Emerging Voices
Omar Gandhi, Omar Gandhi Architect, Halifax and Toronto
Rozana Montiel, Rozana Montiel | Estudio de Arquitectura, Mexico City
Introduced by Sunil Bald

1.5 AIA and New York State CEUs

The second evening of the annual Emerging Voices lecture series features Omar Gandhi of Omar Gandhi Architect; and Rozana Montiel of Rozana Montiel | Estudio de Arquitectura. Emerging Voices spotlights individuals and firms based in the United States, Canada, or Mexico with distinct design voices and the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and urbanism.

Omar Gandhi is the Principal of Omar Gandhi Architect, which he founded in 2010. He is also a sessional instructor at the School of Architecture and Planning at Dalhousie University. Omar Gandhi approaches each project by first choosing “materials and forms that express and respond to the specific qualities of site.” Typological forms are then reconstituted to be “receptive and responsive,” keeping to a “modest, formal lineage that makes for architecture that is accessible to all types of people.” Recent projects include the Black Gables residence, the Float residence, and Rabbit Snare Gorge, all located in Nova Scotia.

Rozana Montiel is the founding Principal of Rozana Montiel | Estudio de Arquitectura. Rozana Montiel specializes in “architectural design, artistic re-conceptualizations of space, and design for the public domain.” The studio “researches public space issues, attempting to recover social construction in city making and collaborates with specialists in landscape architecture, permaculture, industrial design, social anthropology, photography, art, literature, and film-making depending on the nature of the project.” Recent projects include the City Out of Line park in Mexico City; Common-Unity, a public space rehabilitation project in Mexico City; and Court, a partially enclosed sports field in Veracruz, Mexico.

Sunil Bald is a co-founding Principal of the New York-based studioSUMO and a past Emerging Voices winner in 2010. After an initial term as Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at Yale, Bald has continued to teach design studios and visualization at the School. He served on this year’s Emerging Voices committee.

Sponsors
Emerging Voices is generously supported by Elise Jaffe + Jeffrey Brown. The Emerging Voices program is also supported by the Next Generation Fund of The Architectural League. Architectural League programs are additionally supported, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. This evening’s program receives additional support from the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Consulate General of Mexico in New York, and the Mexican Cultural Institute.