In response to the overwhelming popularity of our One Rendering, One Drawing and One Photo Challenges, Architizer developed this the Vision Awards program to recognize some of the architecture industry’s most unsung creative heroes. As with Architizer’s A+Awards, we’ve assembled a stellar, multi-disciplinary jury of architectural thought leaders from around the world, allowing entrants to get their work in front of some of the industry’s leading figures and see their work published in print.
In the same democratic and truly global spirit as Architizer’s A+Awards, the Vision Awards’ jury comprises influential figures in the fields of architecture, design, technology, film and beyond. Looking for tips to make sure your entry stands out in front of the crowd? Check out our Editor’s Guide to Winning Architizer’s Vision Awards. Now, without further ado, discover the trailblazing experts we’ve handpicked to help select the winners for this year’s competition.
Shajay Booshan
Associate Director at Zaha Hadid Architects
Shajay is an aspiring polymath. He is an Associate Director at Zaha Hadid Architects where he co-founded and heads the Computation and Design research group (ZHACODE, 2007). Shajay pursues his scientific interests in digital design and robotic fabrication as a PhD candidate at the Block Research Group (BRG, 2017) at the ETH, Zurich and previously as a M.Phil. graduate from University of Bath, UK (2016). He is a graduate from and a studio-master at the post-graduate course of Design Research Laboratory at the Architectural Association, London (AADRL, 2006). There, he explores the intersection of computer graphics, video games, metaverse technology, urban development and modern methods of construction.
Follow Shajay on LinkedIn.
Matthew Bannister
Founder of DBOX
Matthew Bannister co-founded DBOX in 1996. In 2006 he was named one of ‘The World’s Top Creatives Under 40’ by WallPaper* magazine. In 2015 he was named one of ‘The 20 Biggest Power Players in New York City Real Estate’ by the New York Post. Under his leadership, DBOX has won multiple awards including the Emmy Award. For the last three years he has operated as the creative director and a member of the lead architectural design team for Four Seasons Private Residences Lake Austin, a 145 acres purely residential resort.
Matthew earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University and a Masters of Architecture from Princeton University. He has taught at both institutions.
Follow Matthew on LinkedIn, or head over to Instagram to check out his handles, @dboxglobal and @thebeautifulfear.
Katherine Chia
Co-Founder of Desai Chia Architecture
Katherine Chia FAIA is a founding principal of Desai Chia Architecture. Since 1996, she and her partner & husband, Arjun Desai, have established the firm’s reputation for authentic design, creating inspiring environments expressive of light, materials, and spaces that foster collaboration. Desai Chia’s projects have been published extensively and received many accolades including numerous AIA Design Awards and American Architecture Awards, numerous Interior Design Best of Year Awards, and an AIA Institute Honor Award. In 2018, ARCHITECT Magazine ranked Desai Chia Architecture #19 in the nation for Design. The book “The Women Who Changed Architecture” by Princeton Architectural Press included Katherine and her work in the chapter titled “Raising the Roof.”
Katherine grew up in New York State and Belgium. She earned her Master of Architecture degree from M.I.T. and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College. Prior to founding Desai Chia Architecture, she worked for Maya Lin on numerous art and architecture commissions. She is a Trustee Emerita of Amherst College, a board member at the Center for Architecture, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Follow Katherine on LinkedIn.
Arjun Desai
Co-Founder of Desai Chia Architecture
Arjun Desai AIA is a founding principal of Desai Chia Architecture. Since 1996, he and his partner and wife, Katherine Chia, have established the firm’s reputation for authentic design, creating inspiring environments expressive of light, materials, and spaces that foster collaboration. Desai Chia’s projects have been published extensively and received many accolades including numerous AIA Design Awards and American Architecture Awards, numerous Interior Design Best of Year Awards, and an AIA Institute Honor Award. In 2018, ARCHITECT Magazine ranked Desai Chia Architecture #19 in the nation for Design.
Arjun grew up in New Delhi and Mumbai, India. Prior to founding Desai Chia Architecture, he worked at SHCA/NY on numerous civic projects in New York and Washington, D.C. He earned his Master of Architecture degree from M.I.T. and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Bennington College.
Follow Arjun on LinkedIn.
Andres Ramirez
Founder of PLANESITE
Andrés F. Ramirez is a Colombian writer, curator, filmmaker and cultural producer working in the realm of architecture, urban planning and media. He is the co-founder and Managing Director of PLANE–SITE, an agency devoted to the production and dissemination of original content about the built environment. At PLANE–SITE, he leads a wide-range of projects –from exhibitions and publications, to design competitions and international conferences. Andrés is currently pursuing a PhD in Urban Planning at UCLA.
