AIA New York Announces Design Awards 2025 Recipients
January 13, 2025
On Monday, January 13, 2025, a jury of independent architects, educators, and planners from outside New York City convened to select the 2025 winners of the AIA New York Design Awards. Later that evening, the jurors publicly announced the 23 winning projects at a symposium, free and open to the public, hosted at the Center for Architecture and on Zoom.
The selected projects and the architecture firms that designed them represent the exceptional work by AIA New York members and architects practicing in New York City. Awards were conferred in four categories: Architecture, Interiors, Projects, and Urban Design. Each winning project, granted either an “Honor,” “Merit,” or “Citation,” was
chosen for its design quality, response to its context and community, program resolution, innovation, thoughtfulness, and technique. Submitted projects had to be completed by AIANY members or architects/designers practicing in New York or be New York projects designed by architects/designers based elsewhere.
Selected from among over 200 entries, the winning projects range from sweeping public transportation projects such as Kaohsiung Port Terminal and Portland International Airport to smaller scale interventions such as the 13’-by-4” wide Narrow House and the Manhattan Pet Adoption Center. Projects such as the Rockefeller Center Rink Level Public Concourse were lauded for setting precedents in how large-scale institutional campuses or buildings can open up to the public, even below grade.
“A consistent thread is the power of the narrative of storytelling,” said juror Michael Guthrie, FAIA, LEED AP. “Where did the vision start? Where are the diagrams? Give us the illustrative impact because ultimately we hope that these projects are going to impact people. I think we felt like people-centric projects were paramount and important.”
Of the Best in Competition winner Kaohsiung Port Terminal, juror Stacy Passmore, PLA, AICP, said, “We were very impressed by projects that transform the city they’re located in, and I think this was really the top tier example of that and not just the city, but the harbor and how it interacts with the economy of the city was really important in this project as well.”
The jury noted that Kaohsiung Port Terminal—a catalyst in rethinking the city’s industrial waterfront—inspired so many teachers and students over the past decade, motivated other projects, and was overall very influential in the practice of architecture. Juror Anna Dyson described the project’s role in bringing forward innovation in parametric computation: “We saw a lot of airport and infrastructural projects that were indebted to this practice as well. We’re awarding this project not only for the excellence of the architecture, its urbanism, and for the very, very complex programs that come together, but also for its contribution to the field in general.”
We invite you to browse all winners on our website. The spring issue of Oculus magazine will include further quotes from the jurors and a review of their discussion.
HONORS AND AWARDS LUNCHEON
Winning projects will be recognized at the Honors and Awards Luncheon, scheduled for Friday, April 25, at Cipriani Wall Street.
EXHIBITION
The Center for Architecture will host an exhibition of the winning projects, opening Thursday, May 8, 2025, at 6:00 pm, and on view through September 2, 2025.
2025 AIANY DESIGN AWARDS JURY
Anna Dyson, Founding Director, Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture
Michael Guthrie, FAIA, LEED AP, Partner and Principal, INFORM Studio
Lucas ter Hall, Co-founder, Studio RAP
Stacy Passmore, PLA, AICP, Co-founder and Principal, Superbloom
Brian Phillips, FAIA, Founding Principal, ISA
Troy Schaum, AIA, Principal, Schaum Architects; Associate Professor, Rice University
Melodie Yashar, Vice President, Architecture & Building Performance, ICON; Professor, ArtCenter College of Design
AIANY DESIGN AWARDS 2025 RECIPIENTS
23 awards conferred
ARCHITECTURE – 17 total (1 best in competition; 3 honors; 8 merits; 5 citations)
INTERIORS – 3 total (2 merits; 1 citation)
PROJECTS – 1 total (1 honor)
URBAN DESIGN – 2 total (2 honor)
BEST IN COMPETITION
Kaohsiung Port Terminal
Architect: Reiser+Umemoto, RUR Architecture DPC
Architect of Record: Fei and Cheng Associates
Location: Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
ARCHITECTURE
HONOR
Cast Iron House
Architect: Shigeru Ban Architects
Architect of Record: Dean Maltz Architect
Restoration Architect: Higgins Quasebarth & Partners
Location: New York, NY
Portland International Airport
Architect: ZGF Architects
Landscape Architect: PLACE
Biophilic Design Consultant: Terrapin Bright Green
Location: Portland, OR
Vesterheim Commons
Architect: Snøhetta
Architect of Record: BNIM
Location: Decorah, IA
MERIT
The Church
Architect: SKOLNICK Architecture + Design Partnership
Landscape Architect: Hollander Design Landscape Architects
Location: Sag Harbor, NY
Equatorial School of Architecture
Design Architect: Erik L’Heureux, FAIA; Campus Design Innovations Group, National University of Singapore
Architect of Record: CPG Consultants
Landscape Architect: DP Green
Location: Singapore
Kresge College Expansion at the University of California, Santa Cruz
Architect: Studio Gang
Associate Architect: TEF Design
Landscape Architects: Joni L. Janecki and Associates; Office of Cheryl Barton
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
The Lindemann Performing Arts Center at Brown University
Architect: REX
Landscape Architect: Stimson
Location: Providence, RI
Narrow House
Architect: Only If Architecture
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Pink House
Architect: Roger Ferris + Partners
Location: Sagaponack, New York
Qiaochengbei Park Visitor Center
Architect: Atelier XI
Architect of Record: Shenzhen Wenke Landscape
Location: Shenzhen, China
University of Toronto Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus
Architect: Weiss/Manfredi
Architect of Record: Teeple Architects
Location: Toronto, Ontario
CITATION
Citation for Adaptive Mixed-Use Housing
Allen Apartments
Architect: Adam Sokol Architecture Practice
Landscape Architect: Joy Kuebler Landscape Architect
Location: Buffalo, NY
Citation for Affordable Housing
Casa Celina
Architect: Magnusson Architecture and Planning
Landscape Architect: Terrain-NYC
Location: Bronx, NY
Citation for Resilience and Community Impact
Far Rockaway Library
Architect: Snøhetta
Location: Queens, NY
Citation for Innovation in Preservation
Palace Theatre
Architect: PBDW Architects
Architect of Record: Mancini Duffy
Location: New York, NY
Citation for Biodiversity
St. John’s Terminal
Architect: COOKFOX Architects
Interior Architect: Gensler
Architect of Record: AAI Architects
Landscape Architect: Future Green Studio
Location: New York, NY
INTERIORS
MERIT
Manhattan Pet Adoption Center
Architect: Studio Joseph
Location: New York, NY
Rockefeller Center Rink Level Public Concourse
Architect: INC Architecture & Design
Location: New York, NY
CITATION
Citation for Materials and Detailing
West Village Townhouse
Architect: JG Neukomm Architecture
Interior Design: Francis Sultana
Location: New York, NY
PROJECTS
HONOR
Biogenic House Sections
Architect: LTL Architects
URBAN DESIGN
HONOR
Blanton Museum of Art Grounds Redesign at the University of Texas at Austin
Design Architect, Landscape Architect: Snøhetta
Architect of Record: Architexas
Location: Austin, TX
Tom Lee Park
Architect: Studio Gang
Landscape Architect: SCAPE
Location: Memphis, TN
About AIA New York
Founded in 1857, AIA New York is the oldest and largest chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The Chapter’s members include 5,000 practicing architects, allied professionals, students, and public members interested in architecture and design. AIA New York is dedicated to three goals: design excellence, public outreach, and professional development. aiany.org