On May 18, The Architectural League presented its highest honor, the President’s Medal, to Michael Bierut in recognition of his extraordinary impact on architecture and design. The medal was presented at a gala dinner held in the Crossing of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan. There, 280 friends and colleagues gathered to recognize Bierut’s unmatched contributions to the built environment.

Michael Bierut was celebrated in the President’s Medal citation by League president Nat Oppenheimer, and in remarks by Paula Scher, Fern Mallis, and Wendy Evans Joseph. All three speakers served as event co-chairs alongside Rosalie Genevro, Rachel Judlowe, Debbie Millman, Paul Needham, Chee Pearlman, David Rockwell, and Betsy Smith.

Citation

In his presentation of the Medal, League President Nat Oppenheimer read the following citation:

With a singular career that spans more than 45 years, Michael Bierut has shaped the collective experience in our shared environment through design. From his earliest days in the office of Lella and Massimo Vignelli through his decades of leadership at Pentagram, Michael’s work never settles for the status quo, insists that levity and seriousness are not mutually exclusive, and provokes questions without creating confusion.

In particular, Michael’s unmistakable graphic approach has defined and elevated the public’s experience of architecture, leaving indelible marks on all those he has worked with. His work on projects as modest as the redesign of New York City’s parking signs and the design of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s OMNY logo, or as iconic as the crowning inscription at the Obama Presidential Center and the expansive New York Times logo gracing its Eighth Avenue facade, is complemented by his commitment to build, support, and give voice to institutions—co-founding the seminal platform Design Observer, teaching at Yale School of Art, defining a visual language for a generation of The Architectural League’s work, and crafting iconic identities for countless other organizations. 

Through work of every format and scale, Michael has inspired generations of architects and designers to push through chaos toward clarity; to strive for accessibility above elitism; and to find joy in the discoveries that come with open, curious, values-driven collaboration.

With deep admiration, The Architectural League is proud to award the 2026 President’s Medal to Michael Bierut.

Remarks

Paula Scher remarked on Bierut’s tenure at Pentagram:

Michael was managing a design practice, teaching at Yale, designing posters and publications for them, and still designing the League posters! At the same time, he and his friends Bill Drentell and Jessica Helfand launched a website called ‘Design Observer,’ which produced critical writing about design, its use, and its impact… But Michael never neglected his professional work and his responsibilities to Pentagram. He was both an innovative designer and a financially successful one.

Fern Mallis reflected on Bierut’s impact:

There are people who shape institutions, and then there are people who shape you. Michael Bierut has done both for me. And I suspect many people in this room could say the same.

Wendy Evans Joseph said of Bierut’s work:

His works have the permanence of buildings. And like the best architecture, they look inevitable—as if no one designed them at all, as if they simply had to be that way. He shows us that the space between letters can be as charged as the space between walls.

The League thanks the Benefit Leaders of the President’s Medal Dinner for their generous commitments.

Benefactor
Pentagram

Patrons
Mary and Brad Burnham
KPF
Sciame Construction

Advocates
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Field Operations
RAMSA
Rockwell Group
Studio Joseph

Sustainers
Alloy
Armand LeGardeur Architect
Arup
Avani Parikh Architecture
Betty Y. Chen
DeSimone Consulting Engineering
Fogarty Finger
Elise Jaffe + Jeffrey Brown
Mary Margaret Jones
JUDLOWE
Ken Smith Workshop
Leroy Street Studio
Carol Loewenson
Paul Needham
Paratus Group
Sage and Coombe Architects
SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL
Elizabeth W. Smith
Susan T. Rodriguez | Architecture • Design
Thornton Tomasetti
Billie Tsien
TYLin
Marion Weiss & Michael A. Manfredi
Carol and Mark Willis

Supporters
Atelier Ten
Anthony Ames
Daisy Ames
Deborah Berke & Peter D. McCann MD
Marlon and Ati Blackwell
Alissa Bucher and Rob Rogers
Buro Happold
Brad Cloepfil and Lisa Strausfeld
CO Adaptive
Brian Collins, Co-Founder and CCO of COLLINS
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Ennead Architects, LLP
Fashion Institute of Technology
Becky Garnett & Pete DePasquale
MaryAnne Gilmartin, MAG Partners
GLUCK+
Dean Marta Gutman, Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York
Frances Halsband
The Hand & The Eye Team
LTL Architects
MARVEL
Leland Maschmeyer, Co-Founder and CEO of COLLINS
Cathleen McGuigan and David Berridge
Perkins&Will
Thomas and Jean Phifer
Ben Prosky, The Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation
Karim and Ashraf Rehmat
Sanjive Vaidya Architect, PLLC
Annabelle Selldorf
Snøhetta Architecture and Landscape Architecture
DJ Stout and Lana McGilvray
Mary Ann Tighe, CBRE
Trinity Church NYC
The Tullman Family
WORKac
WXY Studio

Contributors
Alexander Gorlin Architects
Alexander Kruhly Architect
Michael Arad
AREA 17
Laurie Beckelman
James Biber
Blue Rider Group at Morgan Stanley
Cindy Chastain
Walter & Mary Chatham
Deborah Nevins & Associates
Kenneth Drucker, HOK
Martin Finio
Leslie Gill
Jeanne Giordano
H3
Su Mathews Hale
Penny Hardy / PS New York
Louise Harpman
Laitsz Ho
Steve Hogden
Tracey Hummer
Celia Imrey / Imrey Studio
The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union
Jerome Haferd Studio
Jennifer Kinon, Champions Design
Eve Klein
Kurt Koepfle, Pentagram
Craig Konyk & Matilda McQuaid
Joe Marianek, Small Stuff
Deborah Marton
Tamara McKenna, Pentagram
Debbie Millman
Andrea Monfried, Rizzoli NY
Peter Mullan
Practice for Architecture and Urbanism | PAU
Jesse Reed, Order
Rice+Lipka Architects
Juergen Riehm, 1100 Architect
Mark Robbins
William J Rockwell
Sylvia J. Smith
Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects
Karen Stein
Calvin Tsao and Zack McKown

Friends
Arthur M. Cohen Advisors, Ltd
James Lima
Mario Gooden Studio
Multiplayer
Olson Kundig
Chee Pearlman
Penguin Random House
Peter Reed
Bryony Roberts, Bryony Roberts Studio
Pat Sapinsley
Ellen Schall
Stamberg Aferiat Architects

Support

The League is grateful to the following partners for their donations and services:

Spirits generously donated by Fort Hamilton Distillery
Flowers provided by Ora La Casa de Las Flores