Jeff Harnar Awards

Announcing the 2025 Jeff Harnar Award Winners

April 15, 2025

The University of New Mexico School of Architecture + Planning (SA+P) and the Thornburg Foundation are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Jeff Harnar Awards. These awards, created by Garrett Thornburg in 2007, honor the legacy of the late local architect Jeff Harnar and his groundbreaking work in contemporary design.

The awards ceremony took place at the School of Architecture + Planning’s George Pearl Hall on April 11 and included a lecture by Mónica Ponce de León Professor and dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University, and founder of Studio MPdL.

SA+P Dean Robert Alexander González stated, “The Jeff Harnar Awards continue to showcase the profound creativity and social commitment of designers across the Southwest. This year’s winners exemplify design excellence that is grounded in place, community, and innovation.”

The top prize, Contemporary Architecture in the Southwest, was awarded to CSR Architects – Tina Reames, Stephen Mora, and team – for their project, Singing Arrow Community Center in Albuquerque, NM. Conceptually linked to the landscape and to an ancient past of movement and change, the design employs a subtractive process to reveal forms that reference earthen strata. With layers of natural and synthetic materials, the building celebrates the intersection of the archaeological, the natural, and the contemporary.

The prize for Unbuilt Architecture was awarded to DUST Architects (Tucson, AZ) for Taos Rancho in Taos, New Mexico. This 2,800-square-foot hillside home, designed in an L-shape around a central courtyard, is constructed with double-wythe adobe compressed earth blocks. With a focus on passive solar design and rainwater harvesting, it blends traditional building methods with contemporary sustainability while offering a timeless sanctuary rooted in the land’s rhythms.

The Jury’s Selection for Innovative Regional Design was awarded to Aranda\Lasch (Tucson, AZ & NYC) for We:sic ‘em ki: (Everybody’s Home), a collaborative design on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Inspired by traditional O’odham forms—a wa:ato (shade structure) and a ki: (earthen enclosure)—this project supports the client's cultural revitalization work, including Native Food Sovereignty and traditional craft. It is a home in resonance with O’odham Himdag, the ancestral life ways of the O’odham people.

The First Prize Student Award in Architecture was given to Jamie Centeno of the University of Nevada – Las Vegas for Redefining Studentscapes: The Future of Outdoor Educational Spaces, Clark County School District, Nevada. The project reimagines existing school properties to support socio-emotional development and universal student support through design interventions across educational environments.

The Second Prize Student Award in Architecture was awarded to Diego O’Neill of the University of New Mexico for The Elevated Route. Drawing inspiration from Googie architecture, the project responds to challenges in a historic section of Route 66 by integrating housing, public gathering spaces, and event areas to help revive and reconnect the community.

The First Prize Student Award in Landscape Architecture was awarded to Bailey Guinn of Utah State University for Wakening Water, a conceptual design for North Gateway and Warm Springs Parks in Salt Lake City. The project serves as a pivotal guide for enhancing safety and inclusivity, while honoring the site’s deep cultural histories and hydrological patterns.

Congratulations to all this year’s Jeff Harnar Awards winners! Applications for the 2026 awards cycle will open next spring.

Contemporary Architecture in the Southwest
CSR Architects

Singing Arrow Community Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Unbuilt Landscape Architecture
DUST Architects Taos Rancho

Taos, New Mexico

Innovative Regional Design
Aranda\Lasch

We:sic ‘em ki: (Everybody’s Home)
Tohono O’odham Nation

Student Architecture

First Place
Jamie Centeno, University of Nevada – Las Vegas

Redefining Studentscapes: The Future of Outdoor Educational Spaces
Clark County School District, Nevada

Second Place
Diego O’Neill, University of New Mexico

The Elevated Route

Student Landscape Architecture

First Place
Bailey Guinn, Utah State University

Wakening Water
North Gateway and Warm Springs Parks in Salt Lake City, Utah

2023 Jeff Harnar Award Winners

The University of New Mexico School of Architecture + Planning and the Thornburg Foundation wish to congratulate the winners of the 2023 Jeff Harnar Awards. The ceremony took place at the School of Architecture + Planning’s George Pearl Hall on April 14, 2023, which included a lecture by renowned landscape architect, Ted Flato of Lake Flato Architects.

The top prize, Contemporary Architecture in the Southwest, was awarded to FORMATIVE architecture PC, for their project, USFWS Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Stephen Teeters of FORMATIVE architecture PC described how “the refuge balances healthy natural habitat management with opportunities for education, visitor engagement, youth employment, community involvement and stewardship. Our design team collaborated with refuge staff, community members, tribal members, and local artists to develop a comprehensive visitor experience aligned with the needs of the wildlife, people, and the refuge’s vision”.

The Jeff Harnar Awards initiated a new category this year: the Social & Environmental Justice Award. All projects submitted to the 2023 competition were considered for this award, which recognizes an architecture or landscape architecture project that aspires to utilize design as a vehicle for social justice. The jury selected Emerging Objects: Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello for their project, Casa Covida, as the first recipient of this award. Emerging Objects described their design as “a house for co-habitation in the time of COVID, is an experiment in combining 3D printing with indigenous and traditional building materials, methods with employing new and ancient ways of living”.

The award for Unbuilt Architecture was given to assemblageSTUDIO’s design, Parowan, which was “inspired by the deep-rooted resiliency of the native aspen trees, mirrored by the client’s deep-rooted connection to this land, the design builds out from the existing home using circulation spines to connect the new enclosures to the original”.

This year, the First Prize Student Award in the Architecture was given to Thomas Bejcek, representing the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, for their project, Silver City Recreation Center. Andrya Mojena Cutié, a student at the University of Nevada Las Vegas was awarded second prize for their submission, Desert Senses.

Hollis Moore, a student at the University of New Mexico, was selected for the First Prize Student Award in the Landscape Architecture for their project, How to Love a Mesquite. Second place was awarded to Lia Griesser of the University of New Mexico for their design, Valley of the Mills: ReCommoning Land Along the Upper Rio Mora.

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the Jeff Harnar Awards! Applications for the 2024 cycle will open next spring.

2022 Jeff Harnar Award Winners

The University of New Mexico School of Architecture and the Thornburg Foundation wish to congratulate the 2022 Jeff Harnar Award winners. The top prize of Contemporary Architecture in the Southwest was awarded to McClain + Yu Architecture & Design, for their Sky Room in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Congratulations Raimund McClain and Kristina Yu. Learn more about Sky Room.

In the Unbuilt Architecture category, the award was given to Jon Anderson Arrchitecture, for the Kewa Child Care & Family Emergency Center. Learn more about this project.

In the Unbuilt Landscape Architecture category, the award was given to Superbloom, for the project entitled, 1881 Farm Park, Aurora, CO. Congratulations to Co-Founders/Principals Diane Lipovsky and Stacy Passmore. Learn more about the 1881 Farm Park.  

This year, the First Prize Student Award in the Architecture category was given to Gina Frenette of the University of Colorado, Denver, for her project: Chatfield Reservoir Nature Center:

The Second Prize Student Award in the Architecture category was given to Brittney Sawyer of the University of New Mexico for her project: Placed Play.

The First Prize Student Award in the Landscape Architecture category was given to Kristina Naber of the University of New Mexico for her project: A New Deal for Urban Stormwater: Decarbonization, Decelerate, Decontaminate, Deliver.

The Second Prize Student Award in the Landscape Architecture category was given to Alex Bullock of the University of Colorado, Denver, for his project: Wasted Spaces to Carbon Sinks: Restoring the Prairie.

The JEFF HARNAR AWARDS program was created by Garrett Thornburg in 2007 to honor the memory of Jeff Harnar and help continue his groundbreaking work in the area of contemporary design. In 2018, the award program was expanded to include Unbuilt Work and Landscape Architecture. In 2020-21, the program was further expanded to include the following six categories:

• Contemporary Architecture in the Southwest
• An Outstanding New Mexico Designer
• Unbuilt Architecture
• Unbuilt Landscape Architecture
• Student Architecture Award
• Student Landscape Architecture Award

Five of the six JEFF HARNAR AWARDS are open to submissions for work designed for the Four Corners states (AZ, CO, NM, UT). The Outstanding New Mexico Designer is reserved for firms of architecture and landscape architecture in New Mexico.

To submit an entry (and preview the submission requirements), please visit the 2022 Jeff Harnar Awards SlideRoom website.

The Jeff Harnar Awards are sponsored by the UNM School of Architecture & Planning and the Thornburg Foundation.

For more information, please contact Anthony Fettes at aefettes@unm.edu.

Submissions are now open through March 18, 2022

2021 Jeff Harnar Award Winners

The University of New Mexico School of Architecture and the Thornburg Foundation wish to congratulate this year’s Jeff Harnar Award winners. The top prize of Contemporary Architecture in the Southwest was awarded to Dust Architects, of Phoenix, Arizona, for their Casa Caldera. Congratulations Cade Manning Hayes and Jesús Edmundo Robles, Jr. To learn more about Casa Caldera, please visit  https://www.dustdb.com/Casa-Caldera. In this category, the firm G. Donald Dudley Architects, Ltd, Albuquerque, NM, received an Honorable Mention for their Montessori of the Rio Grande Charter School.

In the Unbuilt Architecture category, the award was given to Ke Vaugn Harding of Falmouth, Trelawny, Jamaica, for the Agave Sanctuary / La Perla del Desierto. An Honorable Mention was given to Jon Anderson Architects, Elliot Hield, Albuquerque, NM, for the Arroyo Del Oso Elementary School.

In the Unbuilt Landscape Architecture category, the award was given to Rafael Montoya, Los Angeles, California, for the project entitled, Acequias: Building Social Resilience in Española, New Mexico. An Honorable Mention was given to Kartika Rachmawati, Lone Tree, CO, for the project ECO2 Venture.

This year, the Student Award in the Architecture category was given to Nathan McNeilly (Arizona State University) for his Fire Station 62 in Ahwatukee, Arizona. The Honorable Mention in this category was given to Trevor Orgill (University of New Mexico) for his Opera House in Talinin, Estonia. In the Landscape Architecture category, the Student Award was given to Isabelle Ghabash (University of Utah) for her Memorial to Women and Girls Lost to Climate Change, Rozel Bay, Utah.

2021 Jeff Harnar Award Honorable Mentions