League Prize winner

Gregory Melitonov of Taller KEN

Taller KEN | Playa Chomo Design-Built Initiative, Centro Cultural Miguel Asturias, Zone 1, Guatemala City, 2016. Image credit: Marcelo Guitterez.

The League Prize is an annual competition that has been organized by The Architectural League since 1981. Open to designers ten years or less out of school, it draws entrants from around North America.

Gregory Melitonov of Taller KEN won a 2019 award.

Gregory Melitonov founded Taller KEN with Inés Guzmán in 2013. Originally based in New York and Guatemala City, the office recently expanded to San José, Costa Rica. Taller KEN creates playful designs with social and cultural relevance, including commercial, public, residential, and institutional projects.

Recent projects include:

  • Playa Chomo Design-Build Initiative, a multi-use temporary pavilion alongside Centro Cultural Miguel Asturias in Guatemala City.
  • Madero Restaurant, a café and event space in Guatemala City whose interior includes fifteen-foot palm trees, a rainwater collection system, and colorful finishes throughout.
  • Barrio Gerona Design-Build Initiative, an urban renewal project to rehabilitate a disused rail depot in an impoverished area of Guatemala City. 

Taller KEN has received the 2016 AIA New York New Practices Award. In 2018, Melitonov was selected for an Art Omi architecture residency.

Melitonov holds a BS from Skidmore College and an MArch from Yale University.

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