Juan Manuel Balsa is from San Francisco, Rocio Crosetto is from Villa Maria and Leandro Piazzi, from Cordoba Capital. The three recently received the “Architectural League Prize for Young Architects & Designers” award. ”, Granted by the architectural League of New York.
It is the most important recognition for young architects in the United States.
The award is intended for professionals under 40 years of age or with a title obtained no more than ten years ago, residing in the United States, Mexico or Canada. He has been received by very recognized architects from these countries and is delivered every year since the 80s.
Although the formal awards ceremony has not yet been carried out, Cordoba professionals were already notified about their distinction. “It is a prize for the emerging young trajectory of different local architecture studies. We apply for the first time this year and win. We are very happy,” he told The voice Dew.
As part of this recognition, young people were interviewed by different media in the American country. “In addition, we are going to give a conference in June and an exhibition in July. The process involved in this award generated a series of very rewarding scheduled events,” added the architect.
The three winners are graduates of the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Design of the National University of Córdoba (FAUD-UNC) where they also served as teachers.
Although the exercise of their professional careers began in the country, they currently exercise their work and teach in educational institutions in the United States.
Juan Manuel conducted a master’s degree in architectural theory and design at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of the University of Navarra (Etsoun). He is currently a guest professor at the School of Architecture of the Rhode Island School of Design School of Design.
For his part, Rocio obtained a Master in Science in Advanced Architectural Design of the University of Columbia (GSAPP), where he won the William Ware Award for Excellence in Design 2022 and the Saul Kaplan traveling scholarship. He is currently a fellow Pietro Belluschi at MIT (2024), within the Architecture Department.
Leandro studied an advanced architectural project sciences at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He is a full -time professor at the School of Architecture of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
The work of the winners
The Balsa Crosetto Piazzi study hosts in the United States and Argentina. Founded in 2014 and directed by the three architects, it is characterized by careful attention to materiality and construction methods.
They describe their design approach as an integrator of “the networks and cycles of materials, people, ecologies, knowledge and resources that are part of the architectural construction.”
They work on multiple scales and contexts, both urban and rural, addressing from public facilities to homes, meeting spaces and other orders.
Among his most recent projects are:
- Quincho: Built with locally elaborated bricks, this pavilion next to a lake is designed to house the roast, an Argentine social and culinary tradition focused on grid meetings.
- Rural bathroom: Inspired by the industrial landscape of the Pampas plains, this bathroom complex for dairy producers on the outskirts of Córdoba is mainly composed of folded galvanized steel sheets to achieve structural capacity.
- Inclined roof: With thick brick walls, a prefabricated steel cover and two concrete structural beams that allow to collect rainwater and provide sun protection, this house was conceived for young professionals in a transition zone between the city and the countryside.
On the other hand, the study was a beneficiary of the 2024 Independent Projects scholarship for its proposal “In Process: Alternative Methods for Reading Evolution Buildings.” His work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennial, the Ibero -American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism and the Miami Architecture and Design Center, among other spaces of relevance.
