Design Minds The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum recently announced the winners of its prestigious 2014 National Design Awards. Winners in a variety of disciplines were selected by jury for the level of excellence, innovation and public impact of their work.

Almost all of the awardees hail from New York and California. The Architecture Design award went to LA-based Brooks + Scarpa, a firm noted for its cutting-edge work as well as for designing the first affordable housing project in the country to be LEED-Gold certified.  

The New York firm Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors, founded in 1998 by Hollywood set designers Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, won the Interior Design award. An über-cool, industrial edge characterizes the company’s portfolio, which ranges from New York’s Ace Hotel to a newsroom and set for “Huffington Post Live.” The Landscape Architecture award went to San Francisco-based Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture, which focuses on sustainability in projects ranging from single-family homes to schools, affordable housing, public parks and institutions. New York-based Narciso Rodriguez won the Fashion Design award for his “modern-classic” apparel, while Etsy won the Corporate & Institutional Achievement award for building a marketplace that supports one million creative businesses. 

During National Design Week from October 4 to 12, a series of special events will take place in New York and Washington, including an awards gala in New York on October 9. For more information, visit cooperhewitt.org