Follow Andrés on LinkedIn.
James Whitaker
Founder of Whitaker Studio
James Whitaker is the founder of the self-named Whitaker Studio. Based out of London, Whitaker Studio designs one-of-a-kind buildings and master plans for clients around the world. Whitaker Studio’s work has been published widely and their Starburst House in California is possibly the world’s best-known unbuilt house.
Prior to setting up Whitaker Studio James worked as an architect for Thomas Heatherwick and Ron Arad in London and Hong Kong, on a variety of internationally renowned projects, both big and small. He has also worked as a photographer and a digital artist.
Follow James on LinkedIn.
Xuanru Chen
Co-Founder and Architect at ZJJZ Atelier China
Xuanru Chen, graduated from the University of Michigan with a master’s degree in architecture, has been working in Shanghai as an architect since 2011. In 2017, she co-founded ZJJZ with Sean Shen and Yu-ying Tsai. The studio focuses on design solutions for different spaces, while studying the creative uses of the space. Its areas of expertise encompass cultural and public projects such as art galleries, libraries, community centers and hotels. ZJJZ has also played an active role in the rural development of China.
Marc Tsurumaki
Founding Principal of LTL Architects
Marc Tsurumaki is principal and founding partner of LTL Architects, a New York-based design intensive architecture firm founded in 1997. LTL Architects engages a diverse range of work, turning the constraints of each project into the design trajectory by exploring opportunistic overlaps between space, materiality, form, and program. In 2019, the firm was selected as the AIA New York State Firm of the Year, and its three partners were inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame. LTL’s work has been recognized extensively including the National Design Award and inclusion in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco MoMA and the Carnegie Museum of Art. Marc Tsurumaki is a licensed architect and received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University.
Marc is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Architecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and has taught at multiple institutions, most recently as the Davenport Visiting Professor at Yale University. Marc is the author with Paul and David Lewis of five books including the recently published Manual of Biogenic House Sections, a follow up to their best-selling Manual of Section which addresses questions of embodied carbon and the architectural potentials of plant and earth based materials. He is currently the President of the Board of Directors of Storefront for Art and Architecture.
Thomas Phifer
Partner at Thomas Phifer and Partners
Since founding Thomas Phifer and Partners in 1997, Thomas Phifer has completed an expansion of the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland, an expansion of the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, the United States Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University in Houston, Texas, an outdoor performance pavilion in Austin, and numerous houses in the Hudson River Valley of New York State. Ongoing projects include the Museum of Modern Art and TR Warszawa Theatre in Warsaw, Cine Colombia headquarters in Bogotá, a student center and an International Studies Center for Indiana University in Bloomington, and the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project in Lower Manhattan. Thomas Phifer is also engaged in private residences in Portugal, Texas, Maine and New York. Since 1997, Thomas Phifer and Partners has received four Design Excellence awards from the General Services Administration and more than thirty honor awards from the American Institute of Architects, as well as numerous national and international citations. His projects have been published and exhibited extensively in the United States and overseas.
A monograph on the work of Thomas Phifer and Partners was released in 2010 by Skira Rizzoli. Thomas Phifer received the prestigious Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome in 1995 and was awarded the Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 2004. He was elected as an Academician of the National Academy of Design in 2011. In 2013, Mr. Phifer received the Arts and Letters Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2016, he was honored by the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects with the President’s Award and by the Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation. He also gave the 2016 keynote lecture at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London. In 2019, he was awarded the National Design Award in Architectural Design from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2022, he was elected as a lifetime member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Mr. Phifer is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and serves on the board of the Architectural League of New York. In 2022 the Clemson University of School of Architecture announced a newly endowed fellowship for historically underserved and underrepresented students.
The Thomas Phifer Fellowship will support tuition in the School of Architecture for two graduate students for two years in an effort to increase access and broaden a more diverse pathway within the profession of architecture in South Carolina. Thomas Phifer has served as a visiting professor at numerous architecture schools, including the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Cooper Union, University of Southern California, University of Texas, University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. Mr. Phifer has been appointed the William Henry Bishop Visiting Professor of Architectural Design and the Louis I Kahn Visiting Professor of Architectural Design, both at the Yale School of Architecture. Mr. Phifer received his Bachelor of Architecture in 1975 and his Master of Architecture in 1977, both from Clemson University. In 1977 he studied at the Clemson Architecture Center in Genoa, Italy.
The Final Entry Deadline for Architizer's 13th A+Awards is Friday, January 24th! This season we're spotlighting the talent of architects who expertly balance global challenges with local needs. Start your entry.
