San Diego's Orchids & Onions awards program turned 50, with a retrospective event scheduled at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park for Saturday, October 17, at 10 a.m. Orchids & Onions, the annual awards program that hands out praise for standout architecture and public scorn for the ugliest misses, planned the event to mark the occasion.
The event, hosted by Friends of San Diego Architecture, was scheduled to bring together Kevin DeFreitas and Mike Stepner, two figures who between them span nearly the entire history of the awards, according to KPBS. Stepner co-founded Orchids & Onions back in 1975, while DeFreitas now serves as president of the San Diego Architectural Foundation. The pair were set to cover the program's history, its 50th-anniversary gala, and the current state of design across the region, per the same event listing.
From City Architect to Awards Co-Founder
Stepner's fingerprints are all over San Diego's built environment far beyond the awards he helped create. After co-founding Orchids & Onions, he went on to serve as San Diego's official City Architect following his 1988 appointment, spending 27 years in city planning and playing a key role in the urban revitalization of the Gaslamp Quarter, according to the Los Angeles Times. His tenure included city-planning work.
DeFreitas brings a different kind of credibility to the podium. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and runs a local firm responsible for the Ocean Beach beachfront public comfort station and a rammed-earth chapel on the Rincon Indian Reservation, according to the San Diego Architectural Foundation. He is an FAIA and has been a pillar of the foundation for more than 13 years.
A Program That Outgrew Its Original Borders
Orchids & Onions honors the best in local architecture with Orchids and calls out projects that fall short with Onions, a format that has barely changed in concept even as its geography has expanded. The program recently extended its scope to formally include architectural and urban design projects in Tijuana, a shift driven in part by the binational San Diego-Tijuana region's designation as World Design Capital 2024, according to SanDiegoRed. That cross-border eligibility now lets juries highlight collaborative design work spanning the two cities.
The foundation has also wrestled with how to handle its more pointed half of the program. In 2025, it reintroduced Onion nominations for private development projects after a three-year pause, with updated criteria, according to the San Diego Architectural Foundation.
Recent Winners Show the Program's Reach
Recent Orchid winners illustrate how far the awards now stretch beyond individual building facades. The restored Balboa Park Botanical Building received a 2025 Grand Orchid for Historic Preservation, recognizing a multi-year restoration effort, according to Ranch & Coast Magazine. The same 2025 cycle gave the Grand Orchid for Public Architecture to Del Mar Heights Elementary School, cited for its sustainable indoor-outdoor layout, its boardwalk connection to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, and a low-energy design by DLR Group, the magazine reported.
Landscape projects have also taken top honors. SDSU Mission Valley's 80-acre River Park earned a 2025 Orchid Award for Landscape Architecture for transforming former Qualcomm Stadium parking lots into a flood-filtering green space along the San Diego River, according to SDSU News.
The program's criteria reach well past individual buildings. Orchids & Onions includes categories for landscape architecture, historic preservation, and urban planning. That breadth reflects the foundation's view that the built environment, not just individual structures, shapes daily quality of life across the county.
A Free, Open Celebration
The October 17 anniversary event was scheduled to take place at the San Diego History Center inside the Casa de Balboa building in Balboa Park, per the KPBS listing. The center serves as headquarters for the San Diego Historical Society and houses a research library containing more than 45 million pieces of paper and 2.5 million images, alongside its regular slate of public lectures, workshops, and educational programs.
Outside of the Orchids & Onions program, general admission to the Museum of San Diego History runs $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, students, and military members with identification, and $6 for children ages 6 to 17, with children under 6 admitted free and members receiving unlimited free entry. The museum also offers free admission every second Tuesday of the month. Event organizers note that dates and times may change without notice.
The program includes public nominations and community participation in its jury process, five decades after Stepner and his collaborators first dreamed it up.
