Reimagining the gateways into downtown Baltimore.
Design Baltimore: Gateways is an open competition calling on architects, designers, artists, engineers, students, and community voices to transform three major vehicular arrivals into the city.
Office Hours with City agencies
The next live virtual session before the September 25 deadline. Register now — we’ll email you the join link and agency line-up as soon as they’re confirmed.
Final live assistance before the deadline: technical feasibility, submission requirements, file formats, and open Q&A with participating agencies. Join link to be announced — register and we'll email it to you.
Save my spotParticipating agencies (TBC): Baltimore Development Corporation · Baltimore City Department of Transportation · Baltimore Department of Planning · Maryland Stadium Authority
“I’m calling on all of Baltimore's artists, architects, engineers, students, and creatives to show off their talent and their love of our city through this competition. Especially since these corridors are in areas that residents and visitors visit regularly, including on game days, we want to make sure these designs reflect the beauty and culture of our city and our residents.”
Mayor Brandon M. ScottCity of BaltimorePartners & Credits
- Baltimore City Department of Transportation ↗
- Baltimore City Department of Planning ↗
- South Baltimore Gateway Partnership ↗
- Visit Baltimore ↗
- Baltimore Orioles ↗
- Baltimore Ravens ↗
- Office of the Mayor ↗
- Mayor's Office of Arts, Culture and Entertainment (MOACE) ↗
- Maryland Stadium Authority ↗
- Downtown Partnership of Baltimore ↗
- Create Baltimore ↗
30 more days to design Baltimore’s future
The submission deadline has been extended to Friday, September 25, 2026 · 11:59 PM EST to give multidisciplinary teams time to assemble comprehensive proposals. Two live Office Hours sessions — August 28 and September 18 — bring City agencies to the table for right-of-way, structural, lighting, utility, zoning, and submission questions. Competitors are welcome to resubmit revised drafts before the deadline.
The vision in motion
Three arrivals. One Baltimore.
I-295 / I-95 / Russell Street
Baltimore's ceremonial entrance sequence — where sports, waterfront ecology, entertainment, and infrastructure collide.
I-395 / Conway Street / Howard Street
A civic arrival corridor connecting Baltimore's tourism, sports, convention, entertainment, and cultural ecosystems.
I-83 / President Street / Jonestown
A civic heritage corridor reconnecting Baltimore's historic core, cultural memory, and future urban identity.
Your Design. Your Legacy. Your City.
Are you the architect, artist, or designer Baltimore has been waiting for? A once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the city's gateways and create iconic public art and design experiences that welcome millions of residents and visitors each year.
Because first impressions matter.
Transforming major entry corridors into powerful symbols of creativity, culture, innovation, and civic pride — landmarks that tell Baltimore's story and shape its future.
Three major gateway corridors.
I-295 / I-95 Russell Street · I-395 / I-95 Conway Street · I-83 / President Street.
Architects · Designers · Artists · Planners · Students.
Emerging talent or established professional — this is your opportunity to leave a lasting mark on Baltimore.
12 finalist stipends · 3 corridor winner awards.
Each finalist team receives $25,000 to develop their proposal. One winning team per gateway corridor receives an additional $50,000. Deadline: September 25, 2026.
Create the gateways. Shape the journey. Define the future of Baltimore.
Where Design Meets Community.
The initiative
Administered by the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC), Design Baltimore: Gateways is an open ideas competition with a submissions deadline of September 25, 2026 and jury review running September 28 – October 20, 2026.
A total prize pool of $450,000 supports the competition: 12 finalist teams each receive a $25,000 stipend to develop their proposals, and one winning team per corridor — Northern, Western, and Southern — receives an additional $50,000 award. Award amounts are subject to funding availability and BDC approval.