Jodi Batay-Csorba and Andrew Batay-Csorba received the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) 2017 Young Architect Award. The RAIC Young Architect Award recognizes architects 40 years old or younger for excellence in design, leadership, and service to the profession. The award is intended to inspire other young architects to become licensed and to strive for excellence in their work.

After studying and working in the United States for more than 10 years, Andrew Batay-Csorba and Jodi Batay-Csorba moved from Los Angeles to Toronto in 2010, where practice offers an alternative approach, cultivated in a design tradition unique to the region.

They established Batay-Csorba Architects in 2010 as a collaborative research and design studio. The partners have designed, directed, and managed over 96 internationally-celebrated projects in 38 cities and 11 countries, both on their own and at Pritzker Prize-winning offices before founding their own practice. Their work has been distinguished with international awards, published in over 60 international publications and exhibited across 19 galleries in Canada and internationally. Recognition includes two Canadian Architect  Awards of Merit, 2017 OAA Award Design Excellence Finalist, 2015 Twenty and Change Next Generation Award, and a 2014 OAA Concept Award. The office participated in the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale’s Canadian Migrating Landscapes exhibition and the 2013-2014 Protéiforme: architecture paramétrique show at the Maison de l’architecture du Quebec in Montreal, Laval University in Quebec City, and Grenoble, France.

As a young, small firm, they have focused on low-rise residential, and mixed use commercial projects, explaining, “With a rapidly evolving morphology of residential typologies for the densification of Toronto’s low-rise residential fabric, this presented an opportunity to make a contribution to the larger discussion of architecture and development in the city.”

Canadian-born, Jodi and Andrew Batay-Csorba attended undergraduate studies at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, MI. In 2005, they completed their Masters in Architecture at the University of California Los Angeles. Here, they won first place in the AIA/LA 2x8 Design Competition, exhibited at the Armory Museum and (A+D) Architecture and Design Museum in Los Angeles, and both received the Franklin D. Israel Memorial Fellowship.

The office has an eye towards the broad, collective experience of architecture, regardless of scale, giving particular focus to public spaces and a building’s seat within the greater city. They believe that in these places of congregation, and in the outward relationship with a building’s context, architecture is offered its opportunity to be most impactful and expressive. The practice’s approach is thus guided by particular readings and applications of some of the larger-scale concerns of architecture: site abstractly seen as geometric rather than semiotic; misreadings of typology allowing for unexpected reconfigurations; facade as interactive; and an interpretation of landscape as synthetic. By considering architecture from a less intimate perspective, concentrated primarily on larger underlying gestures, the practice is afforded the strategic agility to approach any project critically while reflecting the unique aspirations of each client.

Jury comments 

The work is original and seems it is developed with focus and exploration that is consistent with ongoing university explorations.

The work shows a lot of time and commitment to research.

Their work appears to inspire their clients and reflects a trusting relationship with clients. This is a very positive validation of the quality of their process, design, and relationships.

The firm has consistently produced good and mature work that is innovative and fresh.

The infill work is very original.

“Excellent design and built resolution of space and surface detailing.