AIANY Design Awards

AIA New York’s annual Design Awards program recognizes outstanding architectural design in New York and around the world. Members, architectural professionals, and designers across the industry are encouraged to apply.

The program awards projects that exemplify design excellence, demonstrating exceptional skill and creativity in the resolution of formal, functional, and technical requirements. Projects should consider the impacts of built design, addressing issues including ecological stewardship and social responsibility.

In 2019, AIA adopted the Framework for Design Excellence as a set of guidelines and requirements to assess project performance and better address the interdependence between people, buildings, infrastructure, and the environment. All submissions will require the use of the AIA Framework’s Common App. Each applicant should highlight relevant narratives and metrics, that are applicable to their specific projects; submissions do not need to address all the measures included and may be focused on only two or three.

AIANY Design Awards 2025 promotional graphic

Jury

Anna Dyson
Founding Director, Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture

Michael Guthrie, FAIA, LEED AP
Partner & Principal, INFORM Studio

Lucas ter Hall
Co-founder, Studio RAP

Stacy Passmore, PLA, AICP
Co-Founder & Principal, Superbloom

Brian Phillips, FAIA 
Founding Principal, ISA

Troy Schaum, AIA
Principal, Schaum Architects; Associate Professor, Rice University

Melodie Yashar
VP, Architecture & Building Performance, ICON; Professor, Art College of Design

Anna Dyson

Founding Director, Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture

Anna Dyson is the Hines Professor of Architecture at the Yale Schools of Architecture (YSoA) and Environment (YSE). She is the founding Director of the Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (Yale CEA), a research initiative that integrates interdisciplinary labs across campus to collaborate on the research, development and deployment of novel architectural systems that are focused on the challenge of metabolizing energy, water and materials within architecture in radically new ways.

At the YSoA, Dyson has established a new model for PhD-level design research in Architectural Sciences which has received multiple honors for pedagogy, including the award for most innovative academic program from the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) and an Award of Excellence from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

Dyson has been directing design research programs that have competitively won awards and contracts from multiple sponsors such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), The New York City Dept of Design and Construction (NYC-DDC), NYSERDA, NYSTAR, NEXUS, and from private sponsors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Baruch Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, and others.

Recipient of the Innovator Award from Architectural Record, Dyson holds many international patents on building systems innovations for the collection and distribution of clean energy, water, air quality and material life cycle. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The World Future Energy Summit (WFES), and The Center for Architecture. Designs for novel systems have won many awards, including a 1st prize from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for the Climate Camouflage and Integrated Concentrating Solar Façade systems, Architect R&D awards for the Solar Enclosure for Water Reuse (SEWR) and the Active Modular Phytoremediation System (AMPS).

In 2007, Dyson co-founded the ground-breaking Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology (CASE) with Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM LLP) and RPI. Multiple systems are being deployed within scaled up building test sites: with SOM, the AMPS system was installed into the Public Safety Answering Center (PSAC II) in Bronx, NY and was included in the Best Architecture of 2017 by the Wall St. Journal, as the first full scale test of the production of fresh air from within a building through plant-based air handling systems. In 2019, Yale CEA’s Ecological Living Module, demonstrating a nexus for on-site energy, water and agricultural production, was named as the #1 World Changing Idea, by the UN News.

Michael Guthrie, FAIA, LEED AP

Partner & Principal, INFORM Studio

Michael Guthrie, FAIA is a founding Principal of INFORM Studio, with offices in Detroit and Chicago. Michael has achieved significant professional awards and distinctions that include over 40 AIA Design Awards, including a National AIA Urban Design Award for the Van Leesten Bridge in Providence. His work has been published in Architecture, Architectural Record, Archiworld, and various other publications; and lectured and exhibited in numerous locations globally, including New York, Guangzhou and Cairo.

Lucas ter Hall

Co-founder, Studio RAP

Lucas ter Hall is a co-founder of Studio RAP, an award-winning architectural design and fabrication firm based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Alongside co-founder Wessel van Beerendonk, they are dedicated to bringing innovation to architecture through emerging digital technologies, aiming to inspire people worldwide.

