Architects Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, co-founders of the New York-based architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism, have been named winners of the 2020 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture—an annual prize from the University of Virginia (UVA) and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello.

"As designers, [they] have been critically redefining the relationship between landscape, architecture, and urbanism through their work, which not only underscores the significance that Thomas Jefferson attributed to these intertwined realms, but also speaks to the necessity, in our current age, to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries and create newly integrated cultural-ecological paradigms," said UVA architecture dean Ila Berman in a statement.

Late last year, the firm won a competition to re-design the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles; other recent and ongoing work includes The Bridge at Cornell Tech and Hunter's Point South Park (both completed in New York), and the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi (in progress).

While the awards are typically presented in observance of Jefferson’s birthday, April 13, in-person celebrations were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the UVA School of Architecture is hosting a virtual public talk by Weiss and Manfredi, which will be open to the public and accessible through this link at 5pm EST on Monday, April 20, 2020.