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)

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


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.

Learn more

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Late Modernist

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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.


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.


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.

 


Previous Award Winners