Mahsa Malek, Alex Yueyan Li of 11 x 17

11 x 17 is a research-driven design practice with offices in Denver and Toronto. Founded in 2022 by Mahsa Malek and Alex Yueyan Li, the firm creates built and speculative works across multiple scales, including exhibitions, furniture, interiors, books, and buildings, united by a critical examination of materiality. 11 x 17 approaches building construction as “a conceptual device to engage larger issues around resources, labor, and form,” in the firm’s own words, resulting in a portfolio of lean yet multifaceted projects that challenge divisions between architectural products and processes.

Recent projects include:

• Particulate Signals This experimental project visualizes concrete’s intrinsic properties while reenacting its standardized assembly using Gravity Engine rendering software and a homemade CNC machine.
• Rural Shed Formed from ten stacked steel structures, the design of this 10 x 8-meter shed aims to create a sense of both weight and lightness, as well as dual expressions of its steel material.
• Foundation House Located in northern Toronto, this renovation project transforms a single-family home into a multigenerational dwelling through two strategies: vertical micro-extension through underpinning and integrating an existing masonry wall to distinguish old from new.

Mahsa Malek holds a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and an MArch from Princeton University School of Architecture. She is currently a lecturer at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto and adjunct faculty at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. As an executive committee member of BEAT (Building Equality in Toronto), Malek was awarded the RAIC Advocate for Architecture award in 2024. She received the Suzanne Kolarik Underwood Prize for Excellence in Design from Princeton University in 2020.

Alex Yueyan Li holds a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture and an MArch from Harvard University GSD, where he was awarded the 2022 Irving Innovation Fellowship Research Grant and the 2019 Clifford C.F. Wong Prize in Housing Design. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver’s College of Architecture and Planning. 

Works by 11 x 17 have been featured in Archinect, PLAT, DesignTO, and AZURE, among other publications and platforms. In addition to private commissions, the practice has collaborated with various cultural and academic institutions, including the Downtown Denver Partnership, Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, Denver Art Museum, University of Waterloo, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The firm’s ongoing projects include an exhibition on material remnants and a book focused on the extended lives of existing buildings.

Learn more about 11 x 17

• Designer and ‘DesignTO Talks: Dematerialized’ speaker Alex Yueyan Li shares the evolution of his work, his fascination with the physicality of objects, and more, DesignTO
• Outlet Fervor, PLAT 12: Divine

Support

The Architectural League Prize is made possible by Judlowe, Tischler und Sohn, and Delta Millworks. 

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Support is also provided by the Next Generation Fund, which supports the League’s investment in early-career architects and designers and provides unified support for the League Prize, Emerging Voices, and the League’s Student and Mentorship Programs, and by the J. Clawson Mills Fund of The Architectural League. League Prize public programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.