The Architectural League of New York has announced the winners of its 44th cycle of the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers. Each year, the competition centers around a theme developed by a committee of past winners. This year's theme, Plot, invited participants to explore the role of plot in architecture, whether understood as land, drawing, or scheme, and consider how these frameworks shape design narratives and processes. Established in 1981, the annual competition recognizes early-career architects and designers in North America.
This year's programming follows a hybrid model. A virtual lecture series will launch on June 11 and feature presentations by the winners alongside moderated discussions. Installations by the winners will be presented either onsite or in digital formats and showcased in an online exhibition.
Read on to discover the profiles of the 6 winners of the 44th cycle of the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers.
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The 2024 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers Presents the Winners in Online ExhibitionJuan Manuel Balsa, Rocio Crosetto Brizzio, and Leandro Piazzi of the Balsa Crosetto Piazzi
Balsa Crosetto Piazzi is an architecture practice based in the United States and Argentina. Founded in 2014 by Juan Manuel Balsa, Rocio Crosetto Brizzio, and Leandro Piazzi, the firm engages a broad range of project types, from public installations to residential and communal spaces across both urban and rural settings. Their work is informed by a close attention to materiality and construction methods, framing architecture as a product of interconnected systems, "the networks and cycles of materials, people, ecologies, knowledge, and resources," as the firm describes it.
Karina Caballero and Camila Ulloa Vásquez of the Otros Entregables
Founded in 2023 by Karina Caballero and Camila Ulloa Vásquez, Otros Entregables (Other Deliverables) is a Mexico City-based platform that explores alternative modes of architectural production. Through podcasts, public programs, and curatorial projects, the initiative seeks to expand the scope of architectural discourse beyond conventional deliverables, engaging with a range of artistic and spatial practices. Its work emerges through collaborations with academic institutions, students, design professionals, and what the founders describe as "like-minded unconventional makers."
David Costanza
David Costanza is the founder and principal of David Costanza Studio, a design-build practice based in Ithaca, New York. He is also the director of the Building Construction Lab at Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), which he founded in 2020. Costanza's practice, research, and teaching focus on exploring how architects can engage in the act of making. His portfolio covers a diverse range of design processes, including the use of computational design tools, tectonically experimental public installations, and sustainability-oriented residential projects.
Deborah Garcia of the DEBORA.STUDIO
Deborah Garcia is a New York-based architectural designer and researcher whose work explores the reimagining of everyday structures through multisensory engagement. Known for her site-specific installations, curatorial projects, and research, Garcia seeks 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," as she describes it. Her recent research focuses on developing strategies to utilize sound as both an architectural medium and a historical record.
Mahsa Malek and Alex Yueyan Li of the 11 x 17
11 x 17 is a design practice with offices in Denver and Toronto, founded in 2022 by Mahsa Malek and Alex Yueyan Li. The studio engages in research-based work across a range of scales, including exhibitions, furniture, interiors, books, and buildings. The practice examines materiality as a central concern and approaches construction as a framework for investigating themes related to resources, labor, and form. Its portfolio includes projects that intersect built and speculative work, reflecting an interest in both architectural production and process.
Laura Salazar, Pablo Sequero, and Juan Medina of the salazarsequeromedina
Founded in 2020 by Laura Salazar, Pablo Sequero, and Juan Medina, the design studio salazarsequeromedina is a collaborative practice with a focus on civic architecture. Their work engages with contemporary building processes and the broader built environment, often utilizing repurposed materials to create what the studio refers to as "open-ended structures." Developed in response to environmental contexts and shaped through community use and programming, their projects span architectural installations, speculative interventions, and constructed works across Peru, South Korea, Spain, and the United States.
