ReSource

Featuring work by Emily Abruzzo and Gerald Bodziak; Jason Austin and Aleksandr Mergold; Marc Frohn and Mario Rojas Toledo; Michael Loverich and Antonio Torres; Eric Schuldenfrei and Marisa Yiu; and Keith VanDerSys

Resource is the 29th annual exhibition of work by winners of the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers  (formerly the Young Architects Forum).  The portfolio competition is open to architects and designers 10 years or less out of undergraduate or graduate school.  In addition to creating a site-specific installation of their work, winners present lectures, are the subject of video podcasts, and publish their work for an annual catalogue.

The theme for the competition, developed by the League Prize Committee, changes every year to reflect current issues in architectural design and theory.  The committee, a group selected each year from past League Prize winners, asks prominent members of the design community to serve with them on the jury.   In addition to committee members Cristina Goberna, Jinhee Park, and Ben Pell, jurors for 2010 were Matilda McQuaid, Billie Tsien, Dan Wood, and Alejandro Zaera-Polo.

“Resource” invited entrants to consider the ways that architecture is proving itself resourceful in the face of contemporary challenges.  Entrants were asked to demonstrate how architects could “rethink their resources” to produce new techniques and terminology within the discipline.

Complex architectural programs formally shape the winners’ work. Many of the projects creatively address ecological concerns by incorporating living environments within and around their structures.  Innovative structural solutions provide an economy of means, through simplification and repetition.  Finally, digital construction techniques are paired with a hands-on ‘radical craft,’ revisioning and recycling materials. Together, the work provides multiple interpretations of ReSource from approaches to design to the realization of built form.

Support

The League thanks the Sheila C. Johnson Center at Parsons The New School for Design for co-sponsoring the exhibition and lecture series.

Exhibition installation view, image copyright: ESTO