by When San Diego Design Week begins on September 17, bold concepts, breathtaking architecture, and neighborhood-based solutions will all be highlighted.
The week-long celebration, organized by Design Forward Alliance, will mark the launch of its Signature Projects Shaping Our City series, which will recognize creative visionaries whose efforts are revolutionizing San Diego’s public areas, physical environment, and cultural landscape. According to the news release, these initiatives tackle today’s most difficult problems, build stronger communities, and inspire connection while setting the benchmark for design excellence.
Design for Impact, this year’s topic, encourages designers, makers, and changemakers to develop intentional solutions that promote equity, spur innovation, and bring about long-lasting change. In order to address pressing social, environmental, and civic problems, it brings together architects, planners, technologists, artists, environmentalists, and community leaders, demonstrating the value of interdisciplinary collaboration.
Eric Weiss, Board President of Design Forward Alliance, stated, “Our Signature Projects honorees, from MIG to OJB, IQHQ to BASILE Studio, reflect the diversity, creativity, and community spirit that make San Diego such an extraordinary design city.” In addition to being stunning, these projects demonstrate how design can create connections between individuals, fields, and concepts, resulting in a resilient and inclusive future. From groundbreaking landscape design and creative placemaking to large-scale projects like the San Diego Museum of Art’s makeover, the companies we’re celebrating this year are industry leaders.
Honorees of Signature Projects 2025:
- Architecture: Steinberg Hart Fox Point Farms
- Museum Renovation: Foster + Partners SDMA
- Historic Preservation: Forever Balboa Park Botanical Building and Gardens
- Public Art/Placemaking: IQHQ RaDD Artwalk
- City Wayfinding/Signage: MIG Orion Park
- Park Planning and Design: MIG Town + Country Park
- Landscape Design: OJB 13th Street Green
- Restaurant Design: BASILE Studio and Jules Wilson Design
- Hotel/Resort Design: Gaylord Resort
- and more to be announced.
Being acknowledged by San Diego’s top design firm is an honor, according to Rick Barrett, principal of MIG Landscape Architect. San Diego Design Week serves as a platform for industry connections, cooperation, and mentoring in addition to being an event. It honors the most inventive members of our community while motivating the upcoming generation of designers to think more broadly and collaborate to solve challenging problems.
On opening night and throughout the week, honorees will be on display in presentations, talks, and tours. All will be included in the Signature Projects Digital Archive, which will serve as a permanent documentation of San Diego’s significant contributions to design.
With exhibitions, discussions, workshops, and partnerships, SDDW will transform the city into a living design lab from September 17–21, allowing the public to interact with those influencing San Diego’s future. Highlights consist of:
- AI Create Exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and human creativity (9/17)
- DDX Innovation & UX Showcasing digital experience design (9/18)
- Design for Impact Featuring Design for Clean Water, presented by BluPeak Credit Union (9/19)
- Design for Clean Water Challenge Showcasing microgrant winners at the I Love A Clean San Diego Coastal Cleanup Event, presented by BluPeak Credit Union and sponsored by Project Clean Water (9/19)
- Industry Day Connecting professionals across architecture, planning, technology, and the arts (9/20)
- Community Showcases Over 100 community-led design events across the region (9/21)
By encouraging cross-cultural interaction, interdisciplinary teamwork, and mentoring, San Diego Design Week gives professionals, students, and the general public a chance to interact and exchange ideas.
SDDW promotes design-driven innovation in the business, educational, and creative sectors and is run by Design Forward Alliance, a 501(c)(3) organization established by the UC San Diego Design Lab in 2016. A Designed Space, BluPeak, Border UX, Learning Designed, MIG, Perkins Eastman, Shine Bloom Creative, and Qualcomm are among the sponsors for 2025. Visit ddesignweek.org or follow @SDDesignWeek on social media to find out more about sponsorship options.
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