Municipal Art Society announces 2023 MASterworks Awards winners

The following winners have been selected in six categories:

• Staten Island Animal Care Center wins Best New Building, for outstanding architectural design (Design team: Garrison Architects);
• Battery Playscape wins Best Urban Landscape, for a new or revitalized open space that contributes to livability and resilience (Design team: BKSK Architects and Starr Whitehouse);
• David Geffen Hall wins Best Restoration, for a project that expertly enhances the original qualities of a significant historic building or structure (Design team: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and Diamond Schmitt);
• Mercury Store wins Best Adaptive Reuse, for a project that demonstrates exceptional creativity in adaptive reuse of an existing building or structure (Design team: CO Adaptive Architecture);
• MTA — Grand Central Madison & 42nd Street Corridor Connection wins Best New Infrastructure, for distinctive design in public service projects (Design team: AECOM and MLJ Contracting Corporation); and
• Powerhouse Arts wins Best New Urban Amenity, for an addition to the built environment that contributes to a more livable city (Design team: PBDW Architects and Herzog & de Meuron).

“The winners we’re proud to announce today were nominated by the very New Yorkers who know their own neighborhoods best,” said Elizabeth Goldstein, President of the Municipal Art Society. “In their own ways, each project plays a valuable role in improving the city’s built environment, adding to all the ways that it’s such a magical place. Congratulations to all the winners.”

To celebrate these contributions to the public realm, throughout October, as a part of Archtober, MAS will host a program series of in-person explorations and virtual conversations to explore the winning projects. These events will be presented in collaboration with the winning project teams.

An in-person awards ceremony to recognize all winning project teams will be held in the fall. Tickets for the awards ceremony will go on sale in October. For the full schedule of MASterworks Awards exploration events and details about the awards ceremony, please visit mas.org/masterworks.

All winning projects are located in New York City, representing the boroughs of Staten Island, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. All projects have a completion date during 2022. The Municipal Art Society’s diverse list of past winners ranges from iconic buildings to hidden neighborhood gems. In 2022, multiple boroughs were represented, from Hudson River Park’s trendy Little Island winning Best Urban Landscape, to Queens’ own classic Fountain of the Fairs Mist Garden taking the title for Best New Urban Amenity.

Established in 2001, the MASterworks Awards pay tribute to projects completed in the previous year that exemplify excellence in architecture and urban design. The call for nominations for the 2023 MASterworks Design Awards closed in July, and the winners were chosen by an esteemed jury of architects, designers, preservationists, scholars, and critics. This year’s distinguished jury includes:

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

ABOUT MAS

The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) lifts up the voices of the people in the debates that shape New York’s built environment and leads the way toward a more livable city from sidewalk to skyline.

MAS envisions a future in which all New Yorkers share in the richness of city life—where growth is balanced, character endures, and a resilient future is secured. Over more than 130 years of history, our advocacy efforts have led to the creation of the New York City Planning Commission, Public Design Commission, Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the Tribute in Light; the preservation of Grand Central Terminal, the lights of Times Square, and the Garment District; the conservation of more than 50 works of public art; and the founding of such civic organizations as the Public Art Fund, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, P.S. 1, the Historic Districts Council, the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, and the Waterfront Alliance.