Gabriela Carrillo has been named as Woman Architect of the Year 2017 at the Women in Architecture awards, with Rozana Montiel winning the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture.

Both architects were praised by the judges for having “demonstrated excellence in design and a commitment to working both sustainably and democratically with local communities”.

Carrillo, the co-founder of Mexican practice TALLER Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo, has worked on a range of leisure projects, including the Matamoros Theatre in Morelia and the Museum of Cinema in Coyoacán.

She particularly impressed the judges for her work on Pátzcuaro’s Criminal Courts, and they praised her ability “to design flexible spaces, and work with light and shadow to such compelling effect.”

The Woman Architect of the Year shortlist also featured Julia Barfield, director of Marks Barfield Architects; Anouk Legendre, founder of XTU Architects; and Andrea Leers and Jane Weinzapfel, founders of Leers Weinzapfel Associates.

Previous winners of the prize include Mecanoo’s Francine Houben and Studio Gang founder Jeanne Gang.

The Moira Gemmill Prize was founded to celebrate emerging architects producing excellent work. Montiel, head of Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura, was praised for her “sensitive engagements with communities that activate simple architectural forms”, particularly on projects such as the Veracruz Cancha – a sports court built as part of a major overhaul of a public housing scheme.

“All architecture is political,” said Montiel, responding to her win. “We can read in daily spaces the political priorities of our society.

“Architecture has the power to shape civic behaviour because, more than laying bricks, it lays the founding principles of public and social exchanges.”

She will receive a £10,000 (US$12,200, €11,500) prize fund, created in memory of the late Moira Gemmill, director of design at the V&A, to support her in her continuing professional development.

Also celebrated at the 2017 awards were Denise Scott Brown, winner of the Jane Drew Prize, and artist Rachel Whiteread, who has received the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize.

The former accolade is awarded to a figure whose commitment to design excellence has raised the profile of women in architecture, while the latter recognises individuals working in the wider architectural industry who have made a significant contribution to the built environment.

The Architecture Review is the organiser of the prestigious Women in Architecture awards, which were founded to promote equality and the role of women working in the architecture industry.

This year’s jury was chaired by the Architecture Review’s editor-in-chief, Christine Murray, and included Eva Jiricna, architect and recipient of the 2013 Jane Drew Prize; Karen Livingstone, director of masterplan and estates at the Science Museum; Jane Wernick, structural engineer and founder of Jane Wernick Associates; and Chris Wilkinson of WilkinsonEyre.