Joe Russell and Emma Sheffer Win Architizer A+ Vision Award
Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) students Joe Russell (MArch ’27) and Emma Sheffer (MArch ’27) have been named as winners of the 2025 Architzer A+ Vision Award . The jury selected Russell and Sheffer’s project “Theseus ” as winner of the Vision for Reuse and Renovation category. The project will be published in Architizer’s How to Visualize Architecture book.
In addition, for the 2025 Vision Awards, “Theseus” has received the special title of “Best of Year” and will be featured in the November/December issue of Metropolis .
Russell and Sheffer developed “Theseus” as part of their Core IV studio. A 150-bed housing project across from the port of Chelsea, MA, “Theseus” adapts cargo holds from decommissioned bulk-carrier ships, which are typically retired after 25 years. The project transforms maritime steel infrastructure into resilient housing superstructures. Suspended floor plates allow the ground to remain open for communal use, creating a floodable, adaptable civic space. The units offer elasticity; residents can open walls to expand or merge households, adapting to shifting domestic needs. Located along Marginal Street, the five-building complex buffers the community from industrial noise while creating east–west public passageways. The project addresses climate adaptation, material scarcity, and long-term housing stability. By reusing locally sourced steel and integrating public programming, “Theseus” reframes housing as civic infrastructure. Scalable to other port cities, it proposes a new architectural typology rooted in industrial heritage, designed not just to shelter but to support life, work, care, and community over time.