by: AIA New York
AIA New York is pleased to announce that the AIANY Community-Centered Design Grant has awarded $35,000 to the Public Housing Community Fund, in collaboration with Dirtworks Landscape Architecture, for the Sensory Garden and Playground at NYCHA’s Morrisania Air Rights. The grant supports projects that demonstrate a strong commitment to expanding community engagement beyond traditional requirements and deepening participatory design practices.
Community engagement is a foundational process through which design professionals collaborate with residents and stakeholders to shape urban environments that are equitable, inclusive, and responsive to local needs. The Community-Centered Design Grant is part of AIA New York’s Belonging and Beyond initiative, established by 2024 AIANY President Gregory Switzer, AIA, NCARB, NOMA, to advance design that meaningfully centers community voices.
Grant Recipient: Public Housing Community Fund with Dirtworks Landscape Architecture
Project: Sensory Garden and Playground at NYCHA’s Morrisania Air Rights
This project—which includes the renovation of two open spaces on a unique campus built over the Metro North rail corridor in the Bronx with an equally unique name—captures the spirit of the Belonging and Beyond initiative from its inception. The vision for these projects comes directly from the residents of this community who identified an opportunity to reanimate their underused open spaces to create truly inclusive sites for recreation and play for their neighbors of all ages, expanding accessibility to include neurodivergence.
Current open spaces throughout New York City have been created without the voices of neurodivergent people. Lack of attention to sensory-overload and sensory-deficit causes spaces to feel uninviting and even hostile to people with varying needs. With this grant, we will highlight the neurodiverse experience in public space and challenge traditional ideas of what public space is and who it is for. Through innovative and meaningful community-engagement, we can ensure that these spaces truly serve the residents—who have been excluded historically from conversations about their developments—so that they feel ownership and pride over the open spaces on their campus.
The jury is also pleased to recognize an Honorable Mention:
Sustaining Hamilton Heights: Participatory Design for Climate and Cultural Placekeeping in Johnny Hartman Plaza, submitted by The Brotherhood Sister Sol and the Pratt Institute Graduate Center for Planning and Environment / Urban Placemaking & Management program.
Johnny Hartman Plaza (JHP), a neighborhood anchor in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan is at a crossroads: in Fall 2024, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) passed the project to the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) to oversee the final phase of the site’s transformation into a permanent, public plaza. The City is well-practiced in these conversions, with over 100 new public plazas across the city, but what misses from their practice is meaningful and actionable community-informed design.
The Brotherhood Sister Sol (BroSis), a Harlem-based youth engagement nonprofit organization focusing on environmental and social justice, is deeply committed to ensuring that the future of this plaza reflects the values, needs, and priorities of their youth and of the wider community. As the City moves forward with their own design process, BroSis plans to concurrently conduct their own participatory design work and ultimately present their co-created design schema to decision-makers within the City’s development process. Their goal is not only to advocate for Johnny Hartman Plaza and the Hamilton Heights community, but to set a new precedent of what meaningful collaboration with residents and integration of local voices into City projects can and should look like.
AIA New York extends its sincere gratitude to everyone who applied. The grant received numerous highly qualified submissions, and the Jury appreciates the time, thought, and energy that each team invested. We hope all applicants will continue their vital work in advancing community-centered design across New York City.
Thank you to our jury:
Anne Chen, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, Gensler
Mark Gardner, AIA, NOMA, Jaklitsch / Gardner Architects
Benjamin Gilmartin, AIA, DS+R
Gianni Grieco, 2026 AIANY Director for Student Affairs, Parsons
Priyanka Jain, 3×3
Gregory Switzer, AIA, NOMA, NCARB, Switzer Architecture (Chair)