Publication Award in Contemporary Architecture

The MIT Press, Graham Foundation, and Storefront for Art and Architecture have launched a new publication award to support ambitious, publicly engaged writing on contemporary architecture.

The Publication Award in Contemporary Architecture (PACA) will foster transformative, bold, and carefully conceived new writing that unites rigorous research with broad readership and public engagement. PACA books will be characterized by excellent writing and diverse perspectives that address global urgencies in a time of consequential change.

“We are proud to partner with the Graham Foundation and Storefront for Art and Architecture to publish transformative writing about architecture and its critical role in the 21st century,” said Victoria Hindley, Senior Commissioning Editor of Art, Architecture, and Design at the MIT Press. “Our joint efforts will encourage the development, publication, and promotion of exceptional books that advance our understanding of the built environment and its power to shape our lives. By establishing a biennial publication cycle of high visibility, award-backed titles, PACA emphasizes our collective commitment to the field’s future.”

PACA is a novel model that links editorial stewardship with multi-institutional support. While numerous publishing prizes recognize finished books, this award fosters development from conception through publication. “PACA brings together three organizations with distinct but deeply aligned commitments to architecture as a public, critical, and cultural field,” said Sarah Herda, Director of the Graham Foundation. “This collaboration extends our long-standing support for new ideas in architecture by helping authors develop ambitious books that can shape discourse, reach broad audiences, and contribute to how we understand the built environment today.”

“Storefront is driven by the conviction that the built environment is shaped by many histories, many voices, and many ways of living—and that exploring it demands experimental and critical voices in art and architecture,” said Guillermo Ruiz de Teresa, Deputy Director and Curator, Storefront for Art and Architecture. “Through PACA, we bring urgent writing into the public conversation and open new forms of collective inquiry into the many ways we understand, share, and contest place and public life.”

Winning submissions will demonstrate originality, skilled writing, intellectual rigor, bold positions, and contemporary relevance. The award will include a publication contract from the MIT Press, an author grant, and a contribution toward high-quality book production. Submissions are welcome from architects, scholars, journalists, critics, theorists, and writers from any country.

Applications for the inaugural award cycle are now open, with submissions due in November 2026, and the winner will be announced in March 2027. Full award details, eligibility requirements, and application portal link are available here.

PACA jury
Sarah Herda, Director, Graham Foundation / Victoria Hindley, Senior Commissioning Editor of Art, Architecture, and Design, The MIT Press / Guillermo Ruiz de Teresa, Deputy Director and Curator, Storefront for Art and Architecture / Milton S. F. Curry, Professor of Architecture and Senior Associate Dean, Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and Editor of Critical Productive / Ana Miljacki, Critic, Curator, and Professor of Architecture, MIT / Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi, Associate Professor, Architecture, Barnard College, Columbia University / Ines Weizman, Critic, Curator, and Professor of History and Theory of Architecture, Royal College of Art.