The AIA New York and ASLA-NY, alongside AIA Austin, AIA Miami, AIA Los Angeles, and ASLA Illinois, have announced the winners of the 2026 AIANY + ASLA-NY Transportation + Infrastructure Design Excellence Awards. Out of 56 entries submitted in five categories, 13 projects were selected by an independent jury of architects, landscape architects, and planners, with the Best in Competition honor awarded to the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project by Bjarke Ingels Group, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architecture, and ONE Architecture & Urbanism.
“The jury chose to award Best in Competition to the ESCR project in acknowledgement of the transformational nature of the work,” said jury member Nicholas Pettinati, RLA, “and the significant impact it has had on Lower Manhattan communities as well as on the resilience planning and construction landscape in New York City and the region.”
This year, architects and landscape architects submitted 56 entries across five categories: Open Space, Planning, Projects, Structures, and Student Work; awards were conferred in all categories. Entries within those categories were eligible for recognition as Honors (the highest level of achievement), Merits (distinguished achievement), or Citations (exemplary achievement on specific project aspects).
The selected projects represent exceptional transportation and infrastructure work designed by registered architects, landscape architects, planners, and students. Each project was evaluated based on its commitment to sustainability, community engagement, and civic architecture.
Seattle’s Waterfront Park by Field Operations, LMN, Miller Hull Partnership, and Schemata Workshop earned the Honor award in the Open Space category for the expansive collaboration that took place over its 15-year creation process. “Set within the really breathtaking vista, across the bay with Mount Rainier in the front and the city in the rear, this is really Seattle’s new front porch, supporting public access, civic programs, biodiverse habitat, and unique experiences,” said jury member Lee Altman, AIA, LEED AP. “Within this complex, and I’m sure very challenging process, the project team still emphasized the importance of working with local Indigenous communities to inform the design. They developed a mode of cultural storytelling to celebrate art as part of the public realm and reuse or reclaim materials that harken back to the maritime and industrial core of Seattle.”
In the Student category, Carnegie Mellon University Master of Architecture students Andrew Long, Ella Maxwell, and Rupal Singh won an Honor award for their Eco Scaffold: The Future of JFK proposal. “By establishing clear and ambitious parameters, the project was able to look beyond today’s technological realities and envision a truly inspiring and creative future for JFK airport,” said Pettinati. “Using a range of visualization techniques and supported by thorough ecological research, the project paints an irresistible picture of an innovative transportation future grounded in a restored and productive landscape.”
Award recipients were announced and celebrated at the Winners’ Event on Tuesday, May 5 via Zoom.
JURY
Lee Altman, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, SCAPE Landscape Architecture DPC
Cristina Ungureanu, AICP, Mobility Corridors, LA Metro
Jennifer McConney-Gayoso, AIA, Principal, Studio Mc+G Studio Architecture Inc.
Nicholas Pettinati, RLA, Deputy Director of Urban Design, NYC Department of Transportation
Lisa Storer, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP BD+C, SITES AP, ENV SP, Senior Vice President, Architecture and Design, Austin Transit Partnership
BEST IN COMPETITION
East Side Coastal Resiliency
Location
New York, NY
Architect
BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
Landscape Architect
Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architecture
Designer
ONE Architecture & Urbanism
PLANNING / Merit
Repairing the Innerbelt: A Playbook for Highway Removal
in Post-Industrial Cities
Planning and Urban Design (Local Partner)
City Architecture
Planning and Urban Design
Sasaki
Open Space / Honor
Seattle’s Waterfront Park
Location
Seattle, WA
Design Lead, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design
Field Operations
Restroom Architect:
Hoshide Wanzer Architects + Interiors
Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion, Architect
LMN
Café Pavilion on Overlook Walk, Architect
Miller Hull Partnership
Union Street Pedestrian Bridge, Architect
Schemata Workshop
Open Space / Merit
Presidio Tunnel Top
Location
San Francisco, CA
Architecture and Facilities
EHDD
Design Lead, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design
Field Operations
Open Space / Citation
P.S. 306/M.S. 331 Climate-Adaptive Schoolyard
Location
Bronx, New York
Landscape Architect
Studio HIP Landscape Architecture
PLANNING / Citation
Flatiron and NoMad District Plan: Linking Parks, Transit, and People
Location:
New York, NY
Planner and Urban Designer:
OSD (Office of Strategy + Design)
STRUCTURES / Honor
Line 5 Eglinton
Location
Toronto, Canada
Line-wide Architectural Lead
Arcadis
Associate Architect
Daoust Lestage Lizotte
Stecker Benech
Associate Architect
DIALOG
Associate Architect
NORR
STRUCTURES / Honor
Penn Station East End Gateway and Long Island Rail Road Concourse Renovation
Location
New York, New York
Architect
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Project Management, Communications, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Structural Engineer Below Grade, Vertical Transportation, Designer of Record
AECOM
Civil Engineer and Architect (Back-of-House)
HNTB
Architect (NYCT Areas)
Sowinski Sullivan
STRUCTURES / Merit
Renfrew Bridge
Location
Renfrewshire, Scotland
Lead Designer for the Movable Bridge
Hardesty & Hanover
STUDENT WORK / Merit
Re: Reasonable Modification Request
Location
New York, NY
Master of Architecture Candidate, Yale University
Caroline Ho
STUDENT WORK / Honor
Eco Scaffold: The Future of JFK
Location
Queens, New York
Master of Architecture Candidates, Carnegie Mellon University
Andrew Long
Ella Maxwell
Rupal Singh
PROJECTS / Honor
KlimaKover: An Adaptable, Autonomous Cooling Shelter to Mitigate Urban Heat
Location
New York, NY
Architect and Sustainability Consultant
Henning Larsen
PROJECTS / Honor
Memory Landscapes: Three Speculative Proposals for the Transformation of Japanese Tsunami Infrastructure to Public Space
Location
Japan
Architect
Robert Hutchison Architecture
