Modernism in America Awards
Attend the Awards Ceremony
Celebrate the 2026 winners in New York!
2026 Modernism in America Awards Ceremony
Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Modernism in America Awards! Join us on Thursday, November 5, for a celebratory evening, honoring these 15 deserving projects, with the Design Within Reach 3rd Avenue showroom as a stylish backdrop. Dress is festive business attire.
Members: $150 | Non-members: $175
Thursday, November 5, 6-9pm
Drinks, light bites, chit chat, and live music begin at 6pm; presentation at 7pm.
Design Within Reach| 957 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022
And join us the following day for a special tour!
Announcing the Winners of the 2026 Modernism in America Awards
Today, Docomomo US announces 15 recipients of the 2026 Modernism in America Awards. Now in its thirteenth year, the Modernism in America Awards is the only national program that celebrates the people and projects working to preserve, restore and rehabilitate our modern heritage sensitively and productively. With projects that make housing more attainable, bring schools and workplaces back to life, use environmental and regulatory review to protect significant places, and reduce our carbon footprint, preservation emerges not as an obstacle to change, but as a strategy for making change possible.
This year’s Modernism Awardees breathed new life into schools and workplaces. At Crow Island School, a landmark of progressive, child-centered education, community planning guided a renovation that retains the building’s architectural character while improving accessibility, building systems, and learning environments. A complex seismic rehabilitation at UC San Diego’s York Hall allowed the 1960s campus building to remain open while preserving its distinctive fluted concrete colonnade. Los Angeles’ long neglected Stanley Burke restaurant restoration brought a unique workplace and commercial environment back to life, restoring this expressive Googie design with interior work by designer Helen Liu Fong.
The 2026 winners demonstrate that modern architecture was never exclusively the province of monumental buildings or elite commissions. Projects such as Michigan’s Pickers’ Quarters and College View Home in Maryland reveal the importance of modern design in making architecture accessible for everyday life through economical materials and efficient planning.
Many of this year's projects illustrate how environmental design and regulatory review are not obstacles, but important tools for preservation and progress. The Gregory Bateson Building, an early model of low-energy office design, was renewed to achieve LEED Platinum performance. The successful rehabilitation of Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield required extensive review under NEPA, CEQA, and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, as well as consultation with NASA, the National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Office of Historic Preservation. The De Jonghe Residence by Llyod Wright in Los Angeles shows this concept applied on a smaller scale, where a vehicle-dominated yard was replaced with a drought-tolerant garden of native and climate-appropriate species.
“What is especially exciting about this year’s awards is the way these projects connect the past to challenges we face today,” expressed Docomomo US Executive Director Liz Waytkus. “They demonstrate that preservation can support affordability, community life, environmental responsibility, and cultural recognition while ensuring that modern architecture and design remain a part of our everyday lives.”
Docomomo US Board President and Awards Committee Chair Meredith Bzdak spoke to the impact of the Awards, stating “The 2026 awardees remind us that preservation is an active practice. Whether rehabilitating a modest home, bringing a school or workplace back to life, navigating complex regulatory requirements, or dramatically improving a building’s environmental performance, these projects show that preserving modernism is fundamentally about giving it a future.”
The 2026 award winners were selected by a distinguished panel of experts led by jury chair Ann Beha, FAIA, senior collaborating architect with annum architects (formerly Ann Beha Architects). She is known for championing preservation and adaptive use in dialogue with contemporary design. “Modernism was never a single aesthetic or a single story,” Beha explained. “This year’s awardees demonstrate the remarkable range of modern architecture—from worker housing and schools to civic landmarks and experimental residences—and show how thoughtful preservation can make these places meaningful and useful for generations to come.”
Congratulations to the 2026 Modernism in America Awards winners:
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Dallas City Hall (Dallas, TX)
Florsheim House (Chicago, IL)
Gregory Bateson Building (Sacramento, CA)
Gunny Harboe, FAIA (Chicago, IL)
Pickers’ Quarters (Northport, MI)
Seeds of Regionalism – The Clauss Legacy: Early Modernism in the South (Knoxville, TN)
Stanley Burke’s (Los Angeles, CA)
UC San Diego York Hall (Lo Jolla, CA)
Victor Lundy House (Bellaire, TX)
CITATION OF MERIT
College View Home (Silver Spring, MD)
Crow Island School (Winnetka, IL)
De Jonghe Residence (Los Angeles, CA)
Hangar One (Mountain View, CA)
“The Roof Takes Flight: A History and Analysis of the Butterfly Roof” (Student Category)
HONOR AWARD FOR SUSTAINED STEWARDSHIP
Fallingwater (Mill Run, PA)

