Azure announces the jury for its AZ Awards 2022. 10 leaders in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, interiors and product and furniture design to adjudicate the submissions to the international program, now in its 12th year.
Here is the stellar jury:
ALISON BROOKS
Photo by BenBlossom_Landscape
Canadian-born and University of Waterloo–educated Alison Brooks is one of the UK’s most highly awarded and internationally acclaimed architects, having received all three of the profession’s most prestigious architecture awards: the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Manser Medal and the Stephen Lawrence Prize. Since founding herpractice Alison Brooks Architects in 1996, she has produced a remarkable portfolio of built works, from private and public housing to urban design, and from higher education buildings to arts institutions. Amongst her remarkable works are the Cohen Quadrangle at Exeter College, Oxford, the Stirling Prize-winning housing project Accordia and the Folkestone Performing Arts Centre.
Alison Brooks’ unique architectural approach springs from invested research into specific geographies, climate and cultures so that her design solutions emerge as both unique and relevant to the constituencies they serve. She has become a public voice for the profession advocating the role of women in architecture, the resurgence of building craft and the value of timber as an expressive, low-carbon building technology. Among her many awards, she was named one of Britain’s 500 Most Influential by Debrett’s in 2012. Brooks has contributed to architectural education for over 15 years, teaching and lecturing at such prestigious institutions as University of Central London, University of Bath, the Architectural Association, Harvard GSD and ETSAM (Universidad Politécnica of Madrid).
DREW SINCLAIR
Drew Sinclair has transitioned a well-respected architecture and planning firm into a dynamic cultural practice dedicated to resolving critical urban planning and design issues. As a Founding Principal of SvN, he leads a multidisciplinary office that is rethinking housing, large-scale infrastructure, and regenerative communities. In addition to projects like the YWCA Elm Centre and the recently completed Lawrence-Orton Community Centre and Childcare Facility, SvN’s Port Lands Acceleration Initiative and the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project (DMNP) is providing the basis for a community of 15,000 residents. Other projects include the master plan for the 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Athletes Village with planningAlliance (SvN’s legacy firm).
Sinclair graduated from the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, where he continues to teach and mentor students. His previous background in international development studies and geography underscores his focus on linking architecture’s strategic value to resolving social and environmental challenges. He volunteers his time on various boards, including Canadian Stage (where he chairs the City Builders program, a philanthropic initiative leading the development and curation of creative opportunities) and is the Director for the Centre for Urban Growth + Renewal.
GABRIELE CHIAVE
The Creative Director at Marcel Wanders’ studio, Gabriele Chiave is a lifelong observer of the world around him. He’s driven by the comprehensive nature of design and a desire to ignite meaningful interaction between product and consumer. Born to diplomat parents in Metz, he has lived in France, Dakar, Caracas, Buenos Aires, Rome, Milan and now makes his home in Amsterdam – his global perspective to design is like no other. Early in his career, Chiave worked in Milan for several studios and Italian companies, and participated in and organized design workshops with Alessi.
In 2007, he joined Marcel Wanders’ studio; as Creative Director he oversees all projects, from products to interiors and art direction, for such renowned brands as Kartell, Poliform, Flos, Cappellini, B&B, Baccarat, KLM, Magis, Moooi and many others. The studio, which employs 40, has produced 30 years of design icons, many of which are included in the design collections of prestigious institutions, such as Centre Pompidou, MoMA and the Stedelijk Museum.
GARTH ROBERTS
Garth Roberts founded his studio in 2010 after a series of pop-up studio projects collaborating with universities in Milan, Berlin, and New York. Before establishing his atelier, he gained experience as part of prestigious design teams in North America and Europe.
Since the summer of 2009, he has been working between Milan, Berlin, and New York. The studio operates in various fields of product design and creative direction. This work has included developing projects for clients such as CC-Tapis, Glas Italia, Kalmar Werkstätten, Mabeo Furniture, Serralunga, B&B Italia, Zanotta, the LRRH_ Art Project, and others in a wide range of venues from high-end furniture to contemporary art. His works have been honored by international awards and nominations, most notably, the Elle Decor Design Award, the Wallpaper* design award, and multiple German Design Awards amongst others.
LAUREN STIMSON
Since 2006, Princeton, Massachusetts-based landscape architect Lauren Stimson has focused her work on projects that have a particular connection to historic and cultural landscape interpretation as well as ecological restoration. She firmly believes that landscape architecture has the responsibility to be contextual; and that in-depth site analysis is critical to concept development and establishing a distinct sense of place. She has worked on numerous private gardens and public landscapes such as Historic Deerfield, the Hitchcock Center for the Environment, and multiple projects at Bowdoin College, Williams College, Berkshire School, and the University of Massachusetts. She was a lead designer for Northeast Harbor, Hardberger Park, and the Principal in charge for Pulaski Park and the Florence Griswold Museum, all of which have received Honor Awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Stimson is committed to promoting a culture at STIMSON that is supportive of life beyond landscape architecture; she believes in modeling a realistic and sustainable integration of motherhood and practice. Alongside her husband, she oversees Charbrook Farm and Nursery, a working farm that is both a homestead and a field station for the landscape architecture practice. She has been a studio instructor at the University of Massachusetts, where received her master’s in both landscape architecture and regional planning and currently serves on the Stewardship Council for the Cultural Landscape Foundation. She is dedicated to the preservation of agrarian landscapes in New England, where she was raised, and serves on the Town of Princeton’s Agricultural Commission.
MA YANSONG
Photo by by Greg Mei
Beijing-born architect Ma Yansong is recognized as an important voice in the new generation of architects. As the founder and principal of MAD architects, Ma leads design across various scales. In recent years, many of Ma’s designs follow his conception of the “Shanshui City” – his vision to create a new balance among society, the city and the environment through architecture. Since designing the “Floating Island” in 2002, Ma has been exploring this idea through an international practice. At MAD, Ma has created a series of imaginative works, including Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Absolute Towers, Harbin Opera House, Hutong Bubble 32, Ordos Museum, Chaoyang Park Plaza and Huangshan Mountain Village. In 2014, he was selected as the principal designer for Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which made him the first Chinese architect to design an overseas culture landmark.
Among many accolades, in 2006, Ma was awarded the “Young Architects Award” by the Architectural League of New York and in 2008 he was selected as one of the “20 Most Influential Young Architects” by ICON magazine. In 2010, he became the first architect from China to receive a RIBA fellowship. In 2012, his iconic project “Absolute Towers,” two residential towers in Mississauga, Canada, was named the “Best Tall Building in the Americas” by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Ma graduated from the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture, and holds a Master’s Degree in Architecture from Yale University. He is currently a professor in Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, as well as an adjunct professor in University of Southern California, and Tsinghua University.
PRIMO ORPILLA
Primo Orpilla is the co-founder of Studio O+A, a multi-disciplinary San Francisco design firm that has changed the way we think about work and workplace. O+A’s groundbreaking designs for Facebook, Microsoft, Yelp, Nike, McDonald’s, Slack and many other companies have demonstrated the power of design to make the work environment a catalyst for creativity and a vehicle for change. As Global Chair of Student Experience at IIDA, he works to promote design education and expand opportunities for young people in the profession.
A frequent lecturer on design and the future of workplace, Orpilla speaks at schools and design conferences globally, empowering the next generation of designers. In 2016, O+A won the Cooper Hewitt Design Award for Interior Design. In 2017, FRAME Publishers released a comprehensive retrospective of the firm’s work: Studio O+A: Twelve True Tales of Workplace Design. Most recently the American Society of Interior Designers’ honoured Orpilla with its 2019 Designer of Distinction Award.
RÓISÍN LAFFERTY
Photo by Ruth Maria
Award-winning Roisin Lafferty is the Founder and Managing Director of Dublin studio Kingston Lafferty Design. An alumna of the Interior Architecture and Furniture Design program at the Dublin Institute of Technology and the Masters program in Product and Spatial Design in Kingston University, London – she was a first class honours student at both – Lafferty founded KLD in 2010. Since then, she has earned enormous respect and recognition across the construction and interiors industry for her contribution to design. Her projects deliver exciting spaces that are based on both client brief and context.
For Lafferty, good design pays particular attention to space – the building itself and its surroundings. As such, her work is not represented through one distinct style, but places the space and the desires of her clients as central. She takes a holistic approach to her projects, putting human behaviour at the core of her designs. Above all else, she believes that a space should be an experience. Her designs focus on the space – balancing layout, functionality and the wonderfully unexpected. Today, she and her growing team of designers are responsible for an exciting array of projects across Ireland and Europe, including the Bolton Coach House, The Vaults Parlour Cafe and Hatch Cork Student Living.
SIAMAK HARIRI
Siamak Hariri is a founding Partner of Hariri Pontarini Architects, a 150-person practice based in Toronto. His portfolio of nationally and internationally recognized buildings has won over 60 awards, including the Governor General’s Medal in Architecture and the 2013 Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s Architectural Firm Award; he and his partner, David Pontarini, have also been celebrated as among Canada’s artists who matter the most by the Globe and Mail.
One of Hariri’s earliest HPA projects, the Canadian headquarters of McKinsey & Company, is the youngest building to receive City of Toronto heritage landmark designation. More recent public and private projects include the Bahá’i Temple of South America, the Tom Patterson Theatre for the Stratford Festival, the Science, Research and Innovation Facility at the University of Windsor, and the Nicol Building at the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University. Hariri’s work embodies abiding commitment to architecture’s essentials and he brings to every creative project a profound interest in light, form, site, material and craft.
TAO ZHANG
Tao Zhang is a principal at Sasaki and serves as the Chair of Design Culture on its Board of Directors. Trained as an ecologist and landscape architect, he is active in the arena of ecological design, striving to bridge the gap between practice and science. As well as being mindful and invested in creative expression, he seeks inspiration from science and always roots his design in a deep understanding of the project’s socio-ecological system. He is an integral part of Sasaki’s strong international presence and has led many award-winning projects.
Zhang is a strong advocate for critical thinking and independent research to invigorate the profession. He oversees Sasaki’s research activities and has led research and collaborated with academic institutes on topics including post-occupancy metrics and environmental health. He is also a trustee of Sasaki Foundation, the firm’s non-profit arm that focuses on design education, research, and community engagement. Besides practice, he has taught landscape architecture at Rhode Island School of Design and has been a visiting studio critic at Harvard Graduate School of Design, MIT, and various universities around the world.
If you haven’t already, you can enter the AZ Awards at awards.azuremagazine.com! (Deadline is February 25.)
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