The Tijuana Esperanto Park Forum has been named a nominee for the San Diego Orchid Award in the Public Architecture category.
The recognition is part of the broader “Orchids & Onions” program, an annual initiative organized by the San Diego Architectural Foundation that celebrates excellence in architecture, planning, and urban design across the region.
Though the awards have been presented since the 1970s, it was the designation of San Diego–Tijuana as the World Design Capital 2024 that extended eligibility to projects based in Tijuana.
Orchid Awards Categories
The Orchid Awards span multiple categories, including architecture, interior design, urban planning, landscape architecture, historic preservation, and a miscellaneous category for projects outside those fields.
In 2026, the outdoor Tijuana Esperanto Park forum, a space host to cultural, artistic, and community events, was selected among the nominees.
According to the San Diego Architecture Foundation, the forum’s design achieves a harmonious integration with the natural surroundings of the Abelardo L. Rodríguez Dam.
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The Tijuana Esperanto Park Forum Design
The project treats the adjacent landscape as an intrinsic part of the visitor experience, fostering social interaction within an open and accessible setting.
Its layout makes use of a natural canyon as the foundation for the seating area, adapting the existing topography to form an amphitheater with sweeping views while minimizing ecological disruption.
The architectural design was led by Luis Lutteroth and Jorge Álvarez Howard, with landscape architecture by Martín Acosta.
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Other Tijuana Nominees
The Tijuana Esperanto Park is not the only city project vying for binational recognition.
Other nominees include the green spaces of Centro Interactivo Ámbar, Los parques del muro, Endémico, the Huerto Urbano del Parque Natura, Enlace, the “Abejas Tijuana” Sports Complex, and the pedestrian renovation of Avenida Revolución.
The list also features cafés and restaurants such as Bastardo, La Carmelita, Café Cometa, Orígenes de Baja (OBA), Zuke, and Scarabajo.
This is also not the forum’s first appearance in the Orchid Awards. In 2025, the outlook access at the Tijuana Esperanto Park, along with the AFAL Building (EAT), earned Orchids in the public and private architecture categories, respectively.
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How to Vote
Public voting for the “Orchids & Onions” awards remains open until September 17 at 11:59 p.m. via the portal https://sdarchitecture.org/programs/orchids-onions/ under the “View 2026 Nominations” section.
To cast a vote, users can locate a project and click the thumbs-up icon in the upper right corner.
Once voting concludes, a jury composed of design professionals, a student, and a member of the general public will convene to evaluate both the strongest and weakest proposals of the year.
The panel will review the most notable projects in person before deliberating which entries merit a place among the winners and which will be set aside.
The final recipients will be honored during an awards gala scheduled for October 2.
