Please note, this event is now fully subscribed. Ticket/table sales are closed, but it is still possible to purchase a tribute ad or make a donation. We hope to see you for the 2026 edition of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal Celebration!

The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (JKO) Medal is awarded annually to individuals who, through vision, leadership, and philanthropy, have made an extraordinary contribution to New York City. The award was originally presented as the President's Medal in 1952. It was renamed in honor of Mrs. Onassis in 1994 to commemorate her partnership with the Municipal Art Society to preserve great architecture in New York City.

The 2025 JKO Medal Celebration will honor Elizabeth Diller and Annabelle Selldorf, two groundbreaking architects whose vision has transformed the built environment of New York City.

Elizabeth Diller is a founding partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). Founded in 1981, DS+R is a design studio whose cultural and civic projects address the changing role of institutions and the future of cities. Diller led the completion of several major projects in New York City: The Shed, for which she was both progenitor and architect; the transformation of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; the High Line; and the renovation and expansion of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Diller also co-created, -directed, and -produced The Mile Long Opera, an immersive choral work staged on the High Line.

DS+R’s built institutional works include the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, The Broad in Los Angeles, and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Their design for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum has been heralded as one of the most accessible museums in the world. DS+R has also built academic spaces for some of the most prestigious educational institutions including Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Brown University.

Diller’s international projects include the completed 35-acre Zaryadye Park in Moscow, and the Tianjin Juilliard School, a world leading performing arts conservatory in Tianjin, China. Most recently, DS+R completed Al-Mujadilah in Doha, the first purpose-built, contemporary women’s mosque in the Islamic world, as well as the V&A East Storehouse in London, a home for the V&A’s collection of 250,000 objects, 350,000 books and 1,000 archives. Currently, Diller is currently developing the Pina Bausch Center in Wuppertal, Germany; Renazca, a new public space in Madrid’s Azca business district; and the design of a public park in Milan’s Porto Romana district, which will host the Olympic Village in 2026. 

Alongside co-founding partner, the late Ricardo Scofidio, Diller's cross-genre work has been distinguished with inclusion in the 2018 TIME100 and the first MacArthur Foundation fellowship in the field of architecture. She has also received the Wolf Prize in architecture. Diller is a member of the UN Council on Urban Initiatives and Professor of Architectural Design at Princeton University.

Annabelle Selldorf is the Principal of Selldorf Architects, an architectural design practice she founded in New York City in 1988. Selldorf has left her mark on several iconic New York spaces, most recently with a revelatory restoration and expansion of the Frick Collection. Additional achievements include the design of the Neue Galerie, and the restoration of the landmarked interior of the Grill and Pool rooms in the Seagram Building (former home of the historic Four Seasons restaurant). Beyond New York, Selldorf has worked with prestigious cultural institutions including the National Gallery London, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Art Gallery of Ontario, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection. Recent commissions include the renovations of the Wallace Collection in London and the Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Paris, the Clark Art Institute’s new Aso O. Tavitian Wing, and a new winery for Château Haut-Brion in Bordeaux. 

In addition to her work with landmark cultural spaces, Selldorf has contributed major public and civic infrastructure projects to New York including the Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility on the Brooklyn waterfront and two wastewater management buildings for the Department of Environmental Protection on the Gowanus Canal. Residential projects include One Domino Square on the Williamsburg waterfront.

Born and raised in Cologne, Germany, Selldorf received a Bachelor of Architecture from New York's Pratt Institute and a Master of Architecture from Syracuse University. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and serves on the Board the Chinati Foundation, the Architectural League of New York, the World Monuments Fund, and the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. In 2016, Selldorf received the AIA New York Medal of Honor. In 2025, she was included in the TIME100 and received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute. 

Please direct all questions to Sarah Celentano, Director of Development, at scelentano@mas.org.