Awards + Medals

The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (JKO) Medal is awarded annually to individuals who, through vision, leadership, and philanthropy, have made an extraordinary contribution to New York City. The award was established in 1994 to honor Mrs. Kennedy Onassis and her passionate efforts to preserve great architecture in New York City.

The Brendan Gill Prize is given each year to the creator of a specific work—a book, essay, musical composition, play, painting, sculpture, architectural design, film, or choreographic piece—that best captures the spirit and energy of New York City.

The prize was established in 1987 in honor of Brendan Gill by friend and fellow MAS board member Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis along with board members Helen Tucker and Margot Wellington.

Join us on Tuesday, September 26 to celebrate our 2023 Brendan Gill Prize honoree, conceptual artist Charles Gaines, for his 2022 public art project The American Manifest: Chapter 1. Come celebrate Gaines’ incredible work at this in-person event at the View at the Battery from 6:30-8:30 PM ET. The program will feature a conversation with the artist and reception. Buy tickets and learn more

Established in 2001, the MASterworks Awards pay tribute to projects completed in the previous year that exemplify excellence in architecture and urban design. From iconic buildings to neighborhood gems, our list of past winners includes the likes of Weeksville Heritage Center, Manhattan District 1/2/5 Garage & Salt Shed, Adams Street Library, McCarren Pool and Bathhouse, the Tenement Museum, the TKTS Booth, El Barrio Bait Station, the High Bridge, and the Gowanus Canal Sponge Park.

All nominated projects must be located in New York City and have been completed in the previous year. Projects can be nominated in up to two of the following categories:

• Best New Building for outstanding architectural design
• Best Urban Landscape for a new or revitalized open space that contributes to livability and resilience
• Best Restoration for a project that expertly enhances the original qualities of a significant historic building or structure
• Best Adaptive Reuse for a project that demonstrates exceptional creativity in adaptive reuse of an existing building or structure
• Best New Infrastructure for distinctive design in public service projects
• Best New Urban Amenity for an addition to the built environment that contributes to a more livable city

Every year, MAS convenes an esteemed jury of architects, designers, preservationists, scholars, and critics to select the winners of the MASterworks Awards. Past jury members have included Justin Davidson, Architecture and Classical Music Critic, New York Magazine; Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG; Justin Garrett Moore, then-Executive Director, NYC Public Design Commission; Debbie Millman, Host, Design Matters; Benjamin Prosky, Executive Director, AIA New York / Center for Architecture; and Rafael Viñoly, Rafael Viñoly Architects.

The 2023 MASterworks Jury included the following acclaimed individuals:

Wellington Chen, Executive Director, Chinatown Partnership
Wendy Evans Joseph, MAS Board of Directors and Studio Joseph
Signe Nielsen, Founding Principal, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects (MNLA)
Aniket Shahane, Principal, Office of Architecture (OA) and Senior Critic, Yale University School of Architecture

The Jane Jacobs Medal was awarded annually to individuals whose work created new ways of seeing and understanding New York City, challenged traditional assumptions, and creatively used the urban environment to make New York City a place of hope and expectation. The Rockefeller Foundation awarded the medal. It was administered by MAS through a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The award was created in 2007.