Pumpkitecture! Architectural Pumpkin Carving Competition

Start your Halloween festivities at the Center for Architecture’s seventh annual Pumpkitecture competition, organized in collaboration with the 16th annual fall festival, Archtober 2026: In Our Hands. New York City-based design firms will go gourd to gourd to once again compete for the Pritzkerpumpkin. Who will squash the competition? What firm will succeed in summoning the Brutal ghost of Marcel Booeuer or invoking the spirit of Michael Gravesyard? Will the Crowned Curibita be inspired by Frank-o-Lloyd Wright’s Guggengourd? See for yourself at Pumpkitecture!

This year the Archtober festival theme In Our Hands isn’t just a theme—it’s a design brief. We're asking carvers to create intricate and proportioned interior residential spaces. What does the future of living look like in a gourd-gous city? Will it be spooky or haunted? How can architects and designers create home spaces that are imbued with the seedlings of wellness? Treat your pumpkin like a kitchen, a bedroom, or a living room that brings us together. 

Participating Firms to be announced.

Jury:
Hannah La Follette Ryan, Photographer
Leslie Edelman, Owner, Tiny Doll House 
Timothy Potter
Talia Mayden, Columnist, "Ask a Design Obsessive," The New York Times

Additional jury members to be announced.

Come witness architects live-carve extraordinary structures and vote for the People’s Pumpkin. The carving will commence at 6:15 and run through 7:30. The competing architecture and design firms will briefly defend their designs, after which jurors will deliberate and pick the winning pumpkin. Enjoy spooky snacks and libations while you watch the competition!

Are you part of an architecture or design firm that would like to participate in this year's competition? Register your firm here.