NYCxDESIGN Awards Celebrate 10 Years Of Design Excellence
On May 19, Interior Design hosted the 10th annual NYCxDESIGN Awards, the culminating event of the NYCxDESIGN Festival and a tribute to the creative energy that fuels the Tri-State area’s design scene. Held at the iconic Penn 1 stadium steps, the ceremony welcomed over 400 architects and designers to honor a record-setting 600+ submissions across product, project, and student categories.
Executive director of the NYCxDESIGN Festival, Ilene Shaw, opened the evening by acknowledging New York City’s standing as home to the world’s largest creative population per capita. This year’s festival drew more than 170,000 visitors to 260 design events across the city—further proof of the community’s dynamic presence and influence. Interior Design Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen led the lively celebration, which was livestreamed courtesy of event partner DDC, with Material Bank generously purchasing carbon offsets for the occasion.
Winners received a newly commissioned trophy created by Yellow Goat Design, a sculptural form crafted from aluminum. In a nod to lasting recognition, honorees also took home keychain versions of the award. Further, all winners will be featured in an online gallery on interiordesign.net and nycxdesign.com, while winners in the project category will be included in an upcoming print issue of Interior Design.
This milestone ceremony spotlighted not just established talent, but emerging innovators shaping the region’s creative future, with special recognition for the industry’s best and brightest. The NYCxDESIGN Awards continue to elevate diverse voices and visionary ideas, offering a vital platform for recognition, storytelling, and community-building in New York’s vibrant design ecosystem. Most of all it was an inspiration to, in Allen’s words, “go forth and design.”
Editor’s note: see this year’s NYCxDESIGN Awards winners in our gallery and catch the recap of the ceremony on DESIGNTV.
Highlights from the 2025 NYCxDESIGN Awards
Cindy Allen with this year’s NYCxDESIGN Awards trophies designed by Yellow Goat Design. 
A crowd gathered at Penn 1 to celebrate the 2025 NYCxDESIGN Awards. 
Crowds packed into Penn 1 for the event. 
Executive director of the NYCxDESIGN Festival, Ilene Shaw. 
Allen with Rebecca Moses. 
2025 NYCxDESIGN Awards trophies. 
NYCxDESIGN Awards honorees took home this keepsake keychain.
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