today marks the announcement of a new crop of the Architectural League of New York annual League Prize for Young Architects + Designers winners. The 44th cycle of the League Prize, as with other contests, is open to those practicing within ten years of completing their education and organized under the 2025 theme 'Plot.'

Explaining the theme, the Young Architects + Designers Committee wrote: "Every building has its lore, and plots are known to thicken. Which dramas are shaping architecture’s arc today? The truth may be stranger than fiction. Despite the best-laid plans, design so often deals in circumstance. That is, while architects may endeavor to write their own stories, projects always present twists. [...] We invite young designers to chronicle that which bookends their practices and to demonstrate plot’s persistent role as main character."

They join other past winners of the League Prize like Mario Gooden, who worked with Behnaz Assadi, Jia Yi Gu, and William O’Brien on the jury for this year's League Prize. A lecture series featuring all six winners will be held in three parts via Zoom at noon each Wednesday starting on June 11th.

Juan Manuel Balsa, Rocio Crosetto Brizzio, and Leandro Piazzi of BALSA CROSETTO PIAZZI (Boston, MA and Troy, NY)

"BALSA CROSETTO PIAZZI is an architecture firm based in the United States and Argentina. Founded in 2014, the practice is led by Juan Manuel Balsa, Rocio Crosetto Brizzio, and Leandro Piazzi. Grounded in thoughtful attention to materiality and building methods, BALSA CROSETTO PIAZZI describes their design approach as inclusive of 'the networks and cycles of materials, people, ecologies, knowledge, and resources that are part of the construction of architecture,' in their own words. The firm works across multiple scales in both urban and rural contexts, from public installations to houses, gathering spaces, and other commissions."

Karina Caballero and Camila Ulloa Vásquez of Otros Entregables (Mexico City, Mexico)

"Karina Caballero and Camila Ulloa Vásquez founded Mexico City-based platform Otros Entregables (Other Deliverables) in 2023. Through their podcast, live events, and curatorial initiatives, Otros Entregables aims to challenge the boundaries of traditional architectural deliverables and expand architectural discourse to include a variety of artistic spatial practices. The platform’s work is generated from exchanges with collaborator,s including academic institutions and students, designers and design organizations, and 'likeminded unconventional makers,' in their own words."

David Costanza (Ithaca, NY)

"David Costanza is the principal of David Costanza Studio, a design-build practice based in Ithaca, New York, and director of the Building Construction Lab at Cornell University AAP, which he founded in 2020. Through his practice, research, and teaching, Costanza aims to 'question how architects can operate as engaged participants in the act of making,' in his own words. Costanza’s portfolio engages with a broad spectrum of design processes, from computational design tools, to tectonically experimental public installations, to sustainability-oriented residential work."

Deborah Garcia of DEBORA.STUDIO (New York, NY)

"Deborah Garcia is an architectural designer and researcher whose work focuses on reimagining everyday structures through multisensory activation. Throughout her often sitespecific installations, curatorial work, and research projects, Garcia aims to 'investigate the crossed wires of what we hear, the stories we are a part of, and the things we feed back into the system,' in her own words. Her recent research developed strategies for using sound as an architectural medium and historical record."

Mahsa Malek and Alex Yueyan Li of 11 x 17 (Toronto, Canada, and Denver, CO)

"11 x 17 is a research-driven design practice with offices in Denver and Toronto. Founded in 2022 by Mahsa Malek and Alex Yueyan Li, the firm creates built and speculative works across multiple scales, including exhibitions, furniture, interiors, books, and buildings, united by a critical examination of materiality. 11 x 17 approaches building construction as 'a conceptual device to engage larger issues around resources, labor, and form,' in the firm’s own words, resulting in a portfolio of lean yet multifaceted projects that challenge divisions between architectural products and processes."

Laura Salazar, Pablo Sequero, and Juan Medina of salazarsequeromedina (New York, NY and New Orleans, LA)

"Laura Salazar, Pablo Sequero, and Juan Medina founded design studio salazarsequeromedina in 2020. The collaborative practice focuses on civic work that engages creatively with both building processes and the contemporary built environment. Often constructed with repurposed materials, salazarsequeromedina’s 'open-ended structures,' as the firm describes their projects, are realized through dialogue with environmental context in concert with community programming and use. The firm has produced architectural installations, speculative interventions, and built work for sites and platforms in Peru, South Korea, Spain, and the United States."