Today, the Architectural League of New York revealed its selections for the 2014 class of Emerging Voices, a distinction that honors young firms “with distinct design voices and the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape design, and urbanism.” This year’s pool of winners demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit, according to the League, “pursuing alternate forms of practice, often writing their own programs or serving as their own clients.” Winners are selected by a jury from a pool of invited firms.

This year’s international group of eight includes The Living (which just this week was also named winner of MoMA PS 1’s Young Architects Program), Surfacedesign, SITU Studio, Ants of the Prairie, Estudio Macías Peredo, Rael San Fratello, TALLER |MauricioRocha+GabrielaCarrillo|, and Williamson Chong Architects. A lecture series is planned in March where each firm will present their work and design philosophy.

Betsy Williamson, Shane Williamson, and Donald Chong
Williamson Chong Architects
Toronto

According to the League:

“Context, materials research, economies of construction, building performance, and client-based collaboration” all shape the design approach of Williamson Chong Architects. Their work ranges in scale from furniture to master planning, including the House in Frogs Hollow and the Abby Gardens Food Community master plan.

David Benjamin
The Living
New York

According to the League:

New Yorkʼs The Living explores – through installations such as Mussel Choir, exhibited at the Venice Biennale, and the NYCEDC project EcoPark – “how new technologies come to life in the built environment.” The Living was just named as the winner of the MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program.

Geoff di Girolamo, James Lord, and Roderick Wyllie
Surfacedesign
San Francisco

According to the League:

The landscape architecture and urban design practice Surface Design, Inc. focuses on creating landscapes that emphasize “personal histories and connections between culture and natural environment” with projects ranging in scale from domestic projects, to San Franciscoʼs Golden Gate Bridge Plaza, to Stonesfields Quarry Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

Basar Girit, Aleksey Lukyanov-Cherny, Wes Rozen, and Bradley Samuels
SITU Studio
Brooklyn

According to the League:

The firmʼs Brooklyn-based studio, divided between design and fabrication spaces, enables their goal to “leverage fabrication efficiencies, material re-use, flexible assemblies, and community involvement to create spaces that engage in living relationships with the urban context.” Projects have included the ReOrder installation in the Brooklyn Museum Great Hall; Heartwalk, installed in Times Square; and mapping and analysis projects.

Joyce Hwang
Ants of the Prairie
Buffalo, NY

According to the League:

Ants of the Prairie is an arts and research practice “dedicated to developing creative approaches in confronting the pleasures and horrors of our contemporary ecologies,” as seen in work such as Bat Cave and Bat Cloud and the currently under construction bird and bat Habitat Wall.

Salvador Macías Corona and Magui Peredo Arenas
Estudio Macías Peredo
Guadalajara, Mexico

According to the League:

Estudio Macías Peredo, acknowledging “the understanding of our regional situation (geographically and socio-culturally), where [a] craftsman is part of the building process,” embraces ideas of critical regionalism, as explored in the residences Casa Atlas and Casa Arenas.

Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello
Rael San Fratello
Oakland, CA

According to the League:

Rael San Fratello shies away from working within a set philosophy, trying rather “not to define, but rather to constantly redefine ourselves” with projects, ranging from the art installation Prada Marfa to their winning entry in the Sukkah City competition, “Sukkah of the Signs, aka the Homeless House,” that “try to do the most with the least.”

Mauricio Rocha Iturbide and Gabriela Carrillo Valadez
TALLER |MauricioRocha+GabrielaCarrillo|
Mexico City

According to the League:

TALLER IMauricioRocha+GabrielaCarrilloI focuses on “the importance of the vernacular, craftsmanship, sustainability, and socially-responsible design” in projects such as Plastic Arts School, Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca and the Hall for the Visually Impaired, Ciudadela.

The League’s Emerging Voices lecture series will take place at the Scholastic Auditorium located at 557 Broadway, New York. For exact dates and ticket information, visit the League’s website. The 2014 jury included Fred Bernstein, Paul Lewis, Kate Orff, Thomas Phifer, Annabelle Selldorf, and Adam Yarinsky. Previous Emerging Voices winners include Jeanne Gang, Morphosis, Steven Holl, Tod Williams, Deborah Berke, Brad Cloepfil, Michael Maltzan, and many others.