From the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Frida Escobedo Among 2026 National Design Award Winners
The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has announced the winners of the 2026 National Design Awards, which “recognize the innovation and impact of individual designers and organizations across 10 categories,” including architecture and landscape architecture.
The 26th annual awards, announced yesterday, “seek to increase national awareness of the impact of design in our everyday life.” The awards' ten categories have changed over time since the National Design Awards were established in 2000 as a project of the White House Millennium Council, with climate action, for instance, added in 2020 to recognize a project that makes “significant contributions to addressing the global climate crisis.” Similarly, architecture and interior design—two previously united fields in the awards—were broken into separate honors in 2023. The remaining awards categories include design visionary, emerging designer, communication design, digital design, fashion design, and product design.
“The National Design Awards demonstrate the potential and possibilities of American design, shining a spotlight on the designers and communities whose talent and creativity speak of the pluralistic richness of America at its best.”
The winners are listed below, followed by more information on the winners in the architecture, landscape architecture, and related categories (with text excerpts from the museum's announcement) and the names of the jury members at bottom. Visit the Cooper Hewitt website for more information on all the winners, all of whom will be honored at the Smithsonian National Design Awards Gala in New York City on May 19.
The 2026 Winners:
- Design Visionary: Robert Earl Paige
- Climate Action: Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman
- Emerging Designer: Mattaforma
- Architecture: Frida Escobedo Studio
- Communication Design: Thought Matter
- Digital Design: Laura Kurgan
- Fashion Design: Josh Tafoya
- Interior Design: Charlap Hyman & Herrero
- Landscape Architecture: Ten Eyck Landscape Architects
- Product Design: Berea College Student Craft
Architecture: Frida Escobedo Studio
“The Architecture award, given to an individual or firm for their meaningful contributions to the built environment that advance the understanding of spatial experiences, goes to Frida Escobedo Studio.
“Founded in 2006, Frida Escobedo Studio works across architecture, art, design, installation, research and academia. Each project explores overlooked aspects of the built environment, using simple forms to reveal the forces shaping collective identity and public space. The studio’s practice, with offices in Mexico City and New York City, spans a range of scales and territories, from multistory residential buildings to temporary art installations, adaptive reuse renovations, public sculpture, book publications and object design, often pushing the conventional boundaries of architecture. Recent commissions include Escobedo’s appointment as lead designer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new Modern and Contemporary Art Wing (2022), her selection as co-designer, following the lead architectural team Moreau Kusunoki, for the renovation of the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2024) and her selection as the lead designer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha (2025).”
Climate Action: Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman
“The Climate Action award, recognizing a design project for its significant contributions to addressing the urgency of the global climate crisis, is presented to Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman for their UCSD Community Stations project.
“The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Community Stations are a collaborative network of civic spaces along the US–Mexico border, designed to advance climate resilience and social equity. Developed by Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman, an internationally recognized research-based design practice, the stations support cross-border dialogue, participatory design and research focused on regional migration and ecological interdependencies between San Diego and Tijuana. Located on both sides of the border wall, the stations are each co-designed and programmed with local partners to leverage university resources for climate adaptation strategies, including housing, public space and environmental conservancy projects. By integrating cultural programming with scientific research and close community engagement, the stations aim to generate actionable knowledge for communities to address climate vulnerability and strengthen collective capacity for resilience. Cruz is an architect and serves as professor of spatial practice in the Department of Visual Arts, and Forman is a professor of political science and founding director of the Center on Global Justice, both at UCSD.”
Emerging Designer: Mattaforma
“The Emerging Designer award, given in recognition of a designer or practice who has demonstrated profound talent in the early stages of their career to contribute to the future of design, honors Mattaforma.
“Founded by Lindsey Wikstrom, Mattaforma is a New York City-based architecture and research studio redefining sustainable design through mass-timber innovation and healthy materials. Every Mattaforma project begins with field research: locating nearby forests, quarries and farms, and drawing from their material networks, histories and knowledge. The studio’s restorative approach creates classrooms, homes and community venues designed for disassembly and reuse, ensuring flexibility and resilience. Projects often cross disciplines, from timber pavilions built in 48 hours to open-air classrooms and structures that serve as music venues in the summer and become plant nurseries in the winter. Through writing, teaching and advocacy, Mattaforma invites policymakers, schoolchildren and neighbors to co-author plant-based futures where climate action is tangible, communal and joyful.”
Landscape Architecture: Ten Eyck Landscape Architects
“The Landscape Architecture award recognizes an individual or firm for their meaningful contributions to the integration between the built, urban and natural environments and for advancing the understanding of spatial experiences. This year’s award is presented to Ten Eyck Landscape Architects.
“Ten Eyck Landscape Architects (TELA) has spent nearly three decades creating ecologically restorative outdoor spaces that foster community healing. Based in Austin, Texas, with origins in Phoenix, Arizona, founder Christine Ten Eyck, FASLA and her 14-person studio take a regional approach to the landscapes of the American Southwest, sparking conversations around pressing ecological issues through people- and place-based design. Drawing from extensive experience and intimate environmental knowledge, TELA transforms overlooked landscape project sites into vibrant environments that stimulate the senses and unify communities, prioritizing native plant species, water harvesting technologies and durable materials expressed through form, color and texture. Their approach combines ecological sensitivity with beauty and inclusivity, creating landscapes that are resilient, accessible and deeply rooted in history and community.”
*The 2026 National Design Awards jury:
- Aric Chen (chair), director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation
- Liz Danzico, vice president of design at Microsoft AI
- Patricia Moore, president of MooreDesign Associates
- Henk Ovink, executive director and founding commissioner for the Global Commission on the Economics of Water
- Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
- Thomas Woltz, senior principal of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects