The Architectural League of New York recently announced the winners of its Emerging Voices Award, and Toronto-based Williamson Chong Architects was the only Canadian firm amongst the eight winning teams.
“Context, materials research, economies of construction, building performance, and client-based collaboration” all shape the design approach of Williamson Chong Architects. The Toronto-based practice was founded by Shane Williamson, Betsy Williamson and Donald Chong in 2011. Their work ranges in scale from furniture to master planning. A particular interest is what the firm terms “incremental urbanism,” a strategy that mines the potential of often irregular urban building sites—evidenced in the Galley House and the Blantyre House, both in Toronto as well as their current projects the Bala Line House and the Grange Triple Double multi-family dwelling. The firm’s work also includes the House in Frogs Hollow, Grey Highlands, Ontario and the Abbey Gardens Food Community master plan in Haliburton, Ontario, which begins construction in 2015.
Both Shane and Betsy Williamson received their M.Arch. degrees from Harvard University. Donald Chong received his B.Arch. from the University of Toronto. All three have taught at schools of architecture in Canada and abroad, including the University of Toronto, where Shane Williamson is currently an associate professor and Betsy Williamson a lecturer. Recent recognition for the firm includes the Professional Prix de Rome from the Canada Council for the Arts, the IDS 2012 Gold Award, a Canadian Architect Award of Excellence, and an Ontario Association of Architects Design Excellence Award, one of many for the House in Frogs Hollow.
Shane Williamson, Betsy Williamson and Donald Chong will discuss their work alongside winners Mauricio Rocha Iturbide and Gabriela Carrillo Valadez at 7:00pm on March 20, 2014 in the Scholastic Auditorium, located at 557 Broadway in New York. For more information on the lecture, please visit http://archleague.org/2014/03/emerging-voices-taller-mauriciorochagabrielacarrillo-and-williamson-chong-architects/
The Architectural League’s annual Emerging Voices Award spotlights North American individuals and firms with distinct design “voices” that have the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. The jury reviews significant bodies of realized work and considers accomplishments within the design and academic communities. The work of each Emerging Voice represents the best of its kind, and addresses larger issues within architecture, landscape, and the built environment. This year’s jury included Fred Bernstein, Paul Lewis, Kate Orff, Thomas Phifer, Annabelle Selldorf, and Adam Yarinsky. Emerging Voices is organized by League Program Director Anne Rieselbach.
The complete list of winners of the 2014 Emerging Voices Award is as follows:
* Betsy Williamson, Shane Williamson and Donald Chong, Williamson Chong Architects, Toronto
* David Benjamin, The Living, New York
* Geoff di Girolamo, James Lord, and Roderick Wyllie, Surfacedesign, Inc., San Francisco
* Basar Girit, Aleksey Lukyanov-Cherny, Wes Rozen, and Bradley Samuels, SITU Studio, Brooklyn
* Joyce Hwang, Ants of the Prairie, Buffalo
* Salvador Macías Corona and Magui Peredo Arenas, Estudio Macías Peredo, Guadalajara
* Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, Rael San Fratello, Oakland
* Mauricio Rocha Iturbide and Gabriela Carrillo Valadez, TALLER | MauricioRocha+GabrielaCarrillo|, Mexico City
For more information, please visit http://archleague.org/2014/02/emerging-voices-2014-2/