The Stuart Weitzman School of Design announced the recipients of its 2026 professional medals and scholarship prizes, which will be awarded in November.
Steven Holl, an architect with a global portfolio, will receive the Kanter Tritsch Medal in Architecture. The City of Boston’s 2030 Climate Action Plan will be awarded the Witte-Sakamoto Family Medal in City and Regional Planning.
The School of Design will recognize its recipients at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art on Nov. 10.
“Together, these honorees exemplify the possibilities for design and planning to uplift people in cities around the world,” Weitzman Dean Frederick Steiner wrote in the school’s announcement.
Both awards emphasize the importance of the “environmental quality” of design. The Kanter Tritsch Medal, established in 2017, honors an architect or firm that has “changed the course of design history.” The Witte-Sakamoto Family Medal, established in 2019, recognizes an entity that advances at least four areas beneficial to society.
“Steven Holl has expanded architecture’s expressive potential,” Steiner wrote. “Boston’s 2030 Climate Action Plan demonstrates how cities can connect climate policy to public health, quality of life, and environmental justice.”
The School of Design also announced recipients of its 2026 scholarship prizes — all of whom are entering their final year of study.
Tony Chen — a candidate for a master’s in architecture at Penn — was recognized with the 2026 Kanter Tritsch Prize in Energy and Architectural Innovation, and Weikang Kong – a candidate for a master’s in city planning —was recognized with the 2026 Witte-Sakamoto Family Prize in City and Regional Planning.
The first-place winners of both prizes will receive a $50,000 scholarship, and the second-place prize includes a $10,000 scholarship for the 2026-27 Academic Year.
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Last year, the award ceremony recognized Master of City Planning candidate Anaushka Goyal and Master of Architecture candidate Junxi Liu. The professional honorees also included the Green Heart Louisville Project, which explores the health effects of urban greenery, as well as Marina Tabassum Architects, known for climate-responsive community housing in Bangladesh.
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Ayana Chari is the assignments editor at The Daily Pennsylvanian and can be reached at chari@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies political science. Follow her on X @AyanaChari_.
