Shane Laptiste and Tura Cousins Wilson have had a year for the books. Over the early months of 2023, the co-founders of Toronto’s Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA) were lauded with the RAIC’s Emerging Architectural Practice Award, as well as the Canada Council’s Professional Prix de Rome, while also playing a prominent role in Canada’s thought-provoking entry to the Venice Biennale of Architecture. But when AZURE floated the idea of a magazine profile, the young architects were quick to emphasize that their achievements are fundamentally a community endeavour.

It called for a wider-spanning conversation. A couple of months later, a group convened in Azure’s office with senior editor Stefan Novakovic. Laptiste and Cousins Wilson were joined by fellow multihyphenate designers Farida Abu-Bakare and Reza Nik, as well as urban planner Cheryll Case and — via FaceTime from Munich — visual artist and musician Curtis Talwst Santiago. As the conversation unfolded, the tally of vital connections quickly mounted, and the names of their frequent collaborators — from Tiffany Shaw to Tei Carpenter — kept coming. In a field where competition is fierce and authorship and acclaim are jealously guarded, the mutual passion for sharing credit and amplifying the power of community feels refreshing, even transgressive.

The openness to collaboration also reflects a distinctly vocal, civic-minded sensibility. From teaching and mentorship to public outreach and professional engagement — whether through local events or professional groups like Black Architects and Interior Designers Association (BAIDA) and the Architecture Lobby — the group also shares a commitment to creating a more inclusive and just design profession, opening doors for emerging practitioners from diverse and marginalized backgrounds. After all, success has many architects — not to mention artists, activists and planners.