Since the establishment of Studio RAP, Lucas, and Wessel have led various projects, including Theatre Zuidplein, The Float, New Delft Blue, and Ceramic House. The studio's mission is to enrich the world with a new architectural language, breaking barriers and making the world more exciting and diverse.

Stacy Passmore, PLA, AICP

Co-Founder & Principal, Superbloom

Stacy Passmore is a Principal and Co-Founder of Superbloom, a landscape architecture firm based in Denver, Colorado. She received a Masters of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a Masters of Community and Regional Planning from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelor of Arts from New York University. Stacy is committed to collaborations that celebrate the relationship between humans and ecological systems, work which she explores through built projects, publications, design research, and site specific installations. Her honors include the Charles Eliot Fellowship and the Penny White Project Award from Harvard University, and her work has won the World Landscape Architecture Award, the Architizer A+ Award, and the AIA Colorado Award for Sustainability. Before starting Superbloom, she worked for the New York City Department of City Planning, MASS Design Group, Agency Landscape and Planning and with private, public, and non-profit sectors in the U.S., Canada and Africa. Her work has been published in Places Journal, the Urban Design Review, Platform X, and the Journal of Ecological Restoration. She is a licensed landscape architect and a certified urban planner.

Brian Phillips, FAIA 

Founding Principal, ISA

Brian Phillips, FAIA is Founding Principal of ISA, and serves as Creative Director across all aspects of the firm’s work. He earned his MArch from the University of Pennsylvania and BS from the University of Oklahoma. He has lectured widely on urbanism, housing, and the work of ISA. Brian was awarded a 2011 Pew Fellowship in the Arts and was named an Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York in 2015. He is a Lecturer at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and has taught visiting studios at the University of Miami and Parsons the New School for Design. 

ISA’s work has been featured in ARCHITECT, Architectural Record, DWELL, Metropolis, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, and on NPR Radio. The office has won numerous local, regional, and national design citations, including five AIA National Housing Awards, the AIA Philadelphia Gold Medal, and an AIA COTE Top Ten Award.

Troy Schaum, AIA

Principal, Schaum Architects; Associate Professor, Rice University

Troy Schaum, AIA, is an Associate Professor at Rice University and is the principal at Schaum Architects, an award-winning architectural firm based in Houston. His firm considers the city at the scale of the building, both as a site of theoretical experimentation and as a reality that may be transformed through building. This work, which unfolds at a range of scales nationally and internationally, has received several AIA design awards. Recent and ongoing work a restoration of the Architecture Office Building for the Judd Foundation and a restoration of the Chamberlain Building for the Chinati Foundation, both in Marfa, Texas; the headquarters for an arts institution in Houston; and an art center in Jodhpur, India. His work has been exhibited globally–including at the Venice Biennale, MoMA, the Storefront for Art and Architecture, and the Center for Architecture in New York – and published in many journals, including Architect’s Newspaper, Texas Architect, Dezeen, Domus, Architect, and Architectural Record. He is also the editor of Totalization: Speculative Practice in Architectural Education with Park Books in which contributors explore the status of expertise in the formulation of contemporary practice.

Melodie Yashar

VP, Architecture & Building Performance, ICON; Professor, Art College of Design

Melodie is the VP of Building Design & Performance at ICON, a construction technologies company focused on large scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. Melodie oversees the architectural direction of ICON’s built work as well as the performance of ICON’s building systems to deliver optimally-performing structures that shift the paradigm of homebuilding on Earth and beyond. In 2020 Melodie joined ICON to establish and build the Architecture & Building Performance department. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, she supports the design and construction of dignified and resilient terrestrial housing solutions in addition to supporting the development of ICON’s off-world construction systems. Divisions within her department include: Construction Architecture, Architectural Technology, Structural Engineering, Building Science & Performance, and Regulatory Affairs.

In prior roles, Melodie was a Senior Research Associate with the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames within the Human Computer Interaction Lab. She was also a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), a research group developing human-supporting designs for space exploration, as well as a Professor within the Architecture department of Pratt Institute. Melodie teaches undergraduate and graduate space architecture studios at Art Center College of Design.

