Young & Ayata formed a partnership in New York in 2008 to explore the conceptual and aesthetic possibilities of architecture and urbanism. The practice is dedicated to both built commissions and experimental research as the reality of contemporary building is a provocation for thinking through alternate modes of inhabitation. In following these trajectories, it is necessary to understand architecture in its historical, material, and social processes.
Young & Ayata are the recipients of the 2016 Design Vanguard Award from Architectural Record. The Apartment building DL1310 designed in collaboration with Michan Architecture received the 2019 Progressive Architecture Award from Architect Magazine. In 2015 they were one of two first prize winners in the International Competition for the New Bauhaus Museum in Dessau, Germany. They were finalists in the 2015 MoMA YAP Program in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2014, the partners were the recipients of the Young Architects Prize from Architectural League of New York. The firm's work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Istanbul Modern, the Graham Foundation, Yale University, SCI-Arc, and Princeton University.
Michael Young is an Assistant Professor at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union. He is the recipient of the 2019-20 Rome Prize from the American Academy of Rome. Formerly, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Princeton University and Visiting Lecturer at SCI-Arc. In the Fall of 2016, he was the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at Yale University. Michael received his Master of Architecture from Princeton University and his Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Michael is a Registered Architect in the State of New York.
Kutan Ayata is an Associate Professor and the Vice Chair in the Department of Architecture and Urbanism at UCLA. He previously held teaching positions at University of Pennsylvania, Pratt Institute, City College of New York, Cornell University and Columbia University. He received his Master of Architecture from Princeton University and his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art. He is a registered architect in the Chamber of Architects in Turkey.
