Awards & Honors

Dayanara Rodriguez M Arch  ’26 is a 2025 AIA Bronx Student Empowerment Award winner.

She received a $1,000 scholarship and was honored at the awards ceremony along with other students for their participation in the Bronx Reimagined Design Challenge, a competition dedicated to transforming abandoned buildings in the Bronx into spaces that positively impact the surrounding community.

“We are incredibly proud of Dayanara Rodriguez for receiving the 2025 Bronx AIA Empowerment Scholarship,” said Spitzer School Dean Marta Gutman. “She exemplifies a strong creative vision combined with a dedication to using architecture to genuinely impact people’s lives. This award recognizes her exceptional academic achievements and her passion for the field.”

Rodriguez received her bachelor’s degree at Fordham University where she studied visual arts with a concentration in architecture. Her passion further solidified after one of the biggest fires in New York, which caused her family to lose their apartment.

“This experience made me realize that architects don’t just draw lines — they create homes, shelters, and spaces that profoundly affect people’s lives,” Rodriguez said. “This deeper understanding of architecture as a tool for shaping the environments we live in strengthened my commitment to the field and motivated me to pursue my master’s degree.”

Throughout her master’s program, she’s had the opportunity to work on diverse design artist residencies, museums and sustainability-focused initiatives. In a recent studio course, she designed an innovative shading mechanism using spider webs to shade the JTI Building in Switzerland with another student.