As a space architect, Melodie has led and contributed to the development of multiple first prize winning designs within NASA’s Centennial Challenge for a 3D-Printed Habitat on Mars (2015-2018), and played a leading role in the design and construction of NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA), a 3D-printed analog at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (2023). She is an advocate for STEM education among minorities. Melodie obtained a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a Master of Human-Computer Interaction for Robotics from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon.

Submission Guidelines

Schedule

~~November 22, 2024, 5:00 pm~~
Submission deadline

December 3, 2024, 5:00 pm
Extended submission deadline

January 13, 2025, 6:00 pm
Winners announced at Design Awards Jury Symposium

April 25, 2025, 11:30 am
Honors and Awards Luncheon at Cipriani Wall Street

May 2025
AIANY Design Awards 2025 exhibition on view at the Center for Architecture

Award Categories

Awards may be granted in four categories noted below. Each project is evaluated by the Jury based on the success of meeting its unique project objectives. Submissions should highlight the project’s typology to aid the jurors in their evaluation.

Awards may be granted in four categories:

Architecture: Recognizes design excellence in completed buildings of any typology.
Interiors: Recognizes design excellence in building interiors and related architectural work, as well as new and improved approaches to building components and architectural products.
Projects: Recognizes temporary structures, conceptual work, pavilions, and research including practice management tools that improve design and construction processes. Work in this category does not need to be intended for construction. Projects undertaken for academic credit are not eligible. Competition entries will be considered.
Urban Design: Recognizes the most compelling work and ideas, both built and unbuilt, that confront and resolve environmental and urban challenges at a scale larger than that of an individual building.

Award levels for all categories:

Citation: Represents exemplary achievement in a specific aspect of a project.
Merit Award: Represents distinguished achievement.
Honor Award: Represents the highest level of achievement.
Best in Competition: Jurors may select one entry among Honor Award recipients across all categories to receive this unique recognition.

Judging Criteria

Projects should demonstrate exceptional skill and creativity in the resolution of formal, functional, and technical requirements. Moreover, submissions should consider the broader impacts of built design, addressing issues including ecological stewardship and social responsibility. We strongly encourage submissions that reflect a broad and inclusive definition of design excellence and ask each submitter to complete relevant portions of the AIA Common App so submitters can highlight each project’s engagement with topics highlighted in the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. The Common App informs but does not determine awards. Each project is evaluated by the Jury based on the success of meeting its unique project objectives.

Submissions may be exemplary in the following areas (including, but not limited to):

Best of Typology, demonstrating outstanding achievement in any building type (i.e. education, affordable housing, healthcare, community facility, historic preservation, corporate interiors, high-rise, commercial retail, etc.).
Technical Advancement, including engineering achievements (i.e. structural, mechanical, transportation, computational, etc.), as well as innovative use of materials and approach to urban systems.
Innovation and Research, including projects investigating design advocacy, cross-disciplinary research, and public service, as well as pilot projects and theoretical propositions.
Preservation/Restoration, including the demonstration of exemplary skill, sensitivity, and thoroughness in preservation, restoration, or adaptive reuse and/or the sensitive reinforcement of successful historical development patterns.
Sustainability, including the demonstration of excellence in ecological stewardship, such as reduced environmental impact and energy consumption, as well as attention to quality-of-life issues, resiliency, and community engagement in the urban environment.

Eligibility

AIA New York’s annual Design Awards program recognizes outstanding architectural design in New York and around the world. Small- to large-scale and low- to high-budget projects are welcome. Project eligibility may be limited by date initiated, submitter member category, and submitter professional status will apply as described below.

What projects are eligible?

Architecture and Interiors projects must have been completed after January 1, 2020. All completed New York State-based projects must credit the New York State licensed architect of record.
Urban Design and Projects submissions must have been initiated after January 1, 2020.
Prior winning projects in any category may not be resubmitted

Category Eligibility

Architecture: Registered architects only.
Interiors: Registered architects only.
Projects: Registered architects, Associate and International Associate AIA members, as well as AIANY Allied Professional, Corporate, and Corresponding members.
Urban Design: Registered architects, Associate and International Associate AIA members, as well as AIANY Allied Professional, Corporate, and Corresponding members.

Who is eligible?

AIA New York members who are registered architects are eligible regardless of project location or architect’s residence.
Registered architects practicing in New York City are eligible regardless of the project’s location.
Work located in New York City designed by any registered architect is eligible regardless of the architect’s residence, location of primary office or membership status. The registered architect should complete the submission.
AIA members who are affiliated with local chapters outside of New York City can become AIA New York members by joining as Corresponding members. Visit our membership page for more information.
Associate, International Associate, Allied Professional, and Corporate AIA New York members may submit projects in the Urban Design and Projects categories only.

Registration and Submission

The Design Awards submissions process is completely digital. Any references to architects and designers (except for original architect in the case of preservation work) on any images, plans, narratives, file names, or supplemental materials will disqualify a submission.

Entry Fees

$220: AIA New York Members (Including registered Architect, Corporate, Corresponding, and Allied Professional members)
$110: Associate AIA and International Associate AIA members
$500: Other registered architects

Project Credits

The architect or firm of record, associate architects, project team, consultants, clients, and general contractor must be credited. Client names will be withheld from publication upon request.

For restoration, renovation, and adaptive reuse of existing buildings, the original architect must be identified.

Submissions done as an employee or consultant must include a release from a principal of the firm acknowledging that the submitting architect had primary design responsibility and that the credits are correct.

Publicity

AIA New York will publicly announce the winners of the Design Awards at the January 13, 2025, Jury Symposium. All winners will be recognized for their achievements at the Honors and Awards Luncheon on April 25, 2025, at Cipriani Wall Street. Winning projects will be featured in a Design Awards exhibition at the Center for Architecture and will be published in a special spring awards issue of Oculus magazine.

Winning projects will also have the opportunity to enter directly into the 2026 iF Design Award, among the world’s most prestigious design competitions for over 70 years. This cooperation is reserved only for a select number of award programs worldwide, and the AIANY partnership is iF’s first in North America. The partnership points to a mutually recognized history, prestige and rigor. More about the partnership can be found here.

Exhibition

Award recipients shall be notified regarding exhibition materials following the announcement of the winners at the Jury Symposium on January 13, 2025. The 2025 AIANY Design Awards exhibition will open in May 2025 and will remain on view through summer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I would like to submit a project that is in Boston, MA. The project architect is registered as an architect in New York State, is a member of AIA Pennsylvania, and is located in our Philadelphia office. Would this project be eligible for submission to the AIA New York awards program?

A: This project can only be eligible if the registered architect becomes a Corresponding Member of AIA New York. Contact our Membership Team at membership@aiany.org with any additional questions about joining.

Q: Our building won as an unbuilt work in the Projects category in the 2018 cycle of Design Awards. Can we submit this as a completed project for another category in the 2025 Design Awards?

A: No. Prior winning projects in any category may not be resubmitted.

Q: My project was built in Singapore. I am a registered architect with an office in New York City. May I submit my project for the 2025 Design Awards? I am not a member of AIA.

A: Yes. You may submit under the $500 “Registered Architects” fee.

Q: Does the AIANY Design Awards accept unbuilt projects?

A: Yes. These projects are eligible for the Urban Design and Projects categories only.

Q: Our projects are all built in Upstate New York. Our registered architect is a member of AIA New York State. Can we submit our projects?

A: You may submit only if the Registered Architect becomes a Corresponding Member of AIA New York. Contact our Membership Team at membership@aiany.org with any additional questions about joining.

Q: I am an Associate Member. Can I submit work for the Architecture or Interiors categories?

A: You may ask the registered architect who signed off on the project to submit the project and include you/your firm as collaborators. If the RA is not an AIA New York member, the registration fee will be $500; if they are an AIA New York member, the fee will be $220.

Q: Are we allowed more than one image per page in the Submission Upload, or only one image per page with a max of 16 pages?

A: You may have multiple images per page, but individual images smaller than one-quarter of a page are not recommended.

Q: Do I have to include the Common App in my Submission Upload even if it is theoretical and in the Projects category?

A: Yes, all Submission Uploads must include the Common App as a separate upload. Questions in the Common App that do not pertain to your submission should be left blank.