The Harvard Graduate School of Design is pleased to announce that K. Michael Hays, Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory and co-director of the Master in Design Studies program, has been named a recipient of a 2026 Arts and Letters Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters .
Announced on March 12, 2026, in New York, the Arts and Letters Awards in Architecture honor architects and scholars whose work has made significant and lasting contributions to the field. Hays, along with Keller Easterling, will receive a $10,000 award recognizing “excellence in those who explore ideas in architecture through any medium of expression.” The 2026 architecture award recipients were selected by a committee of Academy members that included Toshiko Mori, Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture; Nader Tehrani, design critic in architecture; and Laurie Olin, former chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture. The jury also included Meejin Yoon (chair), Marlon Blackwell, Elizabeth Diller, Steven Holl, Thom Mayne, and Annabelle Selldorf.
The architecture awards will be presented alongside the Academy’s art, literature, and music honors at its annual ceremonial in May. Founded in 1898, the American Academy of Arts and Letters represents the highest standards of artistic achievement in the United States and recognizes outstanding creative work across disciplines through its membership and awards programs.
