The Architectural League of New York has named its annual group of Emerging Voices. The competition is one of the most coveted and unique in the field of architecture and design, recognizing work that constitutes the vanguard of young professionals based in North America.

Every year since 1982, the organization has selected eight emerging practices based on a competitive portfolio competition. Past winners have included luminaries like Steven Holl, Enrique Norten, and Tatiana Bilbao. Each Voice is said to represent the future of architectural practice as seen in their designs’ potential to address large-scale issues and cast influence across multiple architectural disciplines. The jury reviews only realized work on an invite-only basis. 

This year’s field represents the changing dynamics happening in the spheres of research, education, and public design as embodied by the work of MIT Future Heritage Lab founder Azra Akšamija and new UNC Charlotte Master of Urban Design director Sekou Cooke. 

“In our initial review of the applications for this year’s Emerging Voices, the jury was struck by the breadth of the different types of work,” Architectural League president Paul Lewis said in a statement. “Rather than indicating a fracturing of our discipline, this year’s winners were united in how they each clarified new types of agency, and new notions of value motivated by an optimism about what an architect could and should do.”

The jury was made up of Lewis, Ersela Kripa, Zach Mortice, Marc Neveu, Rashida Ng, Chelina Odbert, Susan Scott, Saidee Springall, and Sara Zewde, whom together represent a geographically diverse range of practices in Mexico, Canada, and the United States. A lecture series featuring the winners will be held online beginning on March 10th. 

Scroll down to see the full list of this year’s Emerging Voices.

Jorge Arvizu, Ignacio del Río, Emmanuel Ramírez, Diego Ricalde
Estudio MMX, Mexico City, Mexico

Sekou Cooke
sekou cooke STUDIO, Charlotte, NC

Tsz Yan Ng
Tsz Yan Ng Design, Ann Arbor, MI

Behnaz Assadi, Nima Javidi
JA Architecture Studio, Toronto, ON

Daniel Adams, Marie Law Adams
Landing Studio, Somerville, MA

Felecia Davis
Felecia Davis Studio, State College, PA

Paola Aguirre Serrano, Dennis Milam
Borderless Studio, Chicago, IL

Azra Akšamija
MIT Future Heritage Lab, Cambridge, MA