The Interior Design department at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) has named Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano, founding partners of LOT-EK, the 2014 recipients of the Lawrence Israel Prize. The prize, endowed by architect Lawrence J. Israel, has been given annually since 1998 to an individual or firm whose ideas and work enrich FIT Interior Design students’ course of study.

Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano

In selecting this year’s honorees the selection committee noted that LOT-EK’s practice stands as a keen role model for all students of design. “From large-scale architectural works to highly considered interiors, Tolla and Lignano have achieved global notoriety and have always been provocateurs, crafting not just great works but defined new approaches to industrial artifacts to formulate a sustainable mode of operation.”

Tolla and Lignano join the ranks of past recipients including Jamie Drake, David Rockwell, Vicente Wolf, Clodagh, Gaetano Pesce, Adam Tihany and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Founded in 1993, LOT-EK is based in New York and Naples, Italy, and has achieved high visibility for its sustainable and innovative approach to construction, materials and space through the adaptive reuse (or “upcycling”) of existing industrial objects and systems not originally intended for architecture.

The firm has designed and built commercial, institutional and residential projects globally. In addition, LOT-EK has conceived and executed exhibition design and site-specific installations for major cultural institutions and museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, the Walker Art Center and the Guggenheim Museum.

Each year, the award recipients are invited to give a public talk at FIT. Tolla and Lignano will discuss their work in a talk entitled “O+O (Objects and Operations)” on Tuesday, April 22 at 6:00 p.m. in the Katie Murphy Amphitheatre at FIT, Seventh Avenue at 27 Street. This event is free and open to the public, with no reservations required.