Florsheim House

Gregory Bateson Building

Gunny Harboe, FAIA

Pickers' Quarters

Seeds of Regionalism - The Clauss Legacy: Early Modernism in the South

Stanley Burke's

UC San Diego York Hall

Victor Lundy House

College View Home

Crow Island School

De Jonghe Residence

Hangar One

The Roof Takes Flight: A History and Analysis of the Butterfly Roof

Fallingwater

Dallas City Hall
Sponsorship Opportunities
Sponsors make the Awards program possible - thank you for considering a sponsorship. In addition to the benefits at each level, all sponsors will be acknowledged on the website, in print material, and on social media. View details here or register your sponsorship at the link below.
Thank you to all of our sponsors who help make the Modernism in America Awards possible.
Lead Sponsor

Design Within Reach
Design Within Reach makes authentic modern design accessible. When the company was founded in 1998, the classics were very difficult to find. DWR changed that, making innovative works by iconic designers accessible for the first time and continuing to offer the best in modern design – past, present and future – ever since.
Modernist
Brutalist
Late Modernist
Postmodernist
New Formalist
2026 Awards Jury
Docomomo US is pleased to announce six distinguished members of our community who will serve as the jury of the 13th annual Modernism in America Awards. The Awards are the only national program that celebrates the people and projects working to sensitively and productively preserve, restore, and rehabilitate our modern heritage.

Ann Beha, FAIA (Jury Chair)
Ann Beha, FAIA, is best known for championing preservation and adaptive use in dialogue with contemporary design. Her design work reconsiders historic and modernist resources in civic, cultural, academic, and community settings nationally and internationally. Ann is senior collaborating architect with annum architects (formerly Ann Beha Architects) and works independently, and with emerging practices. Ann has led and delivered award winning projects at MIT, Harvard, and civic, arts, and educational institutions. She was Design Principal for the renewal and expansion of Gropius’ US Embassy in Athens, is collaborating on Paul Rudolph’s first academic building, the Jewett Arts Center, and has taught at Yale University as the Louis I Kahn Visiting Professor of Architecture, and City College of New York. She was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard and is a graduate of MIT and Wellesley.

Claire Agre, PLA, ASLA
Claire is a Partner and Cofounder of Unknown Studio. Broadening landscape practice with a background in painting and ecology, Claire seeks to link care, beauty, and collective action, in the hope of leaving our world better than we found it. She has led design and implementation for a diverse portfolio of projects including Governors Island, Druid Lake, North Meadow on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, Baltimore's internationally-renowned Harborplace, Portland Museum of Art, Miami Beach Soundscape Park, and multiple Plans for Longwood Gardens and its award-winning Main Fountain Garden Revitalization, among others. Claire turned to landscape architecture after studying tropical ecology at the renowned Roberto Burle Marx-designed Wilson Botanical Garden and Las Cruces Research Station. Her experience there instilled a belief that Botanical Gardens are uniquely suited to bridge the gap between basic research, applied science, wonder, beauty, and environmental stewardship; a belief she considers a moral imperative. Across all scales, Claire’s work puts physical and social connectivity at the forefront.

David Fixler, FAIA, FAPT
David Fixler, FAIA, FAPT, is an architect and lecturer in Architecture, Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, with a focus on conservation. A graduate of Tufts and Columbia Universities, he has a distinguished record working with historic buildings and precincts for government, cultural and higher education clients. He is an internationally recognized leader in working with 20th century heritage, and his projects include the renewal of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and other works of Modern masters including Alvar Aalto, Louis Kahn and Eero Saarinen. David’s practice increasingly seeks sustainable conservation strategies to repurpose underutilized buildings to further social and environmental equity. A frequent writer and global lecturer on architecture, planning and preservation, David has had his design and written work published internationally in a wide variety of popular, trade and scholarly books and journals.

Utkarsha Laharia
Utkarsha Laharia is an architect and architecture critic known for bringing overlooked histories and underrepresented voices into the center of architectural discourse. Her work spans criticism, original research, and cultural storytelling, with bylines in Architectural Record, The Architect's Newspaper, Dwell, Newsweek, American Theatre, Docomomo US, and the Poetry Foundation, among other national and international publications. Based in Chicago, she has been an active force in shaping the city's design conversation — co-researching and curating 1×1 Chicago: Women in Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology's IAWA Center, and the Chicago Women in Architecture 50th Anniversary exhibition at the Chicago Architecture Center. Her original research on a local Chicago architect reflects her commitment to recovering and contextualizing stories that have long gone untold. She is currently at work on her first book.

Cleary Larkin, PhD, RA
Cleary Larkin, PhD, RA, is the Director of the Historic Preservation Program and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning at the University of Florida. She runs the Preservation Institutes Nantucket and St. Augustine, where her research and teaching focuses on the evolution of historic preservation as a discipline, and the intersections of historic preservation with contemporary challenges such as climate change, social justice and affordable housing. Recent research projects include Resilient Heritage Trinidad & Tobago, adaptation planning for the DeMesa Sanchez house (St. Augustine), the West Monomoy neighborhood survey (Nantucket), and the cultural landscapes of “Old Florida.” Cleary Larkin has over twenty years of practitioner experience as a licensed architect, historian and preservation planner. She has worked for Frazier Associates in Staunton, Virginia and Beyer Blinder Belle, Architects & Planners in New York City.

Michelle Magalong, PhD
Michelle G. Magalong, PhD is a scholar-activist committed to elevating the stories of underrepresented peoples and places through historic preservation, planning, and policy. Dr. Magalong is an Assistant Professor in the Historic Preservation program at the University of Maryland's School of Architecture. Planning and Preservation, where she previously served as a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow. She is affiliate faculty in Asian American Studies, American Studies, Center for Global Migration Studies, and Urban Studies and Planning. She served as President and Executive Director for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation and now serves on its board of directors. Dr. Magalong served on the Experts Advisory Committee for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), and currently serves on the board of directors for the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions (NAPC), and the editorial board for The Public Historian, the journal for the National Council on Public History.
2026 Awards Committee
The Awards Committee helps shape the annual program by reviewing nomination and eligibility guidelines, selecting jury members, and providing guidance on submissions on a case by case basis. A sincere thank you to this year's committee members: Meredith Bzdak (Chair), Monty Freeman, Tonia Moy, Theodore Prudon, and Richard Southwick.

Meredith Arms Bzdak
Meredith Arms Bzdak, an architectural historian, is a Partner with Mills + Schnoering Architects (Princeton, NJ | Philadelphia, PA) with over thirty years of experience in the fields of architecture and historic preservation. As Associate Graduate Faculty at Rutgers University in the Art History Department, she has taught classes on the development of the modern city (specifically New York and Los Angeles), the preservation of the recent past, and modern Italian architecture. Meredith is the Chair Emeritus of the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions, and the author of Public Sculpture in New Jersey; Monuments to Collective Identity. She holds a BA in Art History from Mount Holyoke College and a PhD in Art History from Rutgers University.

Belmont Freeman, FAIA
Belmont (Monty) Freeman is the founding principal of Belmont Freeman Architects, an award-winning design firm in New York City, with built work in North America, Europe, and Asia, for a diverse variety of public, institutional and private clients. His firm’s work has been published widely and honored with multiple awards by the American Institute of Architects and other organizations. A prolific author, Monty's essays and reviews have appeared in Places journal, Architectural Record, The Architects' Newspaper, and other publications. He holds a B.A. from Yale and an M.Arch degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Monty has served on the Board of Directors of Storefront for Art & Architecture (ten years as President) and the Society of Architectural Historians, and the Board of Governors of the Association of Yale Alumni. Monty has taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and at Penn’s Weitzman School of Design. An American of Cuban descent, Mr. Freeman has done extensive research, writing, and lecturing on Cuban architecture and culture, as well as leading architectural tours of Cuba for SAH, Docomomo, MoMA, and other groups. Monty recently completed the renovation of a mid-century modern home in Havana as a base for his professional and family activities.

Tonia Moy
Tonia Moy is the vice president and director of preservation at FAI. She leads all historic and residential projects. Prior to joining FAI in 2004, she served as architectural branch chief for the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) and was a trustee at Historic Hawaii Foundation. Her dedication to preservation extends beyond FAI, as she helped establish Docomomo US/Hawaii. Her achievements have been widely recognized within and outside the industry. In 2022, she was awarded the prestigious Frank Haines Lifetime Achievement for her contribution to Hawaii’s preservation community.

Theodore Prudon
Theodore Prudon is a leading expert on the preservation of modern architecture and a practicing architect in New York City. Dr. Prudon has worked on the terra cotta restoration of the Woolworth Building, the exterior restoration of the Chrysler Building, and of a 1941 Lescaze townhouse in Manhattan. Dr. Prudon teaches preservation at Columbia University and Pratt Institute. He is the recipient of a Graham Foundation Individual grant for his book “Preservation of Modern Architecture.” He is the founding President of Docomomo US and a board member of Docomomo International.

Richard W. Southwick, FAIA
Richard W. Southwick, FAIA, is Partner Emeritus at Beyer Blinder Belle. Inspired by the time-honored qualities of historic design, materials, and craftsmanship, he has dedicated his career to finding new life for older structures. A specialist in preservation, Richard has guided the revitalization of many of New York's most celebrated historic buildings and sites, as well as international sites of cultural significance. Much of his work involves civic and institutional projects that provide lasting and meaningful public benefit. Building upon the legacy of Beyer Blinder Belle's pioneer preservationist, architect James Marston Fitch, Richard greatly expanded the capabilities and influence of the firm’s historic preservation practice in his 40 years at the firm. Richard (a self-professed modernist at heart) has developed a particular expertise in restoring modern landmarks at New York City’s metropolitan airports including the TWA and the Marine Air Terminals, and the seminal Art Moderne Administration Building at Newark Airport.
Award Categories
Design
This juried award recognizes informed, thoughtful, and creative design efforts to preserve, restore, or adapt a modern building, structure, or landscape of local, regional, or national significance, securing its presence for future generations. Design Awards are recognized in the following subcategories:
- Residential
- Commercial
- Civic/Institutional
Documentation
This juried award recognizes exceptional efforts to document modern buildings, structures, landscapes, or neighborhoods of local, regional or national significance. Documentation efforts can also include significant individuals within the Modern Movement such as architects, designers, landscape architects, artists, photographers, and more. Nominations may be submitted in the form of a website, book, publication, or exhibition.
Book submissions and student research projects are each considered subcategories within the Documentation category and are only judged against other books or student projects.
Advocacy
Presented by the Docomomo US Board of Directors, this award recognizes outstanding efforts to preserve and advocate for threatened modern buildings, structures, or landscapes of local, regional, or national significance through advocacy efforts. This award seeks to recognize preservation and advocacy organizations and other groups (including Docomomo US chapters) who have gone above and beyond to work collectively and collaboratively to advocate for a modern site or structure.
Students who have been involved in research or advocacy are encouraged to nominate their projects in the appropriate category.
About
The Modernism in America Awards is the only national program that celebrates the people and projects working to preserve, restore and rehabilitate our modern heritage sensitively and productively. The program seeks to advance those preservation efforts; to increase appreciation for the period and to raise awareness of the on-going threats against modern architecture and design while acknowledging the substantial contribution preservation in general and the postwar heritage in particular makes to the economic and cultural life of our communities.













