Architects Who Set the Agenda: 6 Key New Faces on 14th Architizer A+Awards Jury

Architecture doesn’t exist in a vacuum — it evolves through debate, research and visionary leadership. For the 14th edition of the Architizer A+Awards, we’re proud to welcome a jury of influential architects, curators and cultural leaders who don’t just respond to the state of design — they shape it.

From global exhibitions to urban innovation, academic discourse to architectural heritage, this year’s jurors bring a rare combination of critical insight and creative force. Carlo Ratti is pioneering the design of data-driven cities while curating the 2025 Venice Biennale. Benedetta Tagliabue and Ma Yansong are creatively reimagining architecture’s civic potential across Europe and Asia. Andrés Jaque is pushing the boundaries of architectural pedagogy and political form. Carson Chan and Llisa Demetrios are reframing how we understand design’s past and its possibilities for the future.

Together, they represent a cross-section of architecture’s most compelling voices — those who are setting the agenda for what great design looks like today, and where it will go next.

The Main Entry Deadline arrives at Midnight PT on December 12, 2025. To secure your place in the program and take advantage of deeply discounted pricing, hit the button below to get started:

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See below for some of the new faces that will be reviewing your A+Awards entries this season. A complete list of Jurors can be seen here.

Carlo Ratti

Founder, Carlo Ratti Associati | Curator Biennale Arquitectura 2025

An architect and engineer by training, Carlo Ratti works on the future of cities and the built environment. He is a Professor of the Practice of Urban Technologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, where he directs the Senseable City Lab, and is a Full Professor in the Department of Architecture, Built Environment, and Construction Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano.

He is a founding partner of the international architecture and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and has established several tech start-ups in the United States and Europe. Ratti graduated from the Politecnico di Torino and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris and later carried out his MPhil and Ph.D. work at the University of Cambridge – completing his Ph.D. thesis as a Fulbright Scholar at MIT. In December 2023, he was named as Curator of the Venice Biennale Architettura 2025.

Andres Jaque

Founder, OFFPOLINN | Dean, Columbia GSAPP

Andrés Jaque is an architect, researcher and curator. His work explores architecture as the entanglement of bodies, technologies and environments. He is the founder of the New York/Madrid-based practice Office for Political Innovation, and the Dean and Professor of Columbia University GSAPP. He has been awarded with the Fredrick Kiesler Prize, the Unesco Global Sustainable Award, among many others, and his work is part of the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA, and of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Ma Yansong

Founding Principal, MAD Architects

Ma Yansong is the Founder and Principal Partner of MAD, an international architecture practice with offices in Beijing, Los Angeles and Rome. His work rethinks the relationship between architecture, nature and humanity, creating civic and cultural landmarks that connect people to place and imagination. Through built works and ongoing research worldwide, Ma continues to explore how architecture can serve as shared ground for public life and future cities. In 2025, he served as curator of the China Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, further cementing his role as a cultural voice on the international stage.

Benedetta Tagliabue

Principal, EMBT Architects | Founder & Director, Fundació Enric Miralles

Benedetta Tagliabue is an architect and co-founder of EMBT Architects, based in Barcelona with Enric Miralles (1955–2000), as well as the founder and director of the Fundació Enric Miralles. She has led the design of iconic works such as the Scottish Parliament (2004), the Santa Caterina Market (2005), and the Spanish Pavilion for the Shanghai Expo (2010). Her recent projects include the Church and Parish Complex of San Giacomo Apostolo in Ferrara (2021), the Centro Direzionale metro station in Naples (2024), and the Clichy-Montfermeil metro station in Paris (2024). She is currently the Louis Kahn Visiting Professor at Yale University and has taught at Harvard, Columbia and other prestigious institutions. In 2024, she received the Commendation of the Order of Isabella the Catholic for her contribution to Spanish architectural heritage and her role in strengthening cultural ties between Spain and Italy.

Carson Chan

Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, Architecture and Design Museum Helsinki

Carson Chan is an architecture curator and writer. Most recently he served as the inaugural Director of the Emilio Ambasz Institute for the Joint Study of the Built and Natural Environment at the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), where he was also a Curator of Architecture and Design. At MoMA he developed, led and implemented the Ambasz Institute’s manifold research initiatives through a range of programs, including exhibitions, public lectures, conferences, seminars and publications. In 2006 he cofounded PROGRAM, a project space and residency program in Berlin that tested the disciplinary boundaries of architecture through exhibition making.

Chan co-curated the 4th Marrakech Biennale in 2012, and the year after he served as Executive Curator of the Biennial of the Americas in Denver. Chan’s writing frequently appears in journals and periodicals including Frieze, Texte zur Kunst, and 032c where he was formerly Editor-at-Large. His doctoral research at Princeton University tracks the architecture of public aquariums in the postwar United States against the rise of environmentalism as a social and intellectual movement.

Llisa Demetrios

Chief Curator at Eames Institute

Llisa Demetrios is the youngest granddaughter of Ray and Charles Eames and serves as Chief Curator of the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity, a nonprofit dedicated to sharing her grandparents’ design-driven approach to problem-solving. As a third-generation maker, she draws on a lifetime of creative immersion to steward one of the world’s most comprehensive design archives, housed at the Eames Archives in Richmond, California.

Since 2018, Llisa has curated ten acclaimed exhibitions, examining subjects from iconic table designs to the Eameses’ collection of toys and games, along with their collaborations with Saul Steinberg. Her most recent show, Past as Prologue: The Last Decade of Furniture Design by Ray and Charles Eames (1968–1978), debuted during San Francisco Design Week at the Transamerica Pyramid Center — marking the Institute’s first public exhibition beyond the Archives — and runs through Fall 2025.

Aside from her role as Chief Curator, Llisa has been a bronze sculptor for over two decades. Her work blends organic abstraction with architectural forms, beginning her practice with hand-carved wooden marquettes before scaling works into bronze pieces that reflect her focus on materiality and craftsmanship. She is additionally an active member of the art and design community, having previously held archival roles at MoMA and the Eames Office, and serving on the Board of Directors of the Petaluma Arts Center.

Call for entries: The 14th Architizer A+Awards celebrates architecture's new era of craft. Apply for publication online and in print by submitting your projects before the Main Entry Deadline on December 12th!

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