On March 8, 2025, the Rice School of Architecture, in collaboration with the Architectural League of New York, hosted a special event in Farish Gallery: an intergenerational conversation among past recipients of the league’s Emerging Voices and League Prize awards. Featuring an impressive lineup of architects working across Texas and beyond, the discussion provided a rare opportunity to reflect on the significance of their careers and the ways in which the prizes serve as catalysts for deeper inquiry, transformation, and new directions in practice.
Voice and Visibility: A Platform for Reflection and Growth
William Ward Watkin Dean Igor Marjanović opened the evening by framing the notion of “voice” in architecture, noting that the league’s awards are more than just honors; they are affirmations of an architect’s unique perspective and an invitation to shape public discourse. The Architectural League, he emphasized, serves as a crucial space for advancing dialogue on the built environment, paralleling the Rice School of Architecture’s own mission to elevate critical discourse and progressive transformation.
For many of the speakers, receiving an Emerging Voices (EV) honor or a League Prize (LP) was a pivotal moment—a chance to pause, assess their work, and sharpen their message. As Anne Rieselbach, the league’s programs and membership director, observed, the application and presentation process itself compels architects to articulate their trajectory, reconnect with foundational ideas, and map future aspirations. The award, then, is not just a recognition of past efforts but a means of projecting forward.
Shaping Trajectories: Evolution in Practice
For AGENCY (Ersela Kripa and Stephen Mueller, EV ’18), the Emerging Voices recognition came early in their transition to a new context in El Paso. At the time, their work centered on spatial justice, countering forms of spatial oppression, and exploring how architecture could respond to surveillance and control. Winning the award underscored their research-based practice and helped establish their presence in the border region. In the years since, they have expanded their practice through the Project for Operative Spatial Technologies, a research center at Texas Tech focused on environmental justice and urban advocacy. Kripa, now serving as the director of the Texas Tech School of Art in El Paso, sees her work extending beyond design, engaging with education, policy, and community partnerships.
For Stephen Cassell of Architecture Research Office (ARO; LP ’96, EV ’01), the trajectory has been one of continuous expansion—both in terms of project scale and intellectual ambition. The League Prize, he recalled, came at a moment when ARO was defining its design methodology through small-scale projects. By the time of the Emerging Voices award, the office had evolved into a practice working across multiple building types, with an increasing commitment to research and public-interest design. Today, ARO remains deeply engaged in socially impactful projects, with a focus on rigorous material and formal explorations.
Borderless Studio (Paola Aguirre Serrano and Dennis Milam, EV ’22) highlighted how their award marked a transition from working primarily in the Midwest to establishing a practice rooted in Texas. Winning Emerging Voices reaffirmed their commitment to design as a means of fostering spatial justice and community engagement. In particular, they spoke of their work in Brownsville, Texas, which catalyzed a shift in their practice—expanding their reach and leading them to rethink how they collaborate with local stakeholders.
Rice Faculty Reflections: Impact and Evolution
For Associate Professor Troy Schaum (EV ’19 as SCHAUM/SHIEH), the Emerging Voices award marked an important moment of recognition for his firm’s distinct approach to urbanism and speculative design. Reflecting on the award, Schaum noted that it provided an opportunity to take stock of the firm’s work at a time when it was navigating the intersection of academia and practice. Since then, his work has continued to evolve; it recently rebranded as Schaum Architects, with a focus on how architecture engages the shifting landscapes of contemporary cities and how design can be a tool for critical speculation about urban futures.
Nathan Friedman (LP ’22), professor in the practice and cofounder of Departamento del Distrito spoke about how the League Prize encouraged a deeper interrogation of the historical and cultural contexts embedded in the built environment. His firm’s work, which spans Mexico and Texas, explores the intersection of architecture and research, often engaging with themes of memory, materiality, and spatial justice. The award, Friedman shared, reinforced the importance of critical practice and provided a platform to expand dialogues around the social and political dimensions of architecture.
Maggie Tsang (LP ’22), assistant professor and cofounder of Dept., highlighted how the League Prize provided a moment for her firm to articulate its approach to landscape, infrastructure, and ecological systems. For Tsang, the award affirmed the need to push beyond conventional practice to embrace an interdisciplinary perspective that bridges architecture and environmental research. The recognition also facilitated connections with other like-minded practitioners, fostering collaborations that have since influenced her work.
Harry K. & Albert K. Smith Professor, Director of External Programs, and Dean Emeritus John Casbarian and Danny Samuels (EV ’82) of Taft Architects reflected on how being among the early recipients of the Emerging Voices award shaped the trajectory of their practice. At the time, the award helped affirm their design philosophy and opened doors for new commissions and collaborations. Decades later, their work continues to emphasize a thoughtful, context-driven approach, reinforcing the lasting impact of the award on their careers.
A Common Thread: Impact Beyond the Profession
Across generations of winners, a shared theme emerged: the league’s recognition helped them push beyond conventional architectural practice into broader realms of advocacy, research, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Whether through environmental justice initiatives, experimental research centers, or the expansion of community-driven design methodologies, the awards reinforced the notion that architecture shapes much more than the physical environment.
As the evening closed, Dean Marjanović reiterated that the Rice School of Architecture, like the Architectural League of New York, is committed to amplifying voices and fostering meaningful discourse. The panelists’ reflections underscored this mission, demonstrating how an award—while an honor—is ultimately a means to an end: a moment of reflection that enables architects to sharpen their ideas, expand their reach, and imagine new futures for the discipline.
For current and future students, the conversation served as an inspiration: an invitation to think deeply about their own trajectories, to cultivate their distinct voices, and to see architecture not only as a profession but as a means of shaping the world with intelligence, justice